The name game
Indian government has recently ordered varied social media sites to take down content calling B.1.617.1 strain as the Indian strain. Most media reports mention Covid strains after their place of origin like the South African variant, UK variant and so as deplorable “Indian strain” name is, it’s not an intentional attack on Indians. Even Indian Government has used “Indian strain” in official documents. Yet, critics are right to point out the dangers of inevitable shaming this naming could invite.
The pandemic last year led to a rise of hate crimes against Asian Americans, and President Donald Trump’s metonymy of “Chinese Virus” added fuel to the fire. As the new strain of Covid ravages India, it is pivotal that it be not referred as the Indian strain. WHO has clear guidelines that a virus not be named by its geographical origin, occupation or animal as it can provoke backlash against members of a community, create unjustified travel, trade bans and trigger animal slaughter plummeting people’s lives and economy, lessons learnt over the years.
Last year in India, some lapses during a muslim congregation led to the spread of coronavirus and sundry media channels wantonly coined phrases like “Corona Jihad”, “Bio Jihad”, “Bio terrorism” promulgating the demonization of Muslims. The damage was immense, with some villages forbidding entry of Muslims, and lynching incidents reported across the nation. Thus, Indian government is in a unique position to fathom the harm reckless naming can lead to, and rightly wishes to counter it.
However, Modi government is not merely demanding the removal of content that mentions “Indian strain” but any reports that blames the government for mishandling the virus or questions death rates, vaccine strategy, cow dung efficacy and any other data shared by the government on the pretext that poor reflection of Indian government denigrates Indian community. Accountability cannot be proscribed because truth is uncomfortable. Condemning government policies does not conflate to demeaning the population. On the contrary, Brazilian citizens are on street demanding action against their Prime Minister on account of poor Covid management.
As the government severely underplays the disaster, claiming low mortality rates, denying any news of oxygen or vaccine deficiency, cremation fire cannot be hidden. There are pyres everywhere, dead bodies floating on the river, flooded on the banks defying government data. If we don’t hold the government accountable, ask questions, criticize, seek answers, it will recur.
The notion, that criticizing Prime Minister’s leadership is detrimental to safety of Indians is a slippery slope. If questioning government is a threat to safety of citizens, it can easily be interpreted as danger to the nation, and very soon, condemning Kumbh mela, election rallies, Amarnath Yatra, vaccine procurement policy all can be termed a seditious act.
Trump was condemned for his racists remarks jeopardizing a community. The right to criticize a sitting president aided in safeguarding a community from attack. Right to criticize is a fundamental right in a democracy as long as it is not abused to incite violence. Criticism is how we introspect and move ahead, and we can do that without resorting to lampooning.
