Twice Orphaned

I became an orphan when I lost my mother last November—about 10 years since my father’s passing. But the crippling sense of helplessness that comes with being orphaned has never been as overwhelming for me as it has been since COVID-19 struck again, sending us scurrying for cover and help amid an unremitting second wave. But help is in short supply—at a time when death is visiting homes with increasing regularity and pushing us into the depths of despair. It is not just oxygen, life-saving medicines and hospital beds that are scarce. Deepening our desperation and leaving us in the lurch has been the government, which has all but abdicated its responsibility and abandoned us. If we are alive, we must thank our stars and the very many Good Samaritans heroically slogging with limited resources to save lives.

I, for one, was lucky along with my wife and daughter. We too went down with Covid, but unlike tens of thousands dying every day mostly for want of medical ass­istance, our oxygen levels miraculously did not drop and we did not require hospital care. If we had, chances are we would have ended up in a random crematorium, courtesy the callousness and ineptitude of those in power. They promised us the moon, but made us beg to even breathe.

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What brought us to this suffocating state requires no rocket science to decipher. That our infamous public health inf­rastructure—creaky at best in big cities and simply non-existent or an apology in towns and villages—would be grossly ina­dequate during a crisis was well to be exp­ected. But the speed with which our much-vaunted Union government capitulated in the face of the biggest catastrophe of our times is a surprise. Though given to bluster, it has always shown itself to be opportunistic—all fire and brimstone against Pakistan, but muted against the more powerful China. Against the rampaging pandemic, the government has simply gone quiet.

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Having won two successive elections promising to be tough, strong, and competent, those at the helm are not seen when it matters the most. Having rallied and rekindled our resolve by banging dinner plates and bursting crackers in the past, they seemingly have taken leave at present. Occasionally, some ministers and top advisors do mouth some mumbo jumbo. Mostly spoken to claim credit when there is none, they clearly lack conviction and credibility. And why on earth should anyone believe those who are squarely responsible for where we are today? Didn’t they say we have vanquished the virus, or that we would lead the world in the vaccination drive against the virus? Or, for that matter, the pandemic has alr­eady entered its endgame in India?

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Well, nothing that was said was true. Besides being awfully premature, they were possibly criminal because they bred complacency for which we are now paying an exponentially heavy price. The pandemic gave us a year to prepare, but a top leadership fixated on propaganda and good press wasted the most part of it in promoting its image and brand. Much of its energy of course was also diverted to winning elections and organising super-spreader religious events.

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Unfortunately, the government displays little contrition, though its culpability is so evident. Oxygen plants were not commissioned, production and supply of vaccines were not sec­ured/augmented, and even meetings of the expert groups on Covid were not held on time. Yet, no responsibility has been fixed and none has been fired. On the face of it, it is business as usual with politics taking priority over pandemic. Central teams were rushed to post-poll Bengal while politicians staged dharna over violence in the state. There was even a protracted power play for the chief minister’s post in Assam.

Similar commitment was singularly missing when it came to confronting Covid. We cowered as a consequence, but the leaders also stood uncovered in our eyes. Rather than being tall and towering with wide protective chests, they turned out to be small and weak when the real test came.

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Ruben Banerjee editor in chief