Samir Nazareth

Opinion | How India’s efforts to put a positive spin on its Covid-19 crisis lie at the heart of the disaster

The government is seeking to starve the country of stories about the lack of oxygen, hospital beds and crematorium space, and filling the vacuum with optimistic histrionics

Ever since the BJP announced Modi as its prime ministerial candidate in 2013, a wave of optimism has accompanied him like a dark cloud

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Supporters of India’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party wear masks bearing the likeness of Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a campaign rally ahead of elections in West Bengal on March 20, despite clear signs of a second wave of coronavirus infections. Photo: AP

Samir Nazareth

Published: 9:15am, 25 May 2021Updated: 9:15am, 25 May 2021

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s penchant for monologues is legendary. For the Indian public, there is a monthly radio address titled Mann Ki Baat, or Inner Thoughts. Before each session, his team invites the public to send suggestions and stories.

For the next lecture, scheduled for May 30, the team tweeted: “This month‘s #MannKiBaat is back again – to celebrate the power of positivity and the strengths of 130 crore Indians! Have any inspiring story to share with PM Shri @narendramodi?” (Mysteriously, the tweet is no longer available.)

Modi’s desire to celebrate positivity while the country reels under his mismanagement of the Covid-19 crisis points to the route that brought India to this disaster. Even leading Indian mental health professionals have, in an open letter, requested that the Indian media desist from showing the harsh reality of the coronavirus crisis because, they claim, it could cause psychological damage.

The rate at which such claims and snippets are being churned out may be the best indicator of the extent to which the Bharatiya Janata Party government, led by Modi, has failed to combat the second wave of the coronavirus.

My father, a 90-year-old retired Indian Air Force officer who is fighting a second Covid-19 infection, wonders how glossing over the truth of what he and many others are going through can help them recover.

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The government is attempting to starve the country of stories of the lack of oxygen, hospital beds and crematorium space. The vacuum is being filled instead with optimistic histrionics.