“I invite all devotees across the world to come to Haridwar and take a holy dip in the Ganga during Maha Kumbh. Nobody will be stopped in the name of COVID-19 as we are sure the faith in God will overcome the fear of the virus,” said Tirath Singh Rawat, Chief Minister of Uttarakhand.
This gathering of people was apparently more important to the CM than maintaining COVID protocol or calling off the event altogether. The world is being swept with a second wave of pandemic and as such even the annual gathering of Hajj, which congregates millions from all around the world, was called off.
The CM undertook projects worth crores of rupees to facilitate devotees as they went to Haridwar for their holy dip in the Ganges River during the Mahakumbh. Although he stated that COVID guidelines will be followed, however, the images and the cases being reported tell a different story. The event commenced on April 1 and although the CM’s statement drew much criticism, it did not deter crowds from visiting Haridwar.
In the first five-day period in the Mela site, over 1,700 people have tested COVID positive, making the Kumbh Mela a COVID hotspot already. Yet, there are no proper protocols in place and the media is mum about the seriousness of the issue.
Contrasting this with the happenings at the Nizamuddin Markaz that happened almost a year ago – a time when COVID was still being understood – no one spared a second thought to portray Muslims as primary spreaders of the contagion and effectively closed down the mosque where the crowd had gathered. The said crowd, compared to the millions in the Kumbh Mela, was a mere handful, but the situation had been misreported to the extent that it made Muslims the scapegoat and the representative image of contagions of COVID.
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Despite the misgivings, there was no public apology on the whole issue being blown out of proportion. But the lack of coverage on the issue at the Kumbh Mela sheds light on the hypocrisy of the media and the government at large. This comes at a time when the holy month of Ramadan has begun as well, and Muslims across India are following COVID protocol to ensure worship at their local mosques.
What’s more disturbing is the fact that the Chief Minister’s statements convey the message that following Hinduism somehow makes you immune to COVID after he assured devotees of removing all “unnecessary” restrictions for Haridwar Mahakumbh.
Uttarakhand Chief Minister Tirath Singh Rawat said on Saturday that the “faith of devotees will overcome the fear of COVID-19” in the mega event. If faith alone were enough, it would have healed this contagion well before a vaccine could be made. The lack of coherency makes it appalling, the influence that those in power have over the masses.
After taking charge as the CM, Rawat overturned several decisions, including mandatory RT-PCR negative test report by the devotees coming to and from Haridwar and no plying of extra buses or special trains to Haridwar during Shahi Snaans to limit the crowd amid the pandemic.
“With the COVID-19 cases again increasing in the country, the government’s approach should be “health first” but that doesn’t seem to be the case, which is worrisome,” said PS Chauhan, a Haridwar-based senior academic who has been keenly observing the Mahakumbh event. “The easing of restrictions would be very dangerous for the health safety of our state,” he said.
What happens when those devotees return home infected with COVID? Is the government prepared to handle another spike in infections with this congregation of millions? The answer is an easy no. Had this same scenario occurred with Muslims the entire media would have had a frenzied field day.
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