India Could Be on the Brink of a Coronavirus Catastrophe — and Modi Will Be to Blame
Narendra Modi’s government has failed to take preemptive action against a pandemic that may overwhelm its underfunded health services. Arundhati Roy and other leading intellectuals have signed an appeal for the release of India’s political prisoners, who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19 in the country’s overcrowded jails.
An Indian woman covering her face with a mask walks in a crowded Mandi (marketplace), as nationwide lockdown continues over coronavirus on March 26, 2020 in New Delhi, India.Yawar Nazir / Getty
India had 2,902 confirmed coronavirus cases and 68 deaths by April 4. That may not sound especially high for a country of more than a billion people, but the first serious government response to the global spread of the virus only came on March 24, more than three weeks after the first cases had been reported: all were from Kerala, and involved students who had returned from Wuhan.
Indeed, a month earlier, India’s prime minister, Narendra Modi, brought no fewer than 125,000 people together into one stadium in Ahmedabad to give Donald Trump a sort of royal welcome on his visit to the country. Modi and his allies justified the extravagance of this event on the grounds that it would lead to major trade deals between India and the United States.
Lack of Foresight
Of course, nothing of the sort happened. But the gathering also underlined the lack of seriousness that characterized the government’s approach to the impending health disaster, despite repeated warnings. Just as he was being feted in Gujarat, Trump was asking Congress for $1.25 billion to bolster US preparations for the crisis. As late as March 12, however, India’s health ministry was still announcing publicly that the COVID-19 crisis did not amount to a “health emergency.”
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