Stawa

As if COVID-19 was not enough!

Is 2020 going to be the worst-ever year, particularly for India? COVID-19, Cyclone Amphan, Cyclone Nisarga, Chinese intrusion into Ladakh and the subsequent killings of soldiers on both sides; 17 earthquakes over three months in northern India, and locusts creating havoc in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Haryana. As a result, we are now facing an unprecedented economic meltdown.

It is feared that we are in for bad days for the foreseeable future. Even then, there is a brighter side. As a friend says, having braved all these difficulties and hardships, we will learn some lessons, and be able to live a ‘better normal’. The phrase ‘better normal’ is an ‘improvement’ over the popular phrase, ‘new normal’ that has become a buzz word under these new circumstances.

And then came, as if to our rescue, Zoom, Google meet, webinars, and various other online means to ‘hold’ a ‘virtual conference’ enabling hundreds of people to talk with one another and discuss critical issues like ‘life betterment’ under stressful conditions.

Booked and hooked!

Here is a book that kept me hooked and booked, and prevented me from descending into insanity during these lingering Corona days: The Path of the Buddha: Writings on Contemporary Buddhism, edited by Renuka Singh, a former JNU professor. True, the book may not have anything new for someone who is already familiar with Buddhist philosophy, but what comes out brilliantly is the way each topic, from birth to death, karma to undoing of bad karma etc. has been dealt with by writers of eminence. It not only works as an introduction to Buddhist philosophy but also introduces one to the relevance of the need to have a ‘different-angle’ look into the mysteries of the mind and matter.

Mind and matter are, normally, two different things, and each has a tendency to ‘stay away’ from the other. But when matter, let’s say our physical body, particularly the brain, is made to look for that dynamic energy or force within us, then there is a union of mind and matter, even if for a moment of one’s consciousness!

Monsoon blessings

The city was blessed with monsoon showers a week before its scheduled time. The month of July gives the city a new and fresh appearance. It glows in the charm of lower temperature, intermittent rain, parched land turning green, and birds and other animals in their best spirit. And, we, the 1.9 crore denizens of the city, enjoy a cloud-speckled sky with promises of imminent rain and cool, refreshing air. Since Monsoon is so kind to us this time, life has become a little more comfortable. With the intense heat of May and June behind us, one tries different ways to celebrate life, and hope for the arrival of better days soon.

And yet, despite so many problems, the clouds that come and go without any ‘convincing’ reason, give one the satisfaction and the understanding that nothing is permanent and that the good and the bad in one’s life is to make one a little more careful and loving so that one doesn’t mess up with life and nature!

Inner voice vs. outer voice

People often wonder: What is our ‘inner voice’ and how does it differ from our ‘outer voice’? Until one thinks over it seriously, one can easily get lost in search of an answer. And, as a result, one might conclude that these are silly questions and that there is no point in pondering over them. And whoever has heard of this ‘outer voice’? But if we mull on these questions more seriously it does reveal many dimensions. The nearest and the most convincing answer could be this: Well, inner voice, when given an expression and accepted by others, becomes an outer voice. And, an outer voice, accepted by an individual and given an expression becomes an inner voice. Well, it is so very complex, but, my dear, philosophy is always like that!

But, in a way, the ‘inner’ and the ‘outer voice’ support each other in gaining acceptance, and for the greater good of mankind. Both help one realise one’s own self and expand one’s consciousness.

Tailpiece:

Doctor: Ma’am, good news. Your husband is COVID-19 negative.

Wife: How does that change anything? He has been a very negative person all his life.

By P. P. Wangchuk

A high-pressure situation generally brings out the best and worst in people. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different. It has underlined various prejudices, ignorance and visceral divisiveness amongst people around the world. While more than a million people around the world cutting across race, religion, gender, and other superficial differences have been affected by COVID-19, people have still found ways to target specific communities to blame for the pandemic.

Perhaps the most famous and public expression of prejudice was US President Donald J Trump referring to COVID-19 as ‘Chinese Virus’. This was echoed by several right-wing leaders and media-persons with such political leanings. In practice, this led to a racial backlash against persons of Chinese origin who were blamed for the pandemic.

India too has been susceptible to this trend. There are numerous cases of racial prejudice faced by Ladakhis and persons from the Northeast India, in the Indian plains. Perhaps the most common expression of this prejudice and ignorance is when people from Ladakh and India’s Northeast are being taunted with racial slurs. There were several cases of Ladakhi students being asked to vacate their rented spaces. There are numerous cases where this ignorance has taken a more unpleasant expression. There are cases of people hurling abuses, spitting and threatening physical violence against people from Ladakh, the Northeast or others with similar racial and ethnic features.

In addition, in India the Muslim community has also faced the brunt of prejudice and discrimination with many blaming members of the community for spreading the virus in the country. The COVID-19 pandemic has taken on a communal hue in India after news of the Tablighi Jamaat convention in New Delhi became public. In the midst of a generally professional approach to a pandemic, there were some disturbing news reports of some doctors refusing to treat Muslim patients because of their religion. Islamophobic memes started to appear on social media and hash-tags such as #CoronaJihad and #TablighiVirus were trending on social media.

Former Chief Minister of the erstwhile Jammu and Kashmir state, Omar Abdullah condemned the communalisation of the pandemic through a tweet on 31 March where he wrote, “Now the #TablighiJamat will become a convenient excuse for some to vilify Muslims everywhere as if we created & spread #COVID around the world.”

Many of these prejudices have been evident in Ladakh. In early March as the first cases of COVID-19 were reported in Ladakh, it emerged that the patients had returned from a pilgrimage in Iran. While there was no overt expression of discrimination, many people privately expressed their prejudices with regard to the Muslim community for bringing COVID-19 to Ladakh. People, including highly educated individuals and religious leaders, would freely cite un-verified claims circulating on social media and television to justify their prejudices.

Furthermore, migrant labourers in Ladakh were at the receiving end of prejudices as fear of COVID-19 peaked in Ladakh. Many Ladakhis were being thrown out of their rented spaces by landlords who feared contracting COVID-19 from them. Each year hundreds and thousands of migrant labourers from different parts of India and Nepal arrive in Ladakh by March; and have played a pivotal role in building Ladakh. However, this year, many of them were forced to leave their rented spaces in Leh, Changthang, Nubra, Sham and Lalok. Furthermore, landlords in two neighbourhoods of Leh asked even their Ladakhi tenants to leave and return to their villages.Such actions left many migrant labourers and Ladakhi tenants in a lurch. The district administration tried to counter these actions by warning landlords of legal action, while also providing ration and financial support to some migrants to return home. The UT Ladakh administration has also put social media group administrators on notice for the content being shared and discussed on their groups.

It is unfortunate that Ladakhis, people from the Northeast and Muslim communities have had to bear the brunt of people’s prejudice and ignorance. However, it is equally unfortunate that many people in Ladakh too acted on their prejudice, ignorance and fear to target vulnerable groups of people, especially migrant labourers and people from rural Ladakh. At a time when containing the virus should be our collective priority and when unity is a necessity, people around the world have submitted to their deeply held prejudices and fears. In contrast, coronavirus does not differentiate on the basis of race, class, caste, religion, gender, or for that matter age. We will hopefully develop a vaccine for COVID-19 and other such viruses. But how will we find a cure for the prejudices, ignorance and deep-seated hatred we seem to be nurturing within ourselves?

By Tashi Lundup and Sunetro Ghosal

Tashi Lundup and Sunetro Ghosal are part of the editorial team at Stawa.

Author: The stawa team

New Delhi Diary – July 2020

Prejudice in the time of coronavirus