Put Brakes On Farm Protests; They Pose Risk To Public Health

The disastrous spike in Covid cases has changed many mindsets. The Election Commission was slammed for a lengthy voting schedule in the recent state elections, helping spread the disease.

- Swaminathan S Anklesaria Aiyar

SWAMINOMICS

The Kumbh Mela at Haridwar was castigated for promoting mass contact. The IPL was suspended, and the Tokyo Olympics will probably be abandoned. The Uttarakhand government has suspended the annual pilgrimages to Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamnotri. Allahabad High court has flayed the holding of panchayat elections in UP.

Once, elections were seen as so fundamental that political parties and courts insisted on holding them even in the most difficult circumstances. Now Covid has forced second thoughts.

But while many contact-promoting activities have been halted, neither Opposition parties nor supposed intellectuals are calling for a halt to an indubitable Covid spreader — the farmers’ agitation surrounding Delhi. Whatever the merits of the massive sit-in agitation, it should be halted like other Covid-spreaders.

I am no fan of BJP chief ministers like Yogi Adityanath and Manohar Lal Khattar. But I agree fully with them that the farmers’ agitation around Delhi spreads disease and death. Given the cynicism in Indian politics, no one can expect Opposition parties to ask the farmers to go home. But all those claiming to espouse human rights should call for the suspension of the agitation.