Only Through The Prism Of Science

India needs its top leader to make people realise why science has no substitute in the battle against COVID-19

- Atul Mishra

On Friday, April 3, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made his third COVID-19 address to the nation. To raise the people’s morale, Mr. Modi asked them to light up candles, diyas (lamps), torchlights and mobile flashlights for 9 minutes at 9 p.m. this Sunday. Soon after his address, the citizens outreach portal of the Government of India tweeted a video explaining the ‘science’ behind the Prime Minister’s request.

The video had a former president of the Indian Medical Association claiming that the request was based on a yogic ‘principle of collective consciousness’. The doctor said that if the people collectively thought that they would not be afflicted by the coronavirus, then their collective consciousness would ensure that this happens. This, he said, was based on a ‘quantum principle’. The tweet was soon deleted. But the incident shows how pseudoscience may be endangering India’s public health policy at this critical moment.

Need for scientific temper

At no point in its modern history has India needed its people as now to urgently understand how microbiology impacts public health. The Central and State governments are making huge efforts to give us a crash course on the spread and arrest of COVID-19. But in our country, the Prime Minister’s voice on national issues carries the most weight. In this hour of national crisis, India needs its top leader to make the people realise why science has no substitute in battling the virus. How has Mr. Modi fared as a promoter of scientific temper?