India’s Lockdown: Partial Success is Total Failure
Image source: vox Rakesh Neelakandan Democracy is government by discussion. The India Government, in announcing the nationwide lockdown in response to the global coronavirus blitzkrieg, appeared to have rewritten this definition. It now reads: democracy is government by action. This invariably leads to two questions: Action as to what end? and Action as to how? On March 19, the Prime Minister requested citizens to observe a day-long nationwide janata curfew on March 22 , a precursor to the lockdown. He exhorted the citizens to voluntarily remain indoors for a duration of 14 hours to arrest the spread of the virus. Evidently, this measure was planned ahead of the curve and it did not jolt the common man and provided him with time to prepare for a holiday. But it was a miniature construct of what was to expect and what was to come. On the day of the curfew, people, especially it being Sunday, adhered to the curfew and made it a grand success. Meanwhile, on March 19, a