Category: Nationalism and Motivation

The COVID 19 pandemic is perhaps the costliest intelligence failure in modern times. And perhaps the dawn of a new discipline – Biomedical Intelligence. Good intelligence is considered to be a force- multiplier in warfare and often the difference between victory and defeat. In this case, the consequences of this failure have been telling, crippling nations across the globe.

Deception, camouflage and concealment deny the opponent critical information and a sudden show of hand at the appropriate time springs the element of ‘surprise’ upon an unsuspecting victim. This critical ‘principle of war’ has been used with devastating effect in hundreds of battles and conflicts across centuries. The novel Coronavirus has wreaked a similar devastation upon humanity. Theories are rife about what caused the pandemic but there is no doubt about its place of origin. -The ‘debrief’ is yet to be done and time will reveal the truth if the narrative is not ‘fudged’ by then.

The World Health Organisation, like all other affected nations, will be left licking its wounds when this is over. The health watchdog has failed miserably in realising the danger posed by the novel Coronavirus and in issuing timely warnings to the world. If reports are to be believed, the devastating and trans-national potential of the virus was positively known somewhere in January 2020 but the WHO chose to declare it a pandemic only on 11 March 2020 – a good 45 days later. By that time, the damage was done. It was another 10 days before other nations scrambled to lockdown in a last ditch effort to limit further devastation. 60 days of negligence and inaction is now exacting a phenomenal penalty.

The post COVID 19 world cannot allow a repeat of such a situation. Hence, there is the immediate need to develop the capability of Biomedical Intelligence. It has to be at all levels – from the strategic to the tactical. The world must know where the likely troublespots are, who the players may be and what ‘witches’ brew’ could be in the making. Then, there must be regular updates from accross the world on any abnormal activity such as biotech experiments or local outbreaks that appear out of the ordinary. And finally, the world must instantaneously be able to respond to a possible contagion with all measures to localise and contain it. This will require rapid dissemination of information and intervention by world bodies and national governments.

Only then will non-affected nations be able to come to the assistance of those in the grip of the contagion. Today, our helplessness is not so much because we are all afflicted by the pandemic but that we cannot even help each other. The COVID 19 pandemic should be seen as an unprecedented and historic shame in what we call a civilised world. And one which was totally preventable.

27 Mar 2020

While the response to the Janata Curfew and 5 pm clapping requests of the Prime Minister may have been enthusiastic, it must not lull us into believing that things are going to miraculously improve in the near future. There is no denying that the curfew would have had some benefits in permitting a better assessment of the situation but any positive change will depend almost entirely on responsible human behaviour. So far, the track record has been dismal and we have seen instances of extremely irresponsible behaviour from the most unlikely quarters of society. It has been rightly said “Never underestimate the power of human stupidity.”

At this point, there must be a single-minded focus to contain and stop the spread of infection. As an optimist, I would like to believe that the majority of our population that lives in small towns and villages would be reasonably isolated since they may not receive international travellers coming from the more seriously affected parts of the world. Clearly, densely populated urban areas like metros and larger cities are at maximum risk. Even within these areas, population concentrations such as large residential societies, office complexes, chawls, slums, railway stations and public places are the most vulnerable. Individual, community and the admininstration’s efforts would be well spent on sanitising these primary areas. Lockdowns may be inconvenient and stressful but in the absence of an effective remedy, they will not only be essential but absolutely critical in the prevailing situation.

Sound practices that we have adopted in the recent past with regard to individual and community hygiene, physical distancing, self-quarantine, contact tracing and crowd control, to name just the primary ones, must continue now and beyond the crisis too and become a way of life. Hoarding of goods by consumers and taking unfair advantage of human fears by unscrupulous profiteers whi hike prices of commodities needed to stem the corona onslaught reveal the dark and greedy side of human nature. May such people be blessed with more good sense and compassion towards fellow citizens.

This is the Commitment we all need to display at this critical fork, where one road leads to certain disaster and the other may lead not only to recovery but eventually a better future in more ways than one.

This is not the time to count money. This is not the time to bemoan losses. This is not the time for pink slips. This is not the time to bad mouth government and administration. This is the time to respond in a way that even surprises ourselves. This is the time to show the world that India will stand up to the challenge. This is the time for ‘real’ Commitment.

ARE WE READY?

22 Mar 2020