The Infection of the Voice of Dissent

        

#STANDWITHSTAN 

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         When the coronavirus struck the world we became aware of an age-old method of curbing the spread of disease. This method is now well known as quarantine. Here we isolate all the infected from the rest to avoid the further spread of the virus among the people. Even if we have the slightest doubt of the infection we will have to isolate that person. It seems to have been very effective right from the beginning. But never forget that its effectiveness depends on the strictness of its implementation.

        The Indian government has been very prompt in implementing this method of isolation. It had imposed the nationwide lockdown to curb the spread of the virus. To a certain extent, it has been successful in curbing the spread. But we can always debate if we could have avoided the loss of livelihood and lives of migrants caused by this lockdown.

When I think of it, India has been using the method of isolation to curb the spread for a very long time. So, it's no surprise that the government had no doubts about its effectiveness. You may be wondering when did we use it! Did we have such a pandemic? But remember that the quarantine helps to curb the spread and that is why we didn't feel the pandemic.

Let me give an example from our recent past. Are you aware of Vernon Gonsalves, Arun Ferreira, Sudha Bharadwaj, Varavara Rao, Gautam Navlakha, and the latest addition, Fr Stan Swamy, who are all quarantined in the quarantine center called prison? You may be wondering what is it that they can spread which is more dangerous than coronavirus. They can spread the dissent, the worst pandemic, and the nightmare to any government. It may not spread as easily as coronavirus, but when it is well spread it will stay for a long time. It is so dangerous that even in the midst of the corona pandemic the government-led agency chose to quarantine the latest victim Fr Stan Swamy, an 83 old Jesuit priest who worked tirelessly towards the welfare of the Adivasis of Jharkhand.

There are many symptoms to identify the infected person:

1. The person becomes aware of constitutional rights and makes others aware of them.

2. The person speaks for the poor and the marginalized section of society.

3. The person encourages the people to come out without any mask of religion, caste or creed and stand for their rights.

4. The person has tremendous guts to voice out his or her disagreement with the functioning of the government and its policies.

As soon as the above symptoms are noticed get ready to quarantine that person. Normally these people don't realize that they are infected. So, they are tricked to believe that they have come in contact with other more dangerous infections like terrorism. As a result, no one would want to be in contact with them. This further helps our government to safely quarantine them in prison.

As the corona lockdown is over, so also the lockdown of dissenting voices should be over immediately. Because the corona is here to stay, so also the dissent is here to stay. Moreover, more and more people are infected with both the infections. Now our only hope against coronavirus is a vaccine. But will it work 100% ? It is still doubtful because the other vaccine called the constitutional right to dissent does not seem to be 100% effective? 

The quarantine of the coronavirus has to continue as and when it appears. Maybe one day it will all be over. But it does not seem to be so with the other infection. The quarantining of the voices of the dissent will continue, but the end does not seem so near. For as long as there are free women and men there is always a chance of new infection of the voice of dissent.

 

The Knock of Hope

            

(This Photo was taken by me when I was in quarantine in Blomet community, Paris.)

            If I recall it right, my first quarantine was in February of 2018. It was early in the morning when my body started to itch. I was not sure what was the cause of this itching. I went on to have my breakfast, but the itching continued. My Superior back then noticed my struggle and the dance caused by the itching and inquired about it. I explained what was happening to me. He, along with other community members came to the conclusion that I have the symptoms of the well-known disease among the French known as ‘La Varicelle.’ For a moment I thought I had caught a rare disease and I would have to suffer a lot. But my community members were kind enough to console me and explain that ‘La Varicelle’ is nothing but the Chickenpox, which is mostly seen in children and is not a very dangerous disease. As I started to feel relaxed, I heard ‘mais’ which means ‘but’ from one of the Fathers, who added that I should be careful as this disease can cause lasting damage in the adults. So, immediately an appointment was fixed with the doctor to confirm it. 

            As expected by all, it was confirmed and the emergency was declared. Doctor indicated that I may spread it to others if they had never contracted it. He further added that there is no medicine and that I may develop some complications like lung infection. Does this ring a bell? Yes, it was exactly the same situation as with the Covid-19 patients. Just like them, I had to be quarantined. I had to follow the simple rule of social distancing when the people were around. I was provided with the food in my room. The first day was fun because even though I was occupied with scratching my body, I watched movies that I wanted to watch for a long time. But after a few days I was tired of scratching and watching movies. I felt like going for a walk in the garden, but I didn't dare to. 

Surprisingly, when I look back at those quarantine days, I feel like they were not that bad after all, especially when I think of those knocks, on my door by my community members, who would pass by to greet me and encourage me. Thanks to those knocks of hope, my quarantine days were truly the days of healing and rejuvenating. 

Now, during these days of Covid-19 quarantine, I only hope and pray that there is a knocking of hope for each of us and we in turn cause the knock of hope for others. Sometimes there may not be a door to knock, then knock on the window. If there is no window, then if possible, send the emoji or the sticker of a door and knock on it. In other words, knock in your own creative way and keep the hope alive. Because that’s the most important medicine to survive this quarantine.