Pandemic-as-war: a narrative that makes lives expendable and widens socio-political inequalities
This essay offers a critical reading of how the pandemic-as-war narrative obfuscates systemic forms of socio-economic oppression while creating ahistorical binaries of us and them, enemy and friend which ultimately help the State evade political responsibility.
In his radio address on 26 April 2020, India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi while laying emphasis on the need for “selfless endeavor” as a way forward in the wake of COVID-19, called every Indian citizen a “soldier” leading the nation in the “battle” against the novel coronavirus: “A vast country such as India, with its proactive endeavor on the path of development is fighting a decisive battle against poverty. This is the only medium it possesses to fight the Corona and triumph over it. And we are fortunate that today the whole country; each and every citizen of the country; every person is a soldier in this battle; nay, leading the battle. Cast a glance anywhere, you’ll notice that India’s fight is people driven…” [emphasis added] This pandemic-as-war narrative was reiterated by Modi in his subsequent address too, where he insisted that the battle against the virus continues to…
Join us
Related Posts
Donald Trump’s Master Economic Plan I Opinion by Yanis Varoufakis
Yanis Varoufakis
भारतीय राज्य किस तरह बस्तर के बच्चों की हत्या कर रहा है
Shreya Khemani
