Are we waiting for Eid, an occasion of joy, or we are preparing for a huge mourning that is to befall us if we don’t take heed. For the last couple of days a disturbing trend is being seen. People are moving out in good numbers and doing shopping for the Eid day. One wonders how people leave the enormity of this crisis behind and become a part of crowd in the markets. This is plainly suicidal. Not just suicidal, but amounts to mass murder. Those who go out and shop need to be reminded that it is not just their own life that is at stake, but of those around them. Why do we forget that we are passing through an unprecedented crisis where every day we have thousands of people getting infected, and dozens losing the battle for life. This is what the current surge in covid pandemic has done to J&K, like other parts of India. It is a full blown community spread, and the only thing that can save people is to stay indoors; even within the families take precautions. This is not the first Eid we have to celebrate, and if we all survive, it will not be the last one. We will have many occasions of joy to celebrate in future, but this time, for God’s sake, stay indoors. This infection is deadlier than we had envisaged earlier. We have seen young, and able bodied, dying in hospitals in a miserable condition. The scenes of people gasping for a breath of oxygen are chilling. God forbid, if we don’t stay indoors, there is bound to be a surge in covid cases. And we must all remember that despite the efforts of the concerned departments, our arrangements are way short of what it would require in case of a sudden spike. If we observe this Eid with modesty, and with a sense of loss, it befits the occasion. Don’t bring disaster to your family by going out and risking yourself. If it hits you, it hits your family. And in such a case how will the Eid look like.
And for the government, it is time to put severe restriction in place. Government has the necessary resources for that.