As the second wave of the Wuhan virus ravages India, international medical journal The Lancet on Saturday (8 May) published what one would call a politically biased article targeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Coronavirus crisis in India.
According to this reputed medical journal, Modi is responsible for this crisis as every other political party have been exempted from judgement.
Many national and international news papers along with network news like the CNN are having a go at Modi so he could be undermined. It must also be noted that after the abrogation of Article 370, The Lancet had issued a strong condemnation of the Indian Government.
This article about the Modi Government’s handling of the pandemic was written by one Helena Hui Wang, who is the Lancet’s Asia editor based in Beijing. This article was being used by the Congress party to slam the Modi government.
Many Indians on social media lashed out at Lancet for its hitjob article on India and Prime Minister Modi.
What is sadly amazing is that the article is full of inaccuracies and even a layperson could interpret that this is a poorly executed hatchet job.
The article says, “India must reduce SARS-CoV-2 transmission as much as possible while the vaccine is rolled out. As cases continue to mount, the government must publish accurate data in a timely manner, and forthrightly explain to the public what is happening and what is needed to bend the epidemic curve, including the possibility of a new federal lockdown.”
The Lancet argues for a national lockdown when the vast majority of India is already under partial or full lockdown and it is a known fact that lockdown are not a economically viable solution.
“The reducing positivity rate is a signal that Delhi has reached the peak of infections. Now, whether the current reduction is because of the lockdown, we cannot know for sure. This could be the natural progression of the disease; any infection can spread only to a certain extent before coming down. Lockdown, if properly implemented, prevent interfamily transmissions giving hospitals a breather – allowing them to arrange beds, oxygen, medicines etc,” Dr Jacob John, former head of the department of virology at the Christian Medical College-Vellore, was quoted by the Hindustan Times as saying.
But the There are fundamental issues with the sources cited by The Lancet in the article as well. It says at one point, “The Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation estimates that India will see a staggering 1 million deaths from COVID-19 by Aug 1.”
However, Lancet is not the only international publication peddling baised news, Bloomberg had also criticised India’s vaccine strategy.
The Bloomberg article says, “Starting May 1, everyone over 18 is eligible for a vaccine while state governments and private hospitals can purchase doses directly from manufacturers for people from 18 to 45 years — triggering a desperate free-for-all rush to secure shots from an already strapped market.”
Also, the Kumbh Mela became the sacrifical lamb for its mass gatherings which has given such news organisations more ammunition.
Qatar based Al Jazeera which is left-Islamist news channel filed news reports by citing unverified “Indian media” leading to rumours that could jeopardise the battle against Covid and waste resources in the process.
The Lancet used such frevilous report by NYT which claimed “Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Government has seemed more intent on removing criticism on Twitter than trying to control the pandemic.” But the gact the government had asked Twitter to remove only those tweets that peddled hoaxes denying the existence of the Coronavirus and shared photographs of burning funeral pyres unrelated to the current crisis.
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