A Lockdown Is a Solution. In India, a Lockdown Is Also Its Own Crisis. https://thewire.in/rights/coronavirus-lockdown-authoritarianism-physical-distancing-rights-elite
An authoritarian lockdown offers numerous dividends to the government and the elite in the long run.
Announcing the lockdown, New Zealand’s prime minister said, “ the government will do all it can to protect you. Now I’m asking you to do everything you can to protect all of us."
Contrast this with the Indian government which, going by its actions , seems to say that it .. eaves to its citizens the responsibility of handling the situation, and failing which they will be punished even if it means losing jobs, rights, livelihood, dignity, food, and education.
The authoritarian lockdown
Suppression of data at all levels because of the culture of shaming those who show ‘poor outcomes’ and rewarding those who show ‘good outcomes’. Suppression of data at all levels because of the culture of shaming those who show ‘poor outcomes’ and rewarding those who show ‘good outcomes’
The government has failed to proactively publicise major decisions, whether demonetisation, the reading down of Section 370 or the ongoing lockdown. The idea of people being participating stakeholders is being actively eroded, leading to a corrosion of trust and avoidable delays in response.
Under an authoritarian state, people may function like coerced subjects rather than informed stakeholders, doing only as much as they have to and often tending to breaking boundaries and rules.
To maintain the image of success, the government is likely to be even more authoritarian than is acceptable under normal circumstances but uphold its measures as ‘necessary’
the right to a COVID-19-free world doesn’t automatically trample on rights and civil liberty. The lockdown shows that while the rights of some become limited, for others like the labourers it is an existential right connected to their food, dignity and livelihoods.
a lockdown where essential travel is curbed is bound to impinge, often adversely, on several human rights - as their income depends on it.
Many norms of confidentiality and privacy of patients and their contacts are being violated on the pretext of a lockdown. protect against stigma and discrimination which can potentially lead – among other things – to harassment, denial of care, negligence and loss of employment,
The communal nature of the government and its supporters comes out even in a pandemic.
After lockdown, what?
We need specific rules that define when the government can impose a lockdown, how, for how long and finally how the lockdown can be wound down.
Have the other – especially economic – consequences of an extended or repeated lockdown been adequately assessed? Who decides what damage to society due to the virus as well as the lockdown is acceptable?
Why was overcrowding in slums, buses, garment factories, industries and manufacturing units never seen as a problem until now?
Is the government doing anything to reduce this kind of overcrowding – a risk factor for a host of other infections apart from COVID-19?