The elusive vaccine.

The world is on pins and needles, waiting for the magical drug to step into a post-COVID era, leaving an awful chapter written in pain, sorrow and fear behind. A coveted slot next to Louis Pasteur, Edward Wright and Green Morton is vacant for another Messiah who would rescue millions from horrible lockdowns and thousands more from ending up on ventilators.

In the absence of an effective vaccine, however, nations have been relying on lockdowns and confinements to counter the surge of virus. It has helped but at a very high cost. Two-month long lockdowns have wreaked havoc on economies; crumbling markets and surging unemployment besides which a number of other factors have caused an unprecedented global recession.

On the other hand, lockdowns have taken a serious toll on the mental well-being of the people. Reportedly, psychological illnesses leading to suicides, domestic violence and separations among the people locked-in have multiplied. The world has realised that lockdown is not a permanent solution to the virus; even a benign and brief lockdown is not healthy as it is unnatural and contrary to man's very make-up as a social animal.

Surprisingly, on the same planet, a community of 8 million people has been braving an inhuman lockdown since August 5, 2019 when the RSS-inspired BJP Government in Delhi annexed Jammu and Kashmir. The special and disputed status of the Indian Occupied Kashmir (IOK), recognised by international law and the Indian constitution both, was changed unilaterally to a union territory of India, ensuring unfettered powers to the Union Government to control the already-besieged valley.

A comprehensive enslavement plan encapsulating sweeping administrative changes aiming at altering the demographic structure of IOK and stripping its people of their rights was devised and enforced brutally. The constitutional rampage began with abrogation of Article 370, which accorded a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and continued with revocation of Article 35(A); the division of Jammu and Kashmir into two union territories; and most recently the revision of Hereditary State Subject laws and implementation of Domicile Certificate Rules 2020. With these substantive and undemocratic changes, IOK has been reduced to a colony ready to receive tens of thousands of Hindus poised to neutralise the Muslim majority in the valley.

Since the start of the illegal annexation of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, the beleaguered people of Kashmir...

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT