Amid rising COVID-19 cases and deaths in the country and the Modi-led government under attack for lack of national policy, RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Saturday blamed the complacency on the part of government, administration and the public for the second wave that has swept the country. He noted the advice from doctors and medical practitioners was completely ignored after the first wave seemed to be under control.
Addressing a lecture on 'Positivity Unlimited', Bhagwat said the country should stay united and work as a team in these testing times, instead of pointing fingers at each other. "We are facing this situation because, whether it was the government, administration or public, everyone dropped their guard after the first wave despite indications from doctors," he said.
Against the backdrop of the projection of the third wave, Bhagwat asserted that ‘’We have to forget our internal differences and come together to fight this crisis. The whole of India has to work as a team, forgetting all discrimination, without getting bogged down in the discussions of merits. We will have time later to discuss each other's strengths and weaknesses.’’ "We will not be scared. We shall stand like a rock,'' he opined.
Bhagwat’s observation came at a time when the world media has been critical about the handling of the pandemic by the present establishment.
Bhagwat termed the COVID 19 pandemic a challenge before humanity, and India has to set an example for the world. Citing England's situation in World War II when everything seemed going against it, Bhagwat said a quote was written on the then prime minister Winston Churchill's desk which read, "There is no pessimism in this office. We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat. They don't exist". Similarly, he said, in this situation "we can't give up on courage. We need to also have steely resolve."
Amid a war of words, Bhagwat warned against irrational statements during the present crisis and called for working together to combat the virus. Bhagwat’s statement came on a day when the union health ministry on Saturday said India has recorded 3,26,098 fresh cases and 3,890 new deaths.
