In wake of trenchant criticism of Tablighi Jamaat gathering in Delhi that led to a spurt in COVID-19 positive cases at times taking communal undertones, Vice President M Venkaiah Naidu called for steering clear of untenable generalisations about communities and not viewing events from the prism of prejudices.
Referring to the irresponsible flouting of the precautionary social distancing guidelines in some states and exemplified by the recent congregation in New Delhi, the Vice President at the same time underscored the need for greater dissemination of guidelines and stricter implementation.
He said there has to be a greater awareness of the urgency and the scientific evidence about the spread of the virus necessitating a total societal response cutting across caste, creed, class, language, regions and religions.
He said there has to be a common understanding among all religious groups that social distancing norms cannot be taken lightly and there should not be large congregations till the current challenge is overcome.
“We hope there will be no more such unfortunate, blatant violations of the prescribed guidelines,” he observed.
Cautioning that superstitions and hearsay cannot be allowed to weaken our battle against COVID-19, Naidu described the spread of misinformation, especially on social media, as a “virus” that needs to be checked.
Observing that free flow of authentic information to quell rumours and misinformation is critical, Naidu in a Facebook post said the war on coronavirus cannot be won if we have an inadequate or faulty understanding of the magnitude of the problem.
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