“When the chips are down, these....civilised people, they’ll eat each other”

In Ahmedabad, since the last two days, don’t know how many WhatsApp messages have been circulating naming and shaming a girl who returned from the US, developed a fever, got tested and was found to be Corona-positive.

She and her father are being named and shamed because he went to a club for a walk and breakfast. Even as per these forwards, he did so BEFORE she tested positive for Corona. And since the results have come, they’ve been quarantined and have complied.

The messages being circulated include her and her family’s names, photos, address, even her medical test report including results on her menstrual cycles. The Club itself has atrociously messaged all members naming her father and her. Her residential Society has done the same. And countless others have jumped on as well.

I have heard about such cases from Kolkata, Surat and more cities too. There was news from Kolhapur of a man being thrashed publicly merely for sneezing. There is news about an elderly couple in Bangalore not being allowed to enter their own home because they’d merely returned from the US.

Even though I don’t endorse it, I can still comprehend people sharing messages about those who deliberately hid their travel history or ran away from a quarantine or went meeting people freely after being tested positive. But what was this girl’s fault? She didn’t know she has Corona and as soon as she found out, her family and her got quarantined and complied.

What example are we setting by naming, shaming, publicly exposing people who unfortunately ended up suffering from what could happen to any of us any day?!

I can understand wanting to track everyone they interacted with and testing/quarantining them. Authorities can do so by asking them for details and getting in touch with each of those people, at most a government-authorised list can be declared with only names and cities of those infected, asking those who came into contact with them to get in touch on a helpline.

But this behaviour shows how voyeuristic and sensationalising we are (no wonder our news channels have gone to the dogs) and it also shows how our self-preservation instinct is kicking in + how little faith we have in the government to track and protect us (ironic, especially for a State known for blanket support to this government).

As co-members of one race, as humans in a world where humane and sensitive behaviour is still considered a virtue, please exercise more restraint.

“When the chips are down, these....civilised people, they’ll eat each other”, let’s not prove this right.