In early May 2020, The Hindu published an editorial titled “The mark of zero: on Containment of Covid-19 cases in Kerala.” At the time, Kerala had no new cases of Coronavirus on a few successive days. And the secular ecosystem made sure that the entire world heard about that. In fact, so smug was the tone of the editorial that it ended with the following words.
“It is a success born out of decades-old social revolution and development. This is also the reason why other States, even if they emulate the measures adopted by Kerala to fight the virus, may not be able to achieve the same level of success.”
Look at them using the R-word: revolution. Oh, they went there. They so went there. And they said they were so far ahead that nobody could catch up even if they tried. Ouch. What a way to rub other people’s noses into the ground.
Here is a grab from a popular fan video about the Kerala model, uploaded in mid-July. The song is titled “Up We Go.”
That’s Comrade Vijayan leading the way and Comrade Shailaja behind him, though at a distance. Great music, great composition. Great sycophancy. Not so lucky in terms of timing. Because, starting in mid-July, Coronavirus cases in Kerala began to explode.
In the last four days, Kerala has reported 1500+ cases on each day. A little far from the “mark of zero” envisioned by The Hindu.
And now, this.
Up we go!
No, I am not taking pleasure in this. I am merely speaking the harsh truth to a government and its supporters who have been on a publicity overdrive and insulting everyone else. Speaking “truth to power,” if you will.
Whether you have been living in a cave or outside it, you could not have missed the news of the great “Kerala model” of containing the Coronavirus. The Communists made sure we heard. And they had all the usual allies : BBC, Al Jazeera, New York Times, Guardian, Washington Post, UN, WHO, everything.
The sycophants who made that fan video saved me some effort by collecting some of the best headlines. See The Guardian here.
From Al Jazeera here.
From Huff Post here.
You could fill an entire museum with such headlines that have now turned into jokes that write themselves. Here is one of my favorites, published on Feb 14, 2020, which I believe should be a collector’s item.
The arrogance of the Kerala government hit a peak when Health Minister K K Shailaja badmouthed other Indian states in an interview to the BBC.
She literally said Goa has no hospitals. I understand she meant to say Mahe in the Union Territory of Puducherry and mixed up the two. But that’s the kind of gaffe that happens when you are badmouthing your own country to get praise from hostile foreign media.
Arrogance is never a good quality. But if you are going to be an arrogant winner who is in everyone’s faces with your success, make sure first that you really won.
As of now, Kerala has a little over 44,000 total cases. Just behind Madhya Pradesh which has 45,000 cases. Yes, after all that amazing publicity, Kerala ended up running even with Madhya Pradesh. Did I mention that Madhya Pradesh has a population over twice that of Kerala?
Now compare the fanfare around Madhya Pradesh model with that around Kerala model.
The active cases in Kerala stands at little over 15,000, 11th highest in the country currently.
Let me add something here. The ‘rockstar’ Health Minister now says Kerala could soon see 10,000 to 20,000 cases a day. I have my doubts if these experts exist, but more than that, I suspect it is a ploy. The ‘target’ of 10,000 – 20,000 cases a day will never be reached. And when it doesn’t happen, the rockstar will again claim credit for taking tough measures and proving these (possibly imaginary) experts wrong.
I have a question for the media too. Would anyone of you dare to ask now if Kerala Model touted for all of Feb – June was due to luck?
The Communists have deep roots in media that guarantees them favorable coverage no matter what. Other States, even if they emulate the measures adopted by Kerala’s Communist government to get publicity, may not be able to achieve the same level of success.
Anyone can fail at something. That’s life. But when you celebrate too soon, go all over the world crowing about your fake victory and being mean to everyone else, you have truly achieved ‘The mark of zero.’
