Pandemic, Social Control & Social Audit: The Indivisible Linkage

Pandemic, Social Control, & Social Audit: The Indivisible Linkage

Introduction

My senior colleague, a well-established Professor of History, has been on a rampage with his blog writing, pounding social media every day, thanks to the pandemic. Taking a clue from there, let me restart my blog from an epidemic related issue itself.  

The pandemic in the eye of the commoner has been observed as a situation where his usual routine as a Citizen has been affected to a very great extent. In other words, there has been a curtailment of one's free choices (not to be confused with freedom). The country as a whole was not prepared to embrace the pandemic of this proportion, where the extreme randomization of the distribution of mortality and the lack of availability of data on the virus, each and everyone is terrified for his/her life. 

Thus, we enter into a Hobbesian state (a medieval idea) where self-preservation gets paramount, and all conditioned values get vaporized at no time, where a human being is afraid of a fellow human being for the first time since modernity. This fear of human to human necessarily gives scope for a greater force to plead salvation, and there the instrumentalities of Government such as the service sectors get a never before attention. However, since Government is nothing but a human enterprise, while the relevance of Government is upheld, glorified and worshipped, the humans who run the show are detested. 

I never imagined that western philosophy, together with the entire western civilization, is undergoing a deep crisis. Most of what those "great" philosophers write is more or less pointless. In the words of my bosom friend and philosopher Predrag Cickovacki, a Baltic philosopher, the entire paradigm of western civilization has collapsed. It could hardly be of any inspiration for anyone, in the West or outside." Thus, the Globe as a whole is under crisis. Just like the earthquake of 1755 on November 1 when Feast of All Saints was celebrated, pulverized the churches together with the beliefs of the believers of Church, this pandemic had made even Temple Gods boycott the Dharshan of people, which had made several people introspect whether Gods in Temple have no control over the epidemic? 

The recent report that scores of priests of the sacred Tirumala Tirpathy Devasthanam have been infected with the Novel Corona Virus leaves the people clueless.It is demotivating to people how come their saviour as well as an assured guarantor of money flow can forsake them. Temple Dharshans cannot be done via Video Conferencing because the experience is missing along with the tasty Prasadham.This holds good for hour-long meetings through video conferencing ,where both parties have to arrange their refreshments.There is no explanation for this fear, hopelessness and above all even a discussion is not possible because each one if afraid of every one. 'Homo Homnus lupus' (Hobbesian expression). Well, there are exceptions too, who feel that haven taken AYUSH recommended medicines  they are like Mahabarata Karna, with his Kavach, but let me not disturb them or their beliefs, I being a person with such a feeling. 

With the above as the setting, I wish to explore how this crisis has factored in our day to day life to me as a Citizen and then as a Teacher of a reputed University and as a man with a family of intimidating members with their skills of introspection both young and old. I being the sle point of contact to outer world, is forced on a domestic quarantine, which I feel right. Fear is universal.

To begin with let me start from today onwards with incidents what I see and hear around me in Puducherry, a federally controlled territory that has been located in the South-Eastern part of India, a former French settlement (Colony is offensive in the diction of my French Diplomat friends, so it is a settlement). The Treaty of Cession was signed by then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and then Plenipotentiary of France in India S. Ostrorog on May 28, 1956. By the Treaty, France ceded to India in full sovereignty the territory of the Establishments of Pondicherry, Karikal, Mahe and Yanam with effect from July 1^st  1963. 

This transfer, in my opinion, is an unfinished agenda, which was not taken up seriously by the then Government of India and the elected Governments of the Union Territory of Puducherry. Today we can see Puducherry Union Territory as a legislature without legislative power, the executive side-lining the state's elected Chief Minister and a judicial system that is understaffed and rudimentary. The Lieutenant Governor is designated as the Administrator of the UT parellel to the elected representatives. That the Madras High Court has jurisdiction over the Union Territory of Puducherry, the situation is better. Thus with these genetic infirmities, the Union Territory has been functioning under the UT Act 1963 and rules binding thereof, which was conveniently updated for the past 50 years. Therefore, my narration on the administrative issues of UT of Puducherry should be viewed on this aspect, and I have nothing against any individuals in the system.

I shall be writing the rest tomorrow on an exciting aspect of Police Constables collecting fines with a bill book at every junction for the Local Administration Department. I am giving two copies of the Challans for your perusal and let me see if you can get my questions on them. I shall continue tomorrow, the rest ... Have a Nice Day ahead ....