When PM Modi addressed the nation today morning with a video message, people from across the country were all ears, which is the usual case when he speaks. PM Modi has addressed the nation thrice thus far in a bid to talk directly to the people during these unprecedented times, when the country is faced with a raging pandemic.
On March 19th, PM Modi had called upon all Indians to observe ‘Janata Curfew’, and also to stand in the balconies/terraces to thank all those people who were on the frontline, battling COVID-19. This was to be done by clapping, blowing conch shells, ringing bells, etc. Needless to say, the entire nation was reverberating with sounds of thanksgiving at 5PM on March 22nd.
Today, PM Modi announced a similar unifying exercise, which cuts across religion, communities, ideologies and the usual barriers, to once again unite all Indians and remind everyone that we are in this fight together.
He asked all Indians to switch off all household lights on Sunday, 5th April, and stand in their balconies and terraces at 9 pm sharp, and light candles, diyas, torches and flashlights for nine minutes. He said that we have to dispel the darkness spread by coronavirus and give hope to the poor who are the most impacted by the nationwide lockdown.
On expected lines, liberals were all over the place as soon as PM Modi’s address was over. Although it was a roughly ten minute long address, liberals clinched to the fact that the Prime Minister had once again asked 1.3 billion Indians to unite using an exercise to be done at a specific time for a certain time period. And uniting the country is one thing which liberals seem to despise.
Shashi Tharoor span a conspiracy theory suggesting that PM Modi was invoking “auspicious elements which Hinduism associates with the number 9” to fight the Chinese virus. He also seemed to think that Ram Navami was today.
This is no accident: the PM spoke on Ram Navami at 9 am for 9 mins, asked us to light diyas & candles on 5/4 at 9 pm for 9 mins. He is invoking all the auspicious elements Hinduism associates with number 9. Back to Ram Bharose?! #COVID19 must be more serious than we thought!
— Shashi Tharoor (@ShashiTharoor) April 3, 2020
A person who thinks of himself to be a ‘historian’, Ramchandra Guha said that the government was soon about to amend the constitution and promote astrology, blind faith and voodoo. Because of course, lighting of candles and diyas is indicative of blind faith and voodoo. This is a blatant comment against the Christians of India, and of course, against the Hindus.
The Constitution lists as a citizen's fundamental duties "to develop the scientific temper, humanism and the spirit of inquiry and reform". An Amendment is in order; to ask us all to promote astrology and voodoo and blind faith instead.
— Ramachandra Guha (@Ram_Guha) April 3, 2020
Founding editor of a portal called The Wire, and a colleague of fake news reporter Siddharth Varadarajan, said this:
How much can events substitute real solutions on the ground. The millions of migrant labour and workers out of jobs in an economy falling off a cliff need concrete palliatives. Once this is delivered, candles can be lit permanently, not just for 9 minutes.
— M K Venu (@mkvenu1) April 3, 2020
The expert of unstable relationships and generally considered a pariah within the Lalu family, Tej Pratap Yadav had this to say: (although one can’t really call him a liberal, since the man has been having a continuous identity crisis for quite some time now.)
वैसे आप लालटेन भी जला सकते हैं!#9baje9minute
— Tej Pratap Yadav (@TejYadav14) April 3, 2020
In a manner which befits her legacy of handing out ‘befitting replies’, Taapsee Pannu didn’t really make the cut this time.
New task is here ! Yay yay yayy !!!
— taapsee pannu (@taapsee) April 3, 2020
Some not-so-important individuals waking up daily to get attention by deriding Modi couldn’t resist the urge to make a living by making a fool out of themselves.
Chronology samaj lijiye. Kaam to saare CM karenge, Modiji event karenge! #NarendraModi #Covid_19
— nikhil wagle (@waglenikhil) April 3, 2020
While Modiji wants citizens to shine a light for #9baje9minute, can his government also shine some light on #PMCaresFund and make it transparent?
Do read my piece where I pose some questions about this new venture by gormint.https://t.co/BLlrNMEIOA
— meghnad 🔗 (@Memeghnad) April 3, 2020
Hey #PMModi, I have a better idea. How about you get off your perpetual PR & Campaign mode and genuinely work for the country for the next 9 days & invite top 9 opposition parties' suggestions to fight against Corona instead of these #9baje9minute gimmicks. #मोदी_मदारी_बंदर_कौन https://t.co/RKzleB9fkQ
— Saral Patel (@SaralPatel) April 3, 2020
What all these ignoramuses collectively chose to ignore was the fact that a country of a billion people would be united once again, like it was on 22nd March, and set an example for all other nations, that the fight against COVID-19 will be won only when fought together. But again, when have we ever known liberals to behave like sane humans? Their philosophy as we know it, is in itself insane, to begin with. Hence, this madness.