Mamata and KCR’s Muslim problem is not allowing them to take vaccine shots

While nearly every state Chief Minister around the country has at least taken one jab of the coronavirus vaccine, two leaders seem hesitant to take the plunge. West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao are yet to receive the vaccine dose. Despite the second wave of the pandemic taking the lives of several political leaders, it is amusing that these two have not opted to take the vaccine.

The reasons could simply boil down to their hatred for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and thinking of the vaccine as a BJP vaccine or perhaps more pertinently, their need to toe the line of Muslims across their respective states, who are not receptive to the idea of getting inoculated.

Reported by TFI extensively, there has been a growing vaccine hesitancy amongst the Muslim populace of the country. The Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) became a hotspot of Covid-19 infections because of this reason as the teaching and non-teaching staff perished without receiving the vaccine.

Read More: Muslims may be dying disproportionately due to vaccine hesitancy

The death and devastation inside the university campus have been caused by the fatal concoction of rumour mongering, vaccine hesitancy and general lack of awareness. The deaths on an unprecedented scale have happened despite the Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College (JNMC) present on the campus where the safety trials of Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin are still undergoing.

Read More: 38 reported deaths, more than 100 burials: Covid is raging like wildfire at AMU and the actual numbers are shocking

Despite having the brightest minds teaching on the campus, the shocking vaccine hesitancy and mistrust in the efficacy of the vaccine surprised one and all. And if highly educated professionals in AMU could succumb to this psyche, one can only imagine the situation in Muslim dominated regions of West Bengal and Telangana.

Both leaders and their existence in electoral politics are built upon the support of the minority community. Both indulge in rampant appeasement politics. While Mamata during the election trail was openly seen egging the Muslims to vote for TMC only, the Telangana CM gave a free pass to Muslims during the Eid festivities.

Reported by TFI, on the occasion of Eid, the privileged minority community, thriving under KCR was seen flouting Covid norms in Hyderabad — Asaduddin Owaisi’s backyard.

According to media reports, a huge crowd gathered at Hyderabad’s Charminar for shopping. Tens of thousands were seen milling at the Madina market indiscriminately without wearing any masks and without maintaining any social distancing.

Read More: In Owaisi’s Hyderabad of KCR’s Telangana, Covid rules are being flouted by the privileged minority community

The free pass given by KCR to the particular section of the state only strengthens his credentials of being an appeasement politician who is afraid of hurting his vote bank.

Even during India’s spirited fight against polio, many Muslims played spoilsport as they believed the polio drops were a means of making them impotent. During the Covid-19 fight since last year, many radical Muslims have harassed, attacked and abused India’s healthcare and frontline workers and refused treatment.

The conservative sections of the Muslim community have always opposed vaccination on religious grounds or conspiracy theories. By not receiving the vaccine jabs, both the leaders are only feeding the fears and hesitancy of the minority community.

Its high time that Mamata and KCR rise above the politics of vote bank and focus on saving humanity, of which the Muslims are also an integral part. Their decision to get inoculated might miff a few conservative and radical Muslims but the general populace will benefit and that is the role of a real leader in times as unprecedented as these.