Dr. Mithilesh Kumar Thakur
The Covid-19 pandemic, which embarked upon its journey from its epicenter, Wuhan province in China a few months ago has wreaked havoc in almost all the countries; in 176 countries across the globe to be precise. It has emerged as a massive menace against humanity with its multiple repercussion and ramifications all set to hit the biosphere with apocalypse and annihilation. Its outbreak is dubbed as infliction of punishment for humankind for their audacity and transgression of human limitations and deliberate collision with the course of nature out of utterly brazen defiance against its immutable laws. As a result, entire humanity is left imperiled and vulnerable against fire and fury of nature, giving a wake-up call for compassion, concern and universal co-operating to ensure humankind’s survival, remaining united in waging a global war against corona virus as warriors regardless of who we are and what we are.
The world before the outbreak of Covid-19 was the global one. Globalization is not an unmixed blessing in itself. On the positive side, it has proved to be a stimulus and booster of developments in multiple ways. To categorically elaborate its positive impacts and commendable contributions to the world, it has benefited people in general and nations worldwide, as it has helped promote the emergence of interdependent, interconnected and complex systems across the world. On the other hand, on the negative side it has resulted in multiple widespread adverse consequences which have happened due to multiple factors some of which been unintended and unforeseen. They sometimes have occurred due to some petty changes in initial conditions and sensitive dependence on these small changes have had adversely impacted the complex system of the world. This is what is called ‘butterfly effect’ which globalization has generated. On average, globalization has baled 2 million people out of poverty. Moreover, it has further provided people to have access to employment, sanitization, nutrition and public health adding to average life expectancy to the world’s population yet it has failed to empower governments across the world to address pressing problems like inequality and regional inequity through taxation and redistribution. The worst of all, it has failed to ensure delivery of service for people much to our dismay and contrary to its expectation.
If history is a documentary evidence to go by, after the First World War, leaders like Woodrow Wilson and Franklin D Roosevelt played a very crucial and commendable role in leading the international community to the right path thereby guiding the destiny of the world, charting out completely a new course for people of the then time. Moreover, it was under the proper guidance and the leadership of no less a person than Franklin D Roosevelt that international institutions like the World Bank, IMF and the United Nations as well were established after the Second World War.
Unlike the pre pandemic era, the entire world is going through radical changes in an unprecedented form following the outbreak of Covid-19 pandemic. The entire humanity is left confused and clueless about how to tackle the pandemic. Not to speak of people with moderate mind, even the best of minds are unaware of how to find effective treatment and prevention of the disease in terms of medicine or vaccine. The failure to discover efficacious medications for the disease is a challenge for medical science. Such overwhelming happenings are all sure to adversely impact on the world order leading human kind to have adequately valid reasons to examine the change going on globally. People across the world are going through a change in their perceptions about human values for betterment. They realize that money, material and power have a very limited role, to play, just being relegated to leading materialistic life only but they are too powerless to save their lives against the onslaught of the pandemic. In this case, human relations alone will shield them as emotional support and healings to withstand its adverse impacts. Naturally, human relations will deepen with their growing realization that they can live their lives even with little they have. Furthermore, they will realize the value of family, their parents, their relatives and, above all, their children with whom they spend their quality time. The people whom we take for granted even though they deliver us service be it medical service or other essential service will deserve to have right place as frontline workers as warriors and saviors for humanity. They will be very much particular about how to maintain their personal health and hygiene which will be on their highest priority out of concern for their safety and survival.
After every crisis, which eventually blows over, this crisis, will also recede and soon after its evaporation, the world will have changed dramatically but human race will remain the same. They will continue to be the same as they have always been in a frantic quest for wealth and power both within their nations and beyond. The scenario that will fast unfold on the international level will be that nations in general will be in a relentless struggle to gain strategic advantage over others in serving their vested interests, and will be compelled by the core concern of real ‘politik’ in furthering their common interest. The hard fact that will be a haunting reality that the countries assuming a relative edge over others in the post-pandemic world will present a very extensive vision for a new world order competing for a proper world order. If India wishes to play a leadership role to present a vision for a more inclusive world characterized by universal co-operation, it needs to back up and bolster with its own example on both domestics and international levels. In any emerging post pandemic world order, irrespective of whether this being U.S. centric or China centric, there is every possibility that India which being a universe itself, will occupy a very determining role. The question that needs to be answered is which role Nepal and India will play- the role as a part of problem or as part of the solution to the problem. We have every reason to believe that Nepal and India will emerge stronger as a nation, no longer being influenced by divisive political agenda, and will definitely work towards a more inclusive country embracing all of us regardless of petty considerations like caste, creed and class. The role of Nepal and that of India in the future world order will finally be determined by the way they will tackle this crisis.
Like other countries across the world in general and the South East Asian countries in particular, Nepal could not remain immune and insulated to the scourge of Covid-19 pandemic. As about its massive outbreak in Nepal is concerned, the first case of Covid-19 on record in Nepal took place in 23rd of January 2020. A 31 year-old student pursuing study in Wuhan, China was back to Kathmandu on January 9, 2020 and was tested positive for Covid-19. I think this, case being perhaps the first confirmed one of Covid-19 on record in South Asia, sounded a note of alarm and apprehension for the spread of the pandemic among the populace over here, triggering them to get frightened over it and then how to take preventive measures to save their lives subsequently following the fast and unfolding scenario.
As about Nepal’s strategic preparedness to tackle the pandemic is concerned, it did not lag behind like other countries in tackling the menace of the pandemic. With all the available resources, expertise, equipments and capable work force, at all different possible levels, it took the best possible initiatives to prevent the widespread outbreak of disease among the people. It made elaborate preparations, albeit well within its available means and measures, ensuring procurement of essential supplies including equipments medicine, medications, upgrading of health infrastructures, providing training and sharing expertise with health personnel about how to combat and cope with the pandemic on the ground level in a mission mode. Above all, it continued to disseminate awareness among people about how to take precautionary measures like following social distancing measures, wearing mask, applying sanitizers as pre-emptive bids to prevent its spread with messianic zeal, and mobilizing resources. Yet its spread could not remain undeterred as the first case of the local transmission occurred on 4 April 2020 in Kailali District and the first Covid-19 struck death took place on 14 May 2020. Naturally, later a countrywide lockdown was clamped down on 24 March on 2020 and was lifted on 21 July 2020. Like other countries, Nepal too made all-out efforts to control the disease streamlining its health, infrastructure and sealing off its international borders with Nepal and China completely to curb down the spread of the disease. In its fight against the disease, the SAARC countries together with other foreign countries came forward pledging to co-operate in controlling and combating it.
The post Covid-19 impact has left Nepal in dire financial straits. Among other sectors adversely impacted by Covid-19, tourism sector bore the brunt. The Ministry of Tourism and Civil Aviation was compelled to call off the Visit Nepal 2020 Campaign that was slated to be launched in our country with elaborate preparations and fanfare. Moreover, the adverse fall-out of Covid-19 pandemic as warned by the World Bank will be extremely dire and disastrous. According to its stern warning, the economy of Nepal will be hard hit due to drastic decline in foreign employment with manufacturing and construction sector particularly getting pushed back on the brink of collapse leaving it with dismal and bleak prospects of GDP not remaining in a position to bounce back to normalcy due to non-economic stimuli in sight. The worst of all, as per the given warning, 1/3rd of the country’s population will be pushed well below poverty line. It will be a long haul for a country like ours to revive economic vibrancy and recover buoyancy through multiple measures of resilience and economic recuperations to limp back to normalcy.
As part of the role played by Nepal and India in fostering universal co-operation, in commensurate with its inclusive all out efforts on the domestic level, Nepal and India must come forward to be part of international efforts to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic in multilateral, regional and bilateral forms. Out of humanitarian gestures and philanthropic cause and in a strategic sense as well, it is a major producer of pharmaceutical ingredients for other countries. Moreover, it is equally worth mentioning that among all the SAARC countries, India has played a crucial part to be ongoing international efforts in developing vaccine and ramping up its production capacity in proportion to our domestic and international need for it.
The history of crises is pointer to a hard fact that fundamental changes come close on the heels of the crisis which recedes. Do we dare nurture a hope that this crisis will bring about a change for betterment? It will require a radical change on our part in the framework of policy and mindset to tackle resultant injustices and inequalities reflected by escalation in sporadic incident violence. It is high time that the government formulated a massive roadmap to tackle the multiple consequences of Corona including health and economic ones and to ensure how to make investments extensively required in universal health care, education and social security or at least the government must lay out a plan to mobilize resources to back up these plans with massive funding no matter what fiscal deficit will be, failing which dire social consequences such as chaos and anarchy will arise as it happened in Bandra and in other parts of India some months back. The worst of all, the growing incident of injustices and that of the government’s apathetic attitude towards plight and predicament will ultimately lead to widespread outrage too severe to be tackled and controlled.
Right now, the entire humanity is grappling with global crisis: Covid-19 pandemic. Perhaps this is the most massive ever crisis of this generation. In time to come, what type of the fate and the scenario of the world will emerge will completely be contingent upon the type of decision the government’s across the world and people in general will take. This will not only set up a new form of our health system but also mould and modulate our economy, politics and culture in a novel way. Therefore, it is extremely imperative for all of us to take strategically smart moves and measures to stay and cope with the existing situations. Equally, will we have to bear in our mind like an indelible imprint the far-reaching implications of our decisions? When we have to single out options, we should ask from ourselves this question only as to how to combat the ever-magnifying menace of Corona but also ask this question as well as to what type of the world we will live in after this catastrophe blows over. Yes, this upheaval induced by Corona will recede and humanity will escape unhurt and intact, and most of us will be left to survive to see the shimmering sunlight of next day – but this world of ours will be a transformed one.
References
Chaturvedi, VK. “What the new world order will look like, post- COVID-19.” Fistpost.com. 20 April 2020
“COVID-19 Pandemic in Nepal.” Wikipedia. Accessed on 26 October 2020.
IAN, Goldin and Mariathasan, Mike. “The Butterfly Defect: How Globalization Creates Systemic Risks, and What to Do about It.” Book Verdict.com, 1 April 2014.
Singh, Sujatha. “India in the post-pandemic world.” The Hindu. 28 April 2020.
[Dr. Mithilesh Kumar Thakur, M.Phil and Ph.D in English, is Associate Professor at the Department of English, Janak Hazari Vidyapith (NSU), Janakpur Dham, Nepal.]