hat we’re experiencing now may be termed as one of the worst times in history, when the whole of humanity exhausted its might, fighting an invisible enemy to avoid a possible extinction.
It’s a war in which winning seems to be a remote possibility for us. It’s a time of great frustration, a great blow to our pride as humans. It’s also a time when the entire world is scared to death.
Despite all these frustrations, we are also trying to protect ourselves against this virus that is swarming all the localities across the world. People across the world are staying indoors so that the virus doesn’t infect them. Till now, staying away from one another seems to be the only means to staying alive.
Experiences in Italy and Iran are shocking. The people in those countries perhaps didn’t realize what this virus could do.
They thought it was a just another flu and it would pass. It was a late awakening for them. It looks like they may have to pay direly for this late realization.
In Bangladesh, too, for whatever reason, it has been a late realization for us. We failed to understand the seriousness of the contamination; we failed to restrict ourselves when there was still time.
We all know that there are also serious financial repercussions for shutting everything down. People will lose jobs, the day-earners will go unfed.
The economic consequences are already visible. The rickshaw-pullers don’t have passengers to pull, the roadside chanachur-wallahs and phuchka-wallahs don’t have customers any more. Gradually, everybody has started to keep themselves indoors.
The factories will be shut down, the exports and imports will stop. Very soon, the day-labourers will go out of work. A financial disaster will devastate our economy.
But that doesn’t mean we have to lead our lives as we did before the outbreak of the virus. There’s only one option right now until the scientists develop a vaccine for this virus. We have to stay indoors and act wisely.
Until then, we are in the process of being ruffled by an epidemiological storm which may last long -- very long.
In Bangladesh, we have committed some blunders by not analyzing the situations in the affected countries and not properly informing the people about the consequences. We thought proper information might create panic among the masses.
The panic was bound to happen; it was just a matter of time.
We didn’t restrict the flights carrying potential infected persons from abroad. Our way of vigilance at the ports and airports was too cumbersome. We didn’t know what to do or how to do and we didn’t do anything. Our business-as-usual attitude may have allowed thousands of infected carriers to enter the country and it looks like they are spreading the virus among the masses.
We have to stop mass gatherings. In the mosques, in the marketplace, at the party centres, on public transport -- everywhere. We have watched that some countries have banned all these kinds of public gatherings by enforcing curfews.
In our country, we have seen some people are still trying to gain political mileage in the name of religion. These people are still asking the masses to come together for prayers. This would be an act of insanity right now.
We need a national task-force with the prime minister at the helms. The task-force should have representatives from the medical community, scientists, armed forces, and businesses.
The task-force must run everything across the country at the local level. We haven’t seen any actions by the local level political leaders and government officials. This is urgent.
I had written three weeks ago in and alerted about an impending apocalypse. Well, the apocalypse is happening now.
We should be able to see that; we should be able to realize the gravity of the situation; we must fight this epidemic by applying intellect and enforcing wise decisions.
I request the country-men as well as the national policy-makers to rise up to the occasion and fight this together.
Ekram Kabir is a story-teller. His other works can be found on ekramkabir.com.
