Most did not know whether the pandemic was nature’s curse or a manmade weapon to achieve ulterior political motives. The American President Donald Trump strongly peddles his suspicion that China created the infectious germ to defeat him in his seeking the second term through the presidential election in November 2020.

People have faced 17 different kinds of epidemics in last three decades but none was the spread of disease through breathing germs in air. Germs multiplied in the infected humans to pass onto others within a distance of less than a yard. The human race including Chinese authorities have not found sure cure for it. Hence everyone had to resort to jamming opportunities for closer human contacts in public places. Everyone was told to stay inside the home forget economic activities, social contacts and seeking if nothing else, even blessings through simple or elaborate rites from idols of their ideals. They were told to lock their selves in isolation. Their imposed isolation was of 54 days.

The upper strata of society that had been fortunate to have reserves to last few months without addition of more each day was happy to remain locked inside their homes to give for the first time full attention to young in their family but the lower strata that formed 60 per cent of the population and depending for the daily bread to family on their daily earnings was pushed in critical want of finding bread for the family a week later as their reserves and capacity to get essentials exhausted in the week end.

All movement of humans were brought to halt with closure of rail, metro, bus and other inter and intra urban vehicular traffic as well as aerial traffic to prevent human contacts on a large scale. For the first time such a rigid measure was adopted to lock up people in places of their living. Only concession to keep open was to supplies of milk, grocery and medicines. Even though the government promised free supply of five kg grain free of cost to every poor individual every month and for three months, the restless poor strata undertook their home ward journey on their feet. Lack of public transport forced them to start walking though distance to their home village was few hundred miles.

The mass movement revived the political games to nullify whatever real or imaginary gains from the lockdown were realized. The Uttar Pradesh chief minister provided bus service to poor passing folks in thousands walking through highways of his state. His humanitarian action defied the lock down directive. The chief ministers of various states began clamouring to have folk from their states back without explaining why? Their state poor had gone away years ago to beat the lack of employment in their own states. They were not in a position to provide them employment as all economic activities were banned in their state apart from the lack of their ability to generate new jobs. Their clamouring demand was pure politics. It was obvious. As the lock down ended to permit return to old patterns, they may be compelled to return to their one room tenements or to their hatchets in slums to get back to their work so that their children can pursue their education in their old schools. It may turn out to be a major cause for their return.

The states apparently hope to use the swelling numbers of poor unemployed to get more in central assistance and also seek to escape the future burden of new taxation that is bound to come to raise revenue to meet the additional expenditure to meet new needs created by the corona pandemic. One can now afford to be charitable of not attaching the objective of a desire to consolidate vote banks politics. Even in purely human battle against the pandemic corona they could not shelve their immediate political concerns nor did they prevent their law and order maintenance authority from absurd use of their new powers. The Delhi police issued two such absurd regulations. Everyone was told of need for a curfew pass to move in open and the curfew pass is issued from the police head quarters. It did not explain how would a person without his own vehicle would or could reach the head quarters or what arrangements were made to avoid overcrowding in front of the main gate of the police chief’s office.

The second order was even more absurd but forced every vegetable seller to wind up his or her vend by six so they could reach their home before seven in the night. The order prevented human movement for 12 hours from seven in the evening. Did it mean that corona virus attacked only humans found on roads in the night and not who moved in the sun light?

Despite the rigid lock down for 54 days and in three installments to leave a huge mark on the economic health of India, there is no abating of the corona infection. Number of infected move up from 100 to nearly sixty thousand and the death toll mounting from two at the start of the lock down to cross the mark of three thousand by 50 days but without anyone getting wiser to the intriguing mystery why five million poor walking in large groups and for days did not catch it though few have perished due to starvation or fatigue or due to negligence of others. The government would need to investigate why larger numbers in upper strata felled victim to the pandemic and not lower strata. The government machinery also needs to evolve a concrete framework for fight against such disaster nature given or manmade.