Kofi Annan, the former Secretary General of the United Nations, has said ,”Globalisation is a universal truth, to criticise the globalisation means to criticise the nature”.
The society we live in is modern, the 21st century society. It is the society which is civilized, educated, developed, techno savvy and globalised society. The man has done a tremendous job in each and every aspect of human life and has reached the heights at which he has been never before. Through the science he has made life easy by different inventions, through economy has made life comfortable and decent and through politics has made it honourable and worth to live.
All these processes has led to the new process of globalisation, the globalisation is the idea of borderless world, the widening ,deepening and speeding up of worldwide inter-connectedness and the shaping of the idea that the whole mankind is one. Modern world is purely a global village, everything is within reach and nothing exist beyond borders.
Globalisation has brought many comforts to the human beings as there are many positives of it like it has made borders soft, provided the opportunities for economic development, minimised the distances, led to the rapid increase in knowledge and many more.
But it has also many negatives like the diminishing of state sovereignty, erosion of cultural and national identities, religious extremism, exploitation of the poor and the spread of diseases beyond the borders.
In ancient times diseases too used to have nationalities that the African diseases, Arab diseases, Asian diseases, American diseases etc but as of now when the economy and technology knows no border like the diseases too has became global and has a global reach.
The current Coronavirus too has shown it’s global character. It originated in Wuhan (China) but has spread to about 185 countries. Each and every corner of the world is suffering the devastation which the virus has caused. The people of the world are so much interlinked and inter-connected, the common man was beyond this understanding before the spread of the COVID-19. First when the virus developed there in Wuhan, people used to call it the “China Virus” but when it reached to the backyard everyone is equally frightened and equally responsible for its further spread.
In one region it was carried through the business, in the other region through education, somewhere through the entertainment, somewher through the sports and in other regions of the world through the religion. The carrier has walked the distance and carried the virus with himself or herself.
At present it has created the choas and confusion allover the wold. It has derailed China, panicked the United States, devasted the Italy and trembled the Iran. It has led to the worldwide lockdown and the downfall in the share markets, it will definitely force the world for shocking economic slowdown and may led to the tremendous economic recession globally.
As already mentioned that everything today is global so is the virus and to limit its reach is very very difficult if not impossible.
There are the people who criticise the carriers of this virus. Somewhere they are criticized on being careless and ignorant and in other places these are criticized of being selfish, cunning, lathergic and motivated. In our part of the world mostly two groups are facing the wrath of critics. These two are the people who were on a religious pilgrimage or tour and the students studying in the foreign territories. Among these too, the two particular groups has been the epicenter of criticism that is the “Tabligi Jamaat” and the medical students . Although the virus may have reached through other means too, that is diplomacy, trade, sports, culture and other forms of globalisation. But the common man here is of the view that it has been brought by these two hence is strongly criticising them. He is of the opinion that if these two had not travelled we may have never seen this virus but they are mistaken because it was bound to reach here given the wide nature and reach of the globalisation.
The administration of the Jammu and Kashmir tried its best ( in theory ) to deny the entry to the virus and remained mostly concerned with the people with foreign travel history. But the virus made its entry despite tight borders because to limit the influence of globalisation is beyond the control of any modern day administration be it authoritarian or democratic.
It hardly matters now that whether you have a foreign travel history or not when the virus is already in the Jammu, Srinagar, Budgam, Bandipora, Rajouri etc etc. It is not now beyond the international borders only in China, Italy, Spain, USA, Iran, Pakistan etc etc. but within the territorial limits of India. It is in the East ,it is in the West, it is in North and the South. It is in the centre ( Delhi) and in periphery the UT of Ladakh. Gone are the days when it was a long distance virus but now it is in our neighborhood.
The deadly virus neither discriminates on the caste, colour, status or gender nor is friendly to any particular religion but has equal approach to all around it. Although it is more fatal to the aged but has also killed the young.
The scientists allover the world tried their best but are yet to have the vaccine which is 100% relevant to the COVID-19. The doctors are tireless in their duties and their efforts depict the true meaning of professionalism (pure to their Hippocratic Oath). The entire fraternity along with the WHO, after good research, devised some precautions and are expecting from we to follow such precautions. The most important in it is social distance and physical distance, c.
We as the responsible global citizens must strictly follow the necessary precautions most importantly the ” keep distance precaution ” and for this we have to stay at home, avoid gatherings, shun the unnecessary travel.
#Save yourself from the virus save humanity”.
Stay home stay safe
Masood Ali Mir is a social activist and a freelancer and can be mailed at [email protected]
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