Karnataka Health Minister's Howler: "Only God Can Help Save Us"
Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
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By Slogger
First publised on 2020-07-16 15:51:29
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Holding an extreme view and carting the ball out of the park is what interests him most. He is a hard hitter at all times. Fasten your seatbelts and read.
View all posts by this Author
Even as the Covid-19 situation in Karnataka worsens by the day (the state has now become the fourth most infected, after Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Delhi) B Sriramulu, the health minister of Karnataka, has said that "Only God can help save us". If God was the one who would save us from everything then what is the need for holding elections and letting the so-called people's representatives run the government?
Although the minister has clarified that his statement was misinterpreted and he had said that if people do not cooperate and if a vaccine is not found soon enough, then only God can save us, it does little to take away from the stupidity of his remark.
The minister was miffed because the opposition was charging the government with not doing enough to prevent the spread of the virus. But instead of replying with what steps the government was taking for that and with what results, he chose to leave it to God.
He could have well added that the citizens were incurring God's wrath for their collective sins and coronavirus was God's way of punishing them for it. He could have also suggested ways in which the people could have appeased the Gods and ask for forgiveness. In fact, he could have announced a grand scheme, involving an expenditure of a substantial amount, to hold religious ceremonies to appease the gods.
Really, when ministers start talking like sadhus, there is not much hope for our nation. Sriramulu would do well to take decisions to stop the spread of the virus in the state. If people are not cooperating, he has the backing of the law. He should take action against the offenders. The government should study how other states are combating the disease and its spread and apply them instead of hoping that God will save the people. For, even God helps those who help themselves.
