As the second wave of the pandemic wreaks havoc across the country, there is now ample documentation of how the government let its guard down and declared victory against the virus too early, disregarding scientific advice and data. The virus hit back with deadlier mutant variations. The pandemic was unavoidable, but its fallout could have been prevented.
As attempts are made now to pass off this colossal disaster as an act of god or a misfortune that none could control, predict or prevent, let us examine the distinction between misfortune and injustice that was proposed by eminent political theorist Judith Shklar in her book TheFaces of Injustice. Shklar says that natural disasters like earthquakes or pandemics can be viewed as either an instance of misfortune or injustice, depending on how the powers that be respond to the initial event. These responses could well be an act of injustice — either passive or active — that is beyond the natural disaster itself, if human and political factors exacerbate the suffering.
For instance, when public authorities turn a blind eye and choose not to mitigate the suffering of the affected people. Or if governments fail to prepare well in advance against a natural disaster, despite warnings made possible by technological advancements. In such an event, it is not right to view it as a case of misfortune beyond human control. Instead, the proper way to make sense of it is as a case of flagrant injustice, where immense suffering and loss of life could have been prevented if the people in power and positions of responsibility had acted as they are mandated to.
Victims’ voices
For a healthy, democratic polity, it is crucial to guard against attempts to mistake injustice with misfortune. Even though it isn’t always easy to draw the line, it is crucial to foreground the perspective of the victims and take their view into account in any evaluation of what constitutes injustice and how to address it. Because “anything less,” as Shklar points out, “is not only unfair, it is also politically dangerous.”
Further, the expression of anger by the victims and those who speak on their behalf — whether journalists or members of civil society — holds governments to account. The silencing of these voices only extends the injustice further.
When we look at the government’s response to the ongoing public health crisis, it becomes abundantly clear how the natural disaster soon turned into injustice. The super-spreader religious festivals and multi-phase elections held against scientific advice are evidence of this.
Then there is the Central Vista project. To go ahead with a ₹20,000-crore vanity project betrays insensitivity. It becomes a case of injustice because the money could have been used to ramp up medical supplies, build hospitals or create field hospitals, better equip existing ones, or organise free vaccination for all citizens.
Home Minister Amit Shah at an election rally in Siliguri
Vaccine Darwinism
The government’s vaccination policy leaves as vital a matter of public health as preventive protection to the mercy of market forces. If the country fails to ensure large-scale and quick vaccination for a majority of its population, will it be misfortune or active injustice?
In all these scenarios, it is the deliberate selection of one action over another in the face of a deadly pandemic that turns misfortune into injustice, or, in fact, makes it an instance of active injustice. All too often in India, people in power who are responsible for such injustices easily get away with it because they are able to portray these events as misfortune for which, they claim, they cannot be blamed.
The novel coronavirus is a massive natural disaster that has struck the world, and India is no exception. But the subsequent botched response is a consequence of all-too-human action and inaction. Stalin infamously said, “The death of one man is a tragedy. The death of a million is a statistic.” For a government that deals with citizens as data points and seems to live only by electoral arithmetic, Stalin’s words may hold true for the lakhs of COVID-19 deaths too. But for those who mourn their loved ones, every death is a personal tragedy. Misfortune can be handled and mitigated; active injustice must be opposed.
The people who have fallen gravely sick or have died in the second wave are not merely unfortunate. They are the victims of injustice.
The author teaches Political Science at a college in Kashmir.
