Yatra cancellation row amid pandemic scare

The cancellation of the annual amaranth yatra followed by the revocation of the key decision in less than half an hour indicates that even in deciding the cancellation of a mega religious even government is more guided by political considerations and very less by humanistic approaches. The row over the conduct of amaranth yatra should not have attracted a controversy keeping in view the claim of the government that it takes all decision on political, social and religious events on the basis of health safety guidelines which lay emphasis on total lockdown for the purposes of containing COVID-19 pandemic. It is strange that foreign and domestic travelers were put under surveillance at quarantine centres in Jammu & Kashmir like other parts of the country and as such question can be asked that how come the government will allow lakhs of people to proceed for amaranth yatra when it is allowing even the migrant workers to move from state to state and region to region anywhere in the country. If the motive of the social distancing is to contain and control the COVID-19 pandemic spread in the country, then how come the government can go ahead with the yatra to risk the lives of over one crore population in Jammu & Kashmir. Since health safety of the people has become an uncompromising priority for the governments within and outside India, the deferments on mega religious, political, and social events are the matters of trivial importance. The governments in both developing and under developed countries have by consensus reached to a conclusion that restrictions on public gatherings have to be enforced till the time containment measures of health specialists show a steady fall in the no of deaths and positive cases.
Better for the ruling party in power at the centre to stop taking decisions on crucial religious events with a broader consensus purely on the basis of health safety guidelines of the health specialists but not on the grounds of political appeasement as even a single unwise decision would be tantamount to risking the lives of millions of people across the country. Think, rethink for the purposes of a calculated and a workable decision on the timing and conduct of Amarnath Yatra as human wisdom asks us to think twice before we speak.
While the health specialists are fighting battle against COVID-19 to stop continuing spree of deaths and positive cases, the politicians particularly those owning allegiance to the ruling party at the centre try to settle scores even over health safety guidelines pursued for saving the human lives. Better for the ruling party in power at the centre to stop taking decisions on crucial religious events with a broader consensus purely on the basis of health safety guidelines of the health specialists but not on the grounds of political appeasement as even a single unwise decision would be tantamount to risking the lives of millions of people across the country. Think; rethink for the purposes of a calculated and a workable decision on the timing and conduct of Amarnath Yatra as human wisdom asks us to think twice before we speak.