Coronavirus Versus Coruption-20 virus

Coronavirus Versus Coruption-20 virus

Siddhi B. Ranjitkar

As of April 11, 2020, the covid-19 virus popularly known as coronavirus had already executed more than one hundred thousands folks including some frontline warriors: doctors, nurses, health workers, ambulance drivers, and other drivers driving the provision and daily needs trucks, law enforcement people, and other folks running the provision stores and other stores. The virus had made billions of people powerless, and frightened, and locked them down at home; consequently, millions of folks remained where they were, and had to be far away from their families and loved ones. Nepalis rushing back home found themselves on the border between Nepal and India stranded. They could not reach home even though they were only a few kilometers away from their homes. Only one thing the coronavirus could not touch was the corruption-20 virus so prevalent in Nepal.

Millions of folks had been without foods and drinks, as they could not go to work and earn something for living, as the coronavirus would send them to heaven or hell if they were dare to come out of their homes. No matter whether they were millionaires, billionaires or prime ministers, presidents, or the medical warriors, the coronavirus did not spare if the virus had chance to enter into the lungs and destroyed them to the extent possible stopping them to breadth. Thus, the virus sends the humans to the divine world untimely.

The coronavirus had also hit hard all the economic sectors but very hard the agriculture particularly the poultry, dairy, horticulture, vegetable, and floriculture farmers. The poultry association said that the poultry industry had been losing hundreds of millions of rupees daily because millions of eggs and chicken meat could not reach the market, not to mention the sale. They needed to keep the chicken but the feeds had been running out of the stock very fast. On the one hand the poultry industries had to face the lack of the market of the poultry products on the other hand they had to feed the chicken. In other words their investment continued. Dairy industry could not sell milks; none could stop cows giving milks. Millions of rupees worth of banana had been rotting in the field because the virus stopped the farmers to take the fruits to the market. Vegetable farmers could not sell their products, which went back to be the compost in the field. Flowers went to the compost pits.

Even Nepal Electricity Authority (NEA) had to face the economic consequences because of the lack of the demand for electricity. Factories, business offices, hotels and restaurants and other enterprises had come to the dead end. They did not need power to use causing the NEA to lose billions of rupees. Nobody knew when the virus would disappear. As long as the virus continued to flourish threatening to destroy the humanity, none could have any gains except for the factories producing medical supplies. Everybody had to stay home not to take any hits from the virus thus the entire economic activities had come to standstill for fear of the invisible enemy: the virus sneaking up on the human bodies.

The virus had not only affected the human activities but also the divine activities, too. Outings of many deities had been suspended. The festivals of divinities had been mere formalities elsewhere in Nepal. Bisket Jatra in Bhaktapur, the Vajrayogine Jatra in Sakhu, the Rato Macchendranath Jatra in Patan, and many other jatras to be held in April had been put off. Even the great Christian festival: Easter had been celebrated without the mass meeting, without children going after the Easter eggs and so on. Muslims could not convene the Friday prayers in mosques because of the possibility of coronavirus infecting them.

The virus had mercilessly killed all the human activities. Social activities such as weddings, adulthood ceremonies, and other social functions had been faded away for fear of the coronavirus infecting them. Practically, the virus had made everybody powerless and helpless. Once folks became the victims of the coronavirus, even the ventilators could not probably save them. The virus would send them to stay with the respective divinities of different faiths. That is why folks stay home and keep safe from the virus, and they did not dare to do anything that would make some folks to assembly.

The coronavirus had forced hundreds of thousands of Nepalis to walk to their final destinations. Even from Kathmandu, thousands of Nepalis walked away defying the lockdown. Millions of people walked to their home in India. How many of them who dared to walk, had left the human world for the eternal peace in heaven, nobody probably knew it, yet.

The virus also forced the local governments to present the relief package worth of one thousand rupees each to the folks the virus had forced to stay home without having the possibility of earning livelihood. Minister for Federal Affairs and General Administration Hridesh Tripathi told the anchor of the news-plus program of the Thaha FM Radio on the morning of April 11, 2020 that the local governments had already distributed the relief packages to more than three hundred thousands folks. The victims of the coronavirus needing the relief packages might be in millions, as even the state employees at the low levels would need the relief packages because they could not keep the reserve of provisions required for not more than two weeks. The lockdown has been already on the third week; nobody knows how far it would go. Even the lucky ones who received the relief packages had been the favorites of the distributors.

Apparently, the local governments had been working so smartly. The coronavirus had made it clear that the local and provincial governments were so important at the time of the national crisis and disaster. Minister Tripathi even told that the importance of the local governments had been so clear because they had been instrumental to identify the returnees, and the virus victims so minutely. He also told that in absence of the local governments, the distribution of the relief packages aftermath of the earthquakes in 2015 had not been so effective as of today.  So, the federal system was working so well.

One thing the coronavirus could not even dare to see not to mention touch had been the corruption-20 virus so prevalent in Nepal. Obviously, corruption-20 virus had been so strong that even the deadly coronavirus became helpless and let the corruption-20 virus thrive even when the coronavirus had been so prevalent in the human world.

As the coronavirus, the corruption-20 virus had been compassion less, mercy less, did not do any justice to anybody, but activated the sinners. The corruption-20 virus had infected every minister and prime minister, state employees, and even business folks and some common folks, too. Unlike the coronavirus that had disabled millions of humans, the corruption-20 virus had energized the prime minister and ministers, and unscrupulous businesspeople, and other service providers making them so active to make money even when the entire population had been deactivated during the outbreak of the deadly coronavirus.

The corruption-20 virus had made the prime minister physically so powerful and mentally, too that he could defend the corruption-20 virus infected ministers, officials, and even cadres and their preferred private companies. The corruption-20 virus had blinded the prime minister so much that he could not see the corruption in purchasing the medical supplies to fight against the coronavirus. He even went on safeguarding other ministers from the possible fall after the corruption-20 virus infected them. The virus had made the mind of the prime minister so tough that he could not believe that the irregularities in the state businesses had been happening. He was even surer than before that he had the zero tolerance of corruption. Thus, the corruption-20 virus had been so actively working on the mind and the body of the prime minister.

The corruption-20 virus had infected not only the state administration but also so many business folks, too, and even some common folks. When the common folks or the business folks infected with the corruption-20 virus and they attempted to take the benefits of the coronavirus, the state law enforcement agencies and folks worked as the antidotes sparing the favorites but when the infected state officials did work for accumulating the billions of rupees, none of the antidotes did really worked. The powerful antidote: Commission on Investigation into Abuse of Authority (CIAA) had been only for the low level infected officials. CIAA did not work as an antidote to the state official strong enough to have the immunity to any anti-corruption actions.

The coronavirus might not be the apocalyptic but the corruption-20 virus might be. Because of the corruption-20 virus, the administration broke down, physical infrastructure collapsed, rule of law ended, and the country became prone to the natural disasters. The almost two-thirds majority government set up after the great bloodshed, tragedy, and heartbreak of millions of people, and of course, the sacrifices of millions of Nepalis, could not live up to the people’s expectation because of the corruption-20 virus.

The corruption-20 virus had been deadly to the fast economic development, and to the poverty alleviation, as most of the state resources intended for the welfare of the common folks went into the pockets of the state officials thanks to the corruption virus. Some business folks infected with the virus could make billions of rupees in conjunction with the virus-infected state officials and ministers in the past and even today keeping millions of Nepalis in poverty.

Currently, the coronavirus is pushing millions of Nepalis down the poverty line but the corruption-20 infected folks are taking the benefits out of it. So, both the viruses are working against the welfare of the common folks, who had been helpless to do anything against the corruption virus in the immediate past, and currently also have been helpless except for the reporters and civil society leaders that have been making noises against the corruption-20 virus.

Nepalis had burned down the corruption-virus-infected state officials, ministers, prime minister and the head of state but also the political system and even the dynastic rulers in the past. After chasing the king out of the palace, Nepalis thought that the country would be free from the virus but it did not. The corruption virus remained dormant in the laws and state polices, and they came out as epidemic and infected everybody in the state administration (of course except for the few), and the business community and even the common folks as much as possible.

Probably, time would soon come when the Nepalis would rise up again to destroy the corruption virus as they did in the past. The next time, they would certainly develop the laws and polices as the antidotes to the corruption virus. The corruption virus could remain dormant and thrive, as the favorable environment of the laws and polices had remained intact. So, the new generation of Nepalis would surely ascertain the laws and polices that had cultured the corruption virus, and gave the new life to the corruption in Nepal. Nepalis surely would then destroyed those legal environment made conducive to the corruption virus for surviving, and then Nepalis would set up a strong antidote organization to timely remedy the corruption if any corruption viruses remained and infected the state officials, ministers and the prime minister. That was the only alternative Nepalis have today to finish off the corruption-20 virus forever.

April 11, 2020