Political symbolism in COVID-19 crisis. A case of India

In entire human race, political symbols have been a central feature to demonstrate the commonality of ideology, culture, perception and the way political forces wish to shape a country as to how they want their people to see the world through their own glasses, often tinted, but with a vision of a future that they foresee and want their people to fall in line with the same. However powerful these political symbols have been, never have they been univocal and always have been marred with opposition, chaos and sometimes even rebellion.

Any symbolism never stands a chance to be viewed as having a single message and interpretation and have been multivocal with different assessment, interpretation and response and sometimes even counterproductive to what they should have achieved and what they actually deliver.

Today, India is on the brink of a humanitarian crisis, something that no one foresaw, but something which all Indians have to fight together. India’s freedom struggle has been full of events which in some way or the other reflect the political symbolism of that era. From the expression of India’s national anthem by Ravindranath Tagore to the slogan, “Swaraj (Self Rule) is my birth right” by Lokmanya Tilak, to the Non-cooperation movement by Mahatma Gandhi to the,”Karo ya Maro” (Do or Die) message by the Mahatma.

In post-independence era, India had to grow and challenges were abundant. In 1963, the then Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri, in perspective of Indo-China war gave the message,”Jai Jawan, Jai Kissan” to galvanize the country and respect the two most important professions in the country, farmers (Kisan) and soldiers (Jawan). The message is still relevant today and those who have active interest in our history know this fact very well.

An interesting thought should just creep in our minds as to why does the polity need political symbolism. The answer to that is many but before we get into that let us just evaluate what is at risk in the current COVID-19 crisis.

Though there is no need but still one needs to mention that the current epidemic has no treatment or prevention as far as medical science is concerned. Social distancing is the only way to keep us safe but how long and how effectively in a million-dollar question. Some may also confuse political symbolism to theatrics but those who do are na?ve and as stated earlier no political symbolism is univocal and hence interpretation may vary as per ideology and political affiliation.

The basic element that political symbolism has and how they influence our response is:

Hope – As stated earlier, when they are no perfect solution to a problem you just fold your hands, pray and hope that everything goes on well. In the current scenario, this aspect is strong and potent enough to not ask for an explanation. Yes, we hope that we as a country survive and swim across like a ship destined for glory. It’s a huge storm that we will be embracing ahead, and hope is the only element that would keep us ticking. Political symbolism as has been played out by the current government gives our people, a hope, a hope that we will come out unscathed. Although, as a vaccine guy, I know that this wouldn’t be the whole truth but even half-truths are sufficient to get the ball rolling.

Banging of utensils, lighting candles or even showing flashlights; all these are political symbolism to keep the country alert, united in one direction. We Indians are majorly a reactive country rather than proactive and may be the attitude of, ‘It’s OK’ may still be rampant, but we still believe that as a civilization we can weather the storm. For the critics of political symbolism, yes, the way you would interpret the political symbolism may not be the way others would do but that’s the power of a healthy democracy and a sane society.