Deep concern and anguish for the second wave of Covid-19 that seriously affects the nation and full closeness and solidarity with the entire Indian population. With these sentiments, the Indian bishops intervene in the crisis phase the nation is going through, severely tested by the pandemic wave. The Catholic Church notes with extreme concern that India is reporting a record number of coronavirus cases and deaths, while there is an alarming shortage of medicines, vaccines and even oxygen supplies and hospital beds. The health system, observers say, is on the verge of collapse. Archbishop Prakash Mallavarapu, President of the Health Commission of the Indian Bishops’ Conference (CBCI), explains to Fides: “It can be said that the main cause of this tragic situation is the complacency of the government and the lack of conscience public. Negligence is putting a strain on everyone while the country struggles with a record rise in infections”. In fact, India has exported its more than 60 million Covid vaccines to 84 countries, while the country’s vaccination centers suffer from vaccine shortages. “Certainly there has been a great error of evaluation by the government and the general public: little attention has been paid to the rules on social distancing, while the state machine has ignored the application of the rules”, said Archbishop Mallavarapu.
“Most of the people in India are poor and the government must take this into account. Initially, we limited ourselves to establishing indefinite confinement, like the European nations, for example. However, prolonged isolation led to misery for the poorest. So later the rules had to be relaxed so that people could earn their bread. We are now in the midst of a tragic national emergency”, says the Archbishop, indicating the lack of political and strategic foresight to face the pandemic. Even Bishop Chacko Thottumarickal, of the diocese of Indore, in Madhya Pradesh state, (central India), says he is shocked by the current health crisis: “Many are dying. I know an entire Christian family that was infected and died. Even one of our young Bishops is hospitalized with Covid. Media reports here regularly discuss the government’s death figures, and some networks give much higher actual figures on deaths and infections”, says Bishop Thottumarickal, former president of the Communications Office of the Federation of Asian Bishops’ Conferences.