Coronavirus lockdown: Narendra Modi has cut India’s poor adrift

'Did Prime Minister Narendra Modi see the pictures of the long lines of men, with bags and bundles, making their way along the edges of national highways out of New Delhi? Did he hear the young man, sobbing because there was no way home, and no way to escape police batons who asked, “How will we go, we can’t go by flight, can we?” If Modi did, there was no sign that he considered their circumstance to be of any consequence. Delivering his fire and brimstone speech announcing the 21-day nation-wide lockdown to contain the novel coronavirus, Modi set out to justifiably terrify the people, who having blown conches, clapped their hands and beaten plates at his command just a couple of days ago, believed they had done their bit to fight the virus. If you don’t stay home, he said, we will die...'

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