Central Hall – Dangerous Rumors!

Mumbai: As they say in mob psychology, the mob does not have any head or tail and hence it is guided by collective action rather than any individual wisdom. Such a headless mob becomes more dangerous when it is guided and goaded by an equally headless and dangerous rumor. For a government it becomes all the more challenging to control and dissipate such a headless mob.

The Maharashtra government and the police nipped another religious congregation after learning lessons from what had happened last month in New Delhi, by refusing permission to another such religious congregation near Mumbai.

But what happened with the migrant labourers, who turned up on April 14 at a religious place outside Bandra suburban local station, could also have been avoided. Similar chaotic scenes were witnessed in Surat, Gujarat on the same day.

The government and the police should have been alert to the possibility and taken pro-active measures to contain such incidents. These rumors had led to similar gatherings of crowds of migrant workers desperately wanting to go back to their native places either in Uttar Pradesh or Bihar.

Similar chaotic scenes were witnessed at Anand Vihar inter-state bus terminal in New Delhi on March 28. The following day on March 29, more such scenes were witnessed in Kerala as well as in Jaipur.

The government and the police will investigate what led to these scenes of chaos and who spread those rumors. The government and the police also know pretty well as to how to deal with situations like these. The government could well have come up with a contact number where people could get their doubts and concerns cleared. And the people too ought to have realized that they better get their doubts cleared by an official entity. But more importantly it is the government that needs to be more proactive in apprehending potential fallouts and dealing with them accordindly.

We had learnt our lessons on dealing with psychological counseling of those affected by trauma of the Latur earthquake of September 30, 1993. The January 26, 2001 Gujarat earthquake had led to the nation framing its National Disaster Management Act (NDMA) in December 2005 to deal with such incidents. And the architect of that legislation was none other than Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar

Mumbai police has now begun using nostalgia of television commercials of the past to drive home their point on staying at home and on social distancing. The same social media platforms that are often guilty of spreading rumors, can also be put to good use to inform and reassure the people who are stuck in desperate situations or are affected by the trauma of it.

Although we have put in place a National Disaster Management policy in place, the government needs to keep updating it periodically and the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that go along with it. Just as there are relief  centers meant for people affected by cyclone, tornado, war or any other calamity in some Western countries, we are yet to realize their importance.

Some of our politicians still frown upon such relief and rescue centers, treating them akin to some detention centers. There need is being felt more acutely in densely overcrowded cities like Mumbai. The spread of COVID-19 in densely packed localities in Mumbai and elsewhere has also underscored the urgent need for urban renewal, slum redevelopment and planned development.

Hope wiser sense prevails upon all of us and instructions of public safety issued by the government are adhered to in such trying times. A reckless act often endangers not only ones own life, but the lives of others as well, Because disasters like COVID-19 do not discriminate on the basis of any religion or rich and poor classification.

Stay Home, Stay Safe, Do Not Believe in Rumors, and also Do Not Spread Rumors.