Covid-19: Mass compliance and social control

The govt must resist the temptation to use public acquiescence to meet an unprecedented crisis to extend partisan and undemocratic agendas which would have been debated in normal circumstances

Critics may well jeer at the usefulness of clanging plates or flashing torches to fight the Covid-19 virus. Through these entirely symbolic actions, however, Prime Minister Narendra Modi may well be testing public compliance. He knows that measures to control the spread of the Coronavirus have to rely more on voluntary acquiescence than on strict enforcement. Given that there may be protests against onerous lockdowns, and experts have warned of potential food riots, he needs to regularly test the ambient social temperature.

The one-day janata curfew and the exhortation to ring bells in honour of healthcare workers, and subsequently to