Woes of Pestilence

In his novel titled ‘Love in Time of Cholera’, published in 1985 and set for a probable timeframe of 1870 to 1930, Gabriel Garcia Marquez described in his skilful way, a sublime relationship that transcends being labelled as sensual or platonic. As cholera ravages the countryside of their native Venezuela and dead bodies float in the muddy waters around their ship, Florentino Ariza and his now widowed old flame Fermina Daza, both septuagenarians, ply ‘for ever’ up and down the River Magdalena. A great pestilence has descended upon the world. A miniscule virus, with a diameter of 120 nanometres (10-9) or a mere 10 thousandth of a millimetre, that is incapable of replicating itself without appropriating the cellular machinery of its unsuspecting host, has overwhelmed the medical facilities of the best equipped nations, shattered the prowess of economic giants, halted air, land and sea operations the world over, forced the closure of holiest places of all three Abrahamic religions and has made mockeries of the mighty arsenals of the super powers. This tiny life form has propagated all over the word in an astonishingly short interval of time and has sent shivers of fear down the spine of every human being. It has infected every possible target from royals to politicians, clergy, sportsmen, film actors, military personnel, medics, ordinary folks, prison inmates and toddlers. No one is safe anywhere. Pestilence, much like any other adversity, strongly influences human behaviour. It brings out the best and the worst depending upon whether one is guided by a sense of common destiny or by the fears of unknown with far more falling in the latter category. With self-survival at stake, Darwinian instincts of ‘survival of the fittest’ are unleashed. Fear tests our souls. There are some who let go the hand of a loved one to save their own life in fast flowing river. There are others who jump in the same waters to save a drowning person and end up losing theirs too. No one should make judgments on these actions borne of instinct. It’s not an issue of being right or wrong, it is the in-borne reactions that are honed over the previous life. However, in the case of love and loved ones, the instinct should follow the advice of Iqbal, ‘Achcha hai dil key sath ra’he passban-e-Aqal, Laikin kabhi kabhi issay tanha bhi choR dey.’ It is prudent that passions are tempered by wisdom, But there are times when they should have their way The virus as a calamity is testing love on a scale not beheld in our lifetime. Curtsey of social media, the videos and images are becoming viral and being brought to the notice of everyone. There was a young Chinese couple in Wuhan where the nurse wife was infected but failing to find a hospital bed, was forced to isolate herself at home. She was seen crying due body aches and high fever but was hiding in her quilt and yelling at her partner to leave the room while the partner was trying to be with her in this time of trial. Another video shot in Madrid showed an aged lady on a bench outside a hospital. She had lost her husband to the virus the previous day whose body lies as yet unburied in that hospital. She herself was tested positive but refused a hospital bed. She was crying hysterically, as much due to loss of her husband as for her own infection. She had pulled away her mask while healthy three grown up children, without masks or hand-gloves, were putting themselves at risk by trying to comfort her in their arms. The burial of the old man seemed a distant thought to the family. Some of the dead didn’t even find decent burials. The Italian wire service ANSA reported on 11th March that the army was conveying coffins from hospitals to crematoriums outside the region because the local set ups didn’t have the capacity to handle all the dead. ANSA added that “Coffins had been piling up, unburied, in the northern city's cemetery.” Crematory at Cremona, south of Milan, has the capacity of 12 services per day but was receiving 25 coffins daily. When it broke down on 23 March, it had a backlog of 100 bodies in its ‘farewell room’. Having observed heavily-attended all-black elaborate ceremonies amongst the Italian families, it is hard for this author to imagine that bodies are being cremated in isolation in the absence of their children, grandchildren and family in a nation that is as cultured as Northern Italy, the home of the Renaissance and the 8th largest economy of the world with one of the best health facilities anywhere. The images coming out of Spain are equally disturbing. The author is reminded of ‘A Journal of the Plague Year’ by Daniel Defoe which is an eye witness account of the London plague of 1664. Many of the incidents recorded, i.e. food shortages, forced lockdowns, family members dying in throngs, quarantines, evacuations, mass burials, etc. read like the newspaper reports of today in this plague. The army trucks collecting bodies in Italy are similar to the ‘dead carts’ mentioned in the book. A similar graphic account of a plague in Athens in 430 BC is recorded by Thucydides in his ‘The Peloponnesian War’. Nothing, it seems, has changed except the speed with which the information flows now. It is hoped that some of the extreme incidents catalogued in the book three and a half centuries ago are not repeated now in this modern age. However, statics make a compelling case for such scenarios. It is now known that persons over 65 years in age are most vulnerable to this virus and this age group makes up a high ratio of the population in Western nations. The tiny republic of San Marino, surrounded on all sides by Italy, is reporting 4450 cases per million persons, which is the highest ratio of infections in the world. France, Germany, Spain, USA and UK are all on the verge of an uncontrolled endemic. There are heart rending reports from many cities. A Connecticut man who died of virus was give last rites by his pastor over the phone with his family listening in from their own quarantine. No one attended in person. Elizabeth Fusco of Freehold, New Jersey lost her mother, two brothers and a sister to coronavirus within a week while three other relatives are hospitalized in New Jersey and 19 other family members have been tested for the virus and are anxiously awaiting results. Till date, the poorer countries of the world have been spared the mass infections. As of today on 21st March at midday GMT, worldometer.info reports the number of cases to be 500 in India, 800 in Pakistan, 300 in Egypt and 30 in Bangladesh. African countries too have reported very few cases. It might well be a case of not enough testing and poor reporting but in this age of social media, any large scale breakouts wouldn’t have remained under wraps. No one can tell what the situation shall be in a week’s time when this article goes to print. This is a good time to show the progressive humane side of Islam. Distancing during prayers, closure of mosques, abolition of Aitkaf in coming Ramadan and foregoing of Hajj if so warranted are most pertinent issues for Ijtehad in these trying times. However, it is the duty of each Muslim not to rely on the pronouncements of orthodox and rigid clergy. Muslims need to develop the concept of personal Ijtehad where each Muslim, instead of looking for a shoulder to unburden their own responsibilities, themselves responds to the logic of their inner calling. The fight against the virus is now being called a war. The metaphor is increasingly becoming martial in nature. Former CDC director warned that a long war was ahead. Italy's PM Conte called for EU's 'full firepower' against coronavirus. Emergencies, curfews and lockdowns have been ordered. English language has coined some new linguistic terms such as social distancing and elbowing. The frontline soldiers of this war are medical and laboratory staff, many of who have lost their lives. Research laboratories are operating overtime to find easier testing and cure. Pharmacists are racing against time to develop appropriate medicines. Ever since the virus breakout, this author has a feeling of being attacked by aliens. We know that there is an unseen deadly enemy out there, ready to latch on to any human being, but we are helpless to do anything to counter it, except social distancing, lockouts and closures. Every person fears the other. The spread of virus emphasises the need for global cooperation. No nation has been able to isolate itself from its deadly reach. A virus mutation in one location threatens the lives of every other person on globe. Divided, we shall all succumb to the virus but united we stand a chance to defeat the scourge, and then we can all go back to mutual rivalries and hatreds. The virus has taken a heavy toll on all aspects of human life. Economists agree that the world is heading in to a recession. New car sales are projected to fall by a huge 30%. Airlines stand to lose up to $130 billion. Trains, buses and taxis have all made cuts in their service. There is disruption of production. Luis Vuitton and Cricketer Shane Warne have shifted from perfume and Gin productions respectively to hand sanitizers. Ferrari is producing hospital ventilators. There will be large scale layoffs and unemployment. Daily-wage earners and temporary employed are at risk of poverty and starvation. Educational institutions all over the world have been closed with no signs of their opening anytime soon. No one knows how long this crisis will last. However, one thing is certain that it shall pass. All pestilences of the past caused anguish, pain and heartbreaks but resilience of human biology overcame them all. Not too soon perhaps but in another year or two, the world will hopefully be back to its normal self. This melancholy article is my 100th in this publication. I am grateful to the editors of the Friday Times and the readers for their support. This article appeared in the weekly The Friday Times on 3rd Apr 2020 Parvez Mahmood retired as a Group Captain from PAF and is now a software engineer. He lives in Islamabad and writes on social and historical issues. He can be reached at parvezmahmood53@gmail.com