COVID 19 IN NEPAL, BIG PHARMAS, THOUGHT CONTROL, GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION AND INHUMAN LOCKDOWN IMPOSITION by Prakash Thapa

 A RESEARCH ARTICLE BY PRAKASH THAPA, RIDGEWATER SCHOOL

COVID 19 IN NEPAL, BIG PHARMAS, THOUGHT CONTROL, GOVERNMENT CORRUPTION AND INHUMAN LOCKDOWN IMPOSITION 

PrakashThapa,  M.A.

Author of Langtandekhi London samma and Mountain Incantations

Pokhara NEPAL

ABSTRACT

Covid 19 has its severe impact in Nepal since December 2019. This paper tries to center its concern on the impact of lockdown on people's lives in Nepal so as to study and investigate how business companies control the world governments and WHO, controlling human lives over the years, because people's voices are controlled and ignored all over the world and the governments are not listening to their voices. So the government of Nepal is being dictators, and is working for the profit of its party interest, so that the large majority of people, who are neutral, are bound to live in suppression. So this paper is not trying to prove Covid 19 as nonexistent, but it tries to explore the business interest of the corporate companies who while making their business transactions and profit are controlling the world government and political leaders, snatching people's rights. What is seen in the world nowadays is people are exploited everywhere and there is birth of neo-Nazism which is controlling human lives at large. So this research paper likes to protect lives of the people in terms of their freedom of speech, rights to education,  writing, and living in essence.      

Key words: thought control, mass confusion, neo Nazism, loss of freedom, the loss of human values and norms

INTRODUCTION

The lockdown imposition almost all over the world due to Covid 19 has made a huge impact on the lives of the people in terms of education, health, psychology, economy, travel and tourism, hotel industries, civil aviation, small scale industries and so on.  

This research work is mainly based on the impact caused by Covid 19 in Nepali society. Specifically this work is not only centered on medical interpretation while defining life, but is based on diverse aspects of human lives in general. Life is a sum total of all of its components: health, education, economy, family, travel, wellbeing, silence, environment, meditation and so on. 

So if we just interpret life in terms of medication we fail to understand he totality of human life because a single component of human lives cannot determine the vast complexities of life. 

Yet nowadays there is much confusion in the society. Many business and other interest groups are making their profits by using people as their only consumers. So the world has been mechanized rather than easing lives in general. Politics has also been using people at every domain of life. Governments are controlled by such business groups all over the world so that the large majority of people have been crushed and exploited; their rights have also been snatched and as a result they cannot express their voices freely.   

       

For instance Christina Sarich (2014/05/16) writes about how Big Pharma Companies try to influence the government: 

The big winner, though? An incredible $65.4 million was spent on lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry during 2014's first quarter. That's more than a 24 percent increase over all the monies they spent in the last quarter of last year. It's an astronomical amount for any industry to spend on winning over politicians and special interest groups. So what do they have to spend all that money for? Right –  to keep you jacked up on Pfizer, Merck & Co. and Bayer AG drugs. It's like giving candy to a baby, now, or is it?    ( Sarich).

            

OBJECTIVE AND METHOD 

The main objective of this paper is to reveal the fact about how Big Pharma Companies and other business forms influence the world governments and politics and control people and their lives, snatching their freedom of speech and human rights in general. 

Basically the research writings published in the internet sources have been studied and analyzed as the resource materials in regard to carry out this research study. 

REVIEW OF LITERATURE

Several writers and experts worldwide have published their research articles in social media and other areas and have expressed their views on Big Pharma Companies and their attempts in influencing the world governments and political leaders. 

According to Christina Sarich (2014/05/16) the Big Pharmas are influencing the governments: 

It looks like America is still going broke, but Big Pharma certainly isn't. In the first quarter of 2014 alone, drug manufacturers and chemical companies have spent eye-popping figures to make sure that Americans stay hooked on their kool-aid. According to the Center for Public Integrity and the Center for Responsive Politics, these big spenders are truly invested in promoting their poison ( Sarich ).

   

Open Secrets.org reported that the $5.15 million spent is 'far and away the most the company has spent in a quarter over the past five years.' In previous years they spent no more than $3.83 million in a quarter. Nevertheless, Dow holds to their PR tactics stating the $5 million is spent on 'pushing its agenda on issues involving energy, trade and agriculture.' Translation – a slow deterioration- for everyone ( Sarich).

Similarly Lev Facher (2020/05/18) also states that:

Health secretary Alex Azar on Monday publicly blasted the World Health Organization, telling its director-general that the agency's 'failure' to adequately warn the broader world about the forthcoming Covid 19 pandemic 'cost many lives.' In a prepared video delivered to the World Health Assembly, the WHO's governing body, Azar said the U.S. government would support a full review of the organization's Covid 19 response, calling the status quo 'intolerable' ( Facher ).

'We must be frank about one of the primary reasons this outbreak spun out of control,' Azar said. 'There was a failure by this organization to obtain the information that the world needed, and that failure cost many lives' ( Facher).

Also according to Alex Matthews King (2019/05/23): 

Drug companies poured £57m into UK patient groups who research and lobby for new treatments into specific conditions – in many cases the same drugs being marketed by their donors ( Matthews). 

The report found 4,572 payments to patient groups, totaling £57.3m over the five years. While this only represented one sixth of the payments given to health professionals and their representatives, the value of payments has increased by 40 per cent over this period  (Matthews). 

COVID 19 IN NEPAL, LOCKDOWN IMPOSITION AND IMPACT ON SOCIAL LIVES

According to Wikipedia resource: 

The COVID-19 pandemic in Nepal is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first case in Nepal was confirmed on 23 January 2020 when a 31-year-old student, who had returned to Kathmandu from Wuhan on 9 January, tested positive for the disease. It was also the first recorded case of COVID-19 in South Asia. Between January and March, Nepal took steps to prevent a widespread outbreak of the disease while preparing for it by procuring essential supplies, equipment and medicine, upgrading health infrastructure, training medical personnel, and spreading public awareness. The first case of local transmission was confirmed on 4 April in Kailali District. The first death occurred on 14 May. A country-wide lockdown came into effect on 24 March 2020, and ended on 21 July 2020. As of 19 October 2020, the Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) has confirmed a total of 136,036 cases, 94,501 recoveries, and 757 deaths in the country. In the meantime, 1,300,918 real-time RT-PCR (RT-qPCR) tests have been performed in 40 laboratories across the country. The viral disease has been detected in all provinces and districts of the country, with Province No. 2 and Kathmandu being the worst hit province and district respectively. As for Nepalese abroad, the Non-Resident Nepali Association has reported a total of 12,667 confirmed cases, 16,190 recoveries, and 161 deaths across 35 countries ( Wikipedia ). 

 Nevertheless, Nepal government imposed lockdown in Nepal in March 2020 when there were around 2 persons infected officially from Covid 19. Since Nepal is an underdeveloped country and it did not provide sufficient support to people. The government of Nepal just followed the global pattern of lockdown imposition and did no significant management to help sustain people's lives. People living in Kathmandu for study and work started moving to their remote villages and hills, walking barefoot, even some mothers carrying their six month old babies were also compelled to go home, walking around thousand kilometers long distance from Kathmandu, the capital city of Nepal. 

Basically the working class people who earned their living by daily wages had undergone very hard times to sustain their families and as a result people started committing suicide in many parts of the country including students, businessmen, teachers and others. 

During the 5 month long lockdown around 700 people were said to be died from Covid 19 who had other chronic diseases but the ministry health confirmed only 10 patients who died of corona virus alone, whereas approximately 3500 people committed suicide (15- 20 people daily on average). A farmer in Dhading district was reported committing suicide just because he could not manage food for his family. Similarly a driver jumped into the river and died because he could not manage to pay the bank installment during lockdown imposition. Also, a Principal of a private school in Parbat committed suicide because of the impact of inhuman lockdown imposition. It is obvious that Nepal government could not actually address the real problems of Nepali people. The government officials and ministers just advised people to stay home instead of giving proper support to the sufferers. Amazing as it was that the city people started posting photos of making some recipe of food as if lockdown was a merrymaking festival. 

Unlike the practice of western governments, the government of Nepal could by no means offered some financial incentives to save the businesses in the country except a small scale interest deduction and loan deferment, so that around 75 business houses were permanently closed in Pokhara City alone.

According to Tony Winterburn( 2020/05/24) lockdown in the UK also causes more deaths: 

The lockdown measures by the UK government caused more deaths than it saved, a Nobel laureate scientist said on Saturday, and also predicted the UK would emerge from Covid-19 within weeks. Michael Levitt, a Stanford University professor who correctly predicted the initial trajectory of the pandemic, sent messages to Professor Neil Ferguson in March telling the influential government advisor he had over-estimated the potential death toll by at least “10 or 12 times” ( Winterburn ).

WHO AND WORLD BANK INFLUENCE THE WORLD GOVERNMENTS 

According to Josh K. Eliot (2020/05/06): 

Tanzania seems to be having a problem with its animals, its coronavirus testing or its leadership amid a bizarre scandal playing out in the African nation ( Eliot).

President John Magufuli has cast doubt on the country’s coronavirus testing process after he allegedly submitted secret samples from invalid subjects, including a goat and a papaya (yes, the fruit), that came back as “positive” for the virus ( Eliot).

Similarly according to Jim Hoft (2020/07/29): 

The World Bank offered Belarus a $940 million coronavirus loan in June. But the conditions included that they would lock down and destroy their economy ( Hoft ).

The World Bank wanted him to lock down like Italy did in March and April. (Hoft )

The Belarus President Aleksander Lukashenko, considered the last tyrant in Europe, turned down the offer.

Then he went public with the details( Hoft ).

It makes you wonder how often this happens to less prosperous nations ( Hoft ).

CONTROL ON FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND VIOLATION OF HUMAN RIGHTS

The nature of lockdown imposition is more suppressive and that sickly people even cannot go for treatment easily, and instead they were compelled to stay inside home. In the country like Nepal where sick people from the remote parts of the country cannot even afford for the emergency transportation because of their economic status, for they were surviving to the minimum. 

According to Hannah Noyce (2020/04/20): 

In a separate response to Professor King which focuses on the human rights issues involved, Yossi Nehushtan has argued that the lockdown is disproportionate. He acknowledges that saving lives is, of course, a legitimate aim, but says that suitable measures would need to achieve the narrower aim of “saving more lives than the lives that will be lost as a result of the lockdown”. He argues that neither Professor King nor the government has properly addressed whether that aim could be achieved by way of other, less restrictive measures. Moreover, he argues that the aim of saving more lives – mostly the lives of older people who would soon have died of other causes in any event – does not justify the huge and largely unquantified damage to other interests, including the social and mental well-being of individuals, and the economy ( Noyce ).

  

Similarly Francis Hoar (2020/04/23) states that: 

Measures imposed by the Health Protection (Coronavirus, Restrictions) (England) Regulations are some of the most extreme restrictions on fundamental freedoms in the modern era ( Hoar ).

Parents may not see their children. Worshippers may not attend their services or children their schools. Businesses must close and thousands will fail ( Hoar).

So despite government's assertion of imposing lockdown to save the lives of the people, the result was just the opposite, because people were committing suicide in an increasing ratio. During the first three month long lockdown imposition in Nepal the patients who died from Covid 19 were around 350 whereas the numbers committing suicide were around 3500.  

Therefore the government should represent people's voice at every instance rather than blindly following the laws. So comparatively lockdown imposition has taken more human lives in Nepal during lockdown. The government is responsible for this hazardous aftermath and should pay for the loss of life. 

ANTI LOCKDOWN MASS PROTEST IN KATHMANDU AND POKHARA   

After around a 5-month long inhuman lockdown imposition in Nepal, people had started campaigning against government enforcement. A few writers and social activists started raising voice against the failure of government and lockdown imposition. In Kathmandu Fight against Corona Terror (FACT), a team of young activists under the coordination of social activist Mr. Arjun Khadka started Facebook Group Campaign and encouraged people to speak against government's control. 

Similarly Freedom Front Nepal, a social site under the coordination of activist and writer Mr. Prakash Thapa with team members Mr. Udaya Thapa, Upendra Adhikari, Venice Thapa, David Thapa started to work jointly with Fight against Corona Scam, a social campaign with its team members Mr. Raju Kayastha, Raju K.C., Prakash Chandra Sapkota and others.  Moreover, in Pokhara activists like Mr. Prakash Thapa, Upendra Adhikari, Raju K.C. and Raju Kayastha were writing since the beginning  against the Big Pharma motives behind the lockdown imposition and the government corruption in Nepal.

POKHARA ANTI LOCKDOWN PEACE PROTEST BY FREEDOM FRONT NEPAL AND FIGHT AGAINST CORONA SCAM

The lockdown imposition in Nepal resulted in mass depression, suicide, hunger and starvation, control on freedom of speech, uncertainty and confusion, corruption, shutting down schools, business firms and almost every domain of life. So that people were in fact dying of hunger than the so-called Covid 19 pandemic.

In the beginning, there were some fear among the writers to write against Big Pharma moves and the government corruption. Nepal government was also involved in corruption while buying masks and test kits during lockdown. 

The people in fact faced some sort of suppression toward expressing their voice for freedom. In the beginning, speaking against Covid 19 was not that easy as well. And during the 5-month long lockdown people hardly speak against the mismanagement of the government and corruption because of fear. No political organizations, civic society members, student unions spoke the voice of the people. Nobody even spoke to save lives of people from committing suicide. The situation indeed was turned very disappointing. 

So on 17 September Freedom Front Nepal and Fight against Corona Scam together organized a Peace Protest in Pokhara. Mr. Damu Adhikari, the Chairman of Pokhara Chamber of Commerce also supported the campaign and notified all of its member organization to actively participate the Peace Protest.  The Peace Protest organizers also gave its memorandum to various Pokhara based organizations such as PABSON, N-PABSON, Air Sports Organization, Montessori Association Kaski (MAK), Hotel Associations, Transport Organizations, Beauty Parlor Association and so on. Moreover, it handed over its memorandum to Chief District Office Kaski and Pokhara Metropolitan Office as well.

CONCLUSION

Lockdown imposition without identifying people's actual need, without studying and researching the ever-changing perspectives of the larger society is injustice, it is against human rights. 

So during lockdown imposition for around more than 5 months was turned into a huge failure, and that people suffered a lot in terms of education, tourism, aviation, catering, sports, agriculture and others. 

The government did almost nothing to people except imposing the lockdown, and as a result a large number of people committed suicide in the country. 

Moreover the children were handicapped and felt depressed staying at home for long time. The future of education has now been uncertain due to government's indecision and traditional thought pattern. 

So the government should include the youths, listen to their voice, boycott the corrupted government officials, end corruption and focus on practical and research based education. 

 So the meaningless lockdown has no meaning, it kills more people than the virus. Lockdown is against human right and quarantines are turned out t be graveyard.

It is obvious that the future belongs to the youths, not to the outdated politicians. 

              

            

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