Within two months of losing her husband to Covid, a woman was in the queue to get her first Covid vaccine. A shot in time could have saved her husband, the woman told a Maidan audience on Sunday.
Another woman, who lost four family members to Covid within a year, said not being able to touch them for one last time shattered her from inside.
Many such people who lost their family and friends to Covid assembled at Mohor Kunja, a slice of the Maidan adjacent to the Victoria Memorial, on Sunday evening.
Sunday, March 24, was the fourth anniversary of the start of the nationwide lockdown imposed to tackle Covid.
The bereaved kin spoke about their loss and the gathering pledged not to forget the lives that were taken away by the pandemic.
"I lost my husband to Covid in January 2021. Within two months, I was standing in the queue for the first Covid vaccine. A vaccine could have saved my husband," said Anjana Chatterjee, 58, one of the participants at the meeting.
"The pain of not being able to see or touch the loved ones for one last time was something which could not be expressed in words. It shattered me," said Swastika Dasgupta, 46, who lost four family members to Covid in a year between 2020 and 2021. Her mother was the last victim.
The Covid Memorial meeting was organised by the Covid Care Network, a voluntary organisation of doctors, health officials and people from various walks of life.
"As we trumpet the victory over Covid, we must not forget the people we lost. At the time of their death, we could not bid them a proper farewell. They were denied flowers, even a drop of tear could not be shed on them by those left behind," said Abhijit Chowdhury, a public health expert and one of the driving forces behind the Covid Care Network.
"Not being able to protect them was a failure of science. It was also a collective failure. Now, remembering the people who died is our collective responsibility," he said.
The network had filed RTI applications with all the state governments, seeking information on the Covid toll. "Barring one, no government has responded," said a member of the network.
"A PIL has been filed in the Supreme Court. A hearing is awaited," he said.
Around 8.30pm on Sunday, the website of the Union ministry of health and family welfare showed the Covid toll was 5,33,539.
Half a dozen reports have suggested a toll between three and five million. The government has called the reports “audacious”, “speculative”, “fallacious” or “incorrect”.
On Sunday, a makeshift memorial was erected on the stage, for people to lay flowers and pay their respects to the deceased.
The National Covid Memorial, an initiative in memory of Indians who died of Covid, has teamed up with the Covid Care Network to campaign for declaring March 24 as the National Covid Memorial Day.
"Our social amnesia has been huge. I believe we have a social commitment to remember. To pledge never to forget. There should not be a single unnamed death. I feel it must be a citizens' initiative. Because governments will never acknowledge it," historian Tapati Guha Thakurta, one of the attendees, told this newspaper.
Her husband, historian Hari Vasudevan, passed away on May 10, 2020, after being diagnosed with Covid.
Swarup Sarkar, epidemiologist, public health professional and former director of communicable diseases of the World Health Organization, South East Asia Regional Office, asked a searing question.
"Covid is now over. But what about India's pandemic preparedness? Is India ready to fight another pandemic? The poll bugle has been blown. But has any party's manifesto mentioned anything about that," he asked.
