New Delhi: In his seventh televised national address since the start of Covid-19 restrictions in March this year, Prime Minister Narendra Modi Tuesday invoked two Indian sages, Kabir Das and Tulsi Das to urge people not to lower their guards as the threat of a second wave of deadly Covid-19 infections looms over the country.
Prime Minister Modi’s warning comes at a time when the Covid restrictions have largely been relaxed and the traffic on roads and business activity is back to pre-Covid level.
“Most of us are going out of home every day to discharge our duties, to again give momentum to life. The sheen in the markets is coming back gradually but we must not forget that though the lockdown has ended but the virus is still out there,” Prime Minister Modi said in his televised address.
The Prime Minister said our doctors, health workers and security personnel have been selflessly serving such a huge population but this was not the occasion to lower our guards.
“This is not the time to believe that Corona is gone and there is no threat from Corona. In the last few days, all of us have seen plenty of photos and videos where it is clearly visible that several people have either stopped taking precautions or completely relaxed the social distancing norms,” said the Prime Minister.
“Today, be it America or some other European countries, the number of Corona cases, which were coming down in these countries have seen a sudden rise, there is an alarming rise in infection cases,” Prime Minister Modi noted.
PM warns of slippage before victory
Citing a couplet from the 15th-century saint and poet Kabir Das, the Prime Minister warned that we must not be like a farmer who becomes over-confident and believes that he has won the battle when he sees his fully matured crop.
The Prime Minister said we must not lower our guards against Corona as warned by the mystic saint and poet who cautioned of the dangers to the ripe crop unless it is harvested and reaches the farmer's house.
ALSO READ: PM Modi releases commemorative coin to mark FAO's 75th anniversary
“As said by Kabirdas ji, we should not lower our guard till we attain complete victory,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister urged the people not to lower their guards even a bit in humanity's battle against the Coronavirus till the time there is a vaccine.
He said the whole world is working on war footing to save humanity and Indian scientists were working day and night to develop a vaccine, some of which have been at an advanced stage.
Prime Minister Modi said the government is working towards administering the vaccine to every single Indian once it becomes available.
PM invokes Tulsi: No disease should be taken lightly
Prime Minister Modi said there were several teachings in the great Indian epic Ramcharitmanas but it also contained several warnings as well.
“There is a great teaching in Ramcharitmanas which says that we should never take four things lightly, these are fire, enemy, illness and sin or mistake committed by someone. We should never take them lightly unless we tackle them completely,” said the Prime Minister.
“Please keep in mind, there should be no laxity till the time there is an antidote for the disease,” Prime Minister Modi said while using the slogan from the government’s recently launched new mass media campaign about the threat of a possible second wave of Covid infections during the festive season and winters.
ALSO READ: CM Jaganmohan Reddy overstepped his 'Lakshman Rekha': Justice Sodhi
