Skip to main content

Lockdown 'total failure' of science more than of politics: Open letter on 4th anniversary

Counterview Desk 

In an open letter to fellow academicians, scientists and medical practitioners in India, marking the fourth anniversary of India's lockdown (25 March 2024), the Managing Committee* of the Universal Health Organisation (UHO) has insisted on the need to "repair two years of immense damage to science".
Stating that the two years of lockdown has "important current implications", the letter, seeking comments/ remarks/ feedback, says, "Available evidence indicates that the damage was needless, not caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus itself, but represented a total failure of science more than it was a failure of politics."

Text: 

Dear Colleague,
We write this letter to you as a group of academicians, doctors and professionals, on the issue of a recent and extended beating taken by science and rationality, and the resultant current and ongoing concerns.
Consider this. Could a government officer enter and search your house, ask you to vacate, citing “public health emergency”? Without judicial oversight, without even a possibility of legal challenge? Could a public health emergency required to be declared by India, dictated by an unelected and foreign/private power? Could experimental vaccines be required for people to continue with their lives? These are not a fictional sequel to “1984”, but recent and ongoing developments – Kerala’s public health bill (December 2023), an international pandemic treaty planned by the WHO, and WHO-driven vaccine passports. We hope you are as concerned about these as we are.
We write to you on the eve of the fourth anniversary of “The Great Panic”, i.e. India’s lockdown as a response to Covid-19, a response supposedly based on science. The whole planet was disrupted, for 2+ years. We hope you will agree that the lockdown and associated measures resulted in extreme injustice in terms of everyone’s lives thrown out of gear, tens of millions pushed into joblessness and poverty, and an immense wealth transfer from the poorest to the richest of the world. The loss of two years of education for India’s 260 million children may never be recovered. A small sample of the damage is captured in “The Lockdown and Covid Response Museum”.
Why does it matter now – you may ask. Available evidence indicates that the damage was needless, not caused by the SARS-Cov-2 virus itself, but represented a total failure of science more than it was a failure of politics. Furthermore, preparations are already underway for more lockdowns and more human right violations in the garb of science, with even more impunity. This thus needs a scientific reckoning.
Much of the response to Covid-19, starting with the lockdown “consensus” to the so-called “safe and effective” vaccines were not a result of considered scientific discussion, but irrational panic – including and especially among scientists – panic manufactured by the media and magnified in social media echo chambers. To this day, even after four years, despite the immense damage, there has not been a scientific reckoning of the official Covid-19 measures, including lockdown or the near-universally administered vaccines.
We therefore call for a better-late-than-never scientific discussion and debate of all of the Covid-19 measures. We urge you to support this call – we invite your comments and remarks in reply. This is important not only for history, but also for preventing a repeat of similar mistakes in the future, and to at least partially restore the damage done to science, rationality, and evidence-based measures.
A subset of the names of academicians, scientists, medical practitioners who supported some or many of the various official Covid-19 measures during “The Great Panic”, appears at this link. We call upon these professionals to hold themselves accountable by participating in an open scientific discussion/debate, on the following aspects:
  1. What was the scientific basis for lockdowns and other restrictions? On what evidentiary basis were universities and colleges of higher learning leading in restrictive measures, violating citizens’ fundamental rights?
  2. Till date, available evidence suggests that Covid-19 did not affect school/college children, or indeed any healthy person of working age, any more than other diseases we are used to. Why then were schools and colleges closed for nearly two years? Why has there been no accountability for this blatant disregard for the well-being of the next generation?
  3. There was always poor scientific evidence for children being Covid-19 carriers, and as early as July 2020, there was evidence that schools were not super-spreaders. Several European countries had opened schools after the summer of 2020. On what scientific basis did the scientific community in India tacitly/actively support the disruption of nearly two years of school childrens’ lives? Remember, nearly two-thousand infants die everyday in India, due to preventable malnutrition and poverty related reasons.
  4. Even as early as June 2020, sero-surveys showed that the Covid-19 IFR estimate in India was 0.08%, lower than that of seasonal flu. Why did scientists and academicians continue their panic and mandated virus avoidance protocols? How did trained scientific minds miss noticing that “essential” workers in grocery stores and those delivering at their doorstep were not falling sick or dying in large numbers? How can a virus spreading extensively among the population without notice, be called as novel or deadly?
  5. Immunity after natural infection and recovery is known science for more than 2400 years since the plague of Athens. Indeed, such immunity is the basis of traditional vaccine technology. What was the need to give an experimental vaccine to India’s population after July 2021 when most Indians were already exposed, as per sero-surveys? Why were colleges including medical colleges leading in this unscientific and money-wasting measure?
  6. Till date, none of the Covid-19 vaccine candidates have completed trial results. What is the scientific basis for calling these products as “vaccines”? What is the age-band-wise ARR and NNV for these products? Against what end-point? Is there a scientific citation for these numbers from a completed trial?
  7. It should have been apparent to scientists well versed in scientific experiments, that the Covid-19 vaccines were experimental. Yet, why did scientists in institutes of higher learning show no such skepticism, but assume that they were “safe and effective” ahead of the evidence, even contrary to emerging evidence?
  8. Did any scientific institution methodically collect reports of adverse events following immunization (AEFI), of which there have been plenty, instead of assuming safety of the novel products?
  9. Forcing a medical experiment on a fellow-human is one of the vilest things one can do. Why were colleges and places of higher learning leading in Covid-19 vaccine mandates, violating the basic ethics of informed consent, that too on a population never at risk from Covid-19?
  10. Long-term safety of any product takes, well, a long-term to know. In 2021/2022, on what evidentiary basis did colleges of higher learning conclude that the Covid-19 “vaccines” are long-term safe, for students and young people with their entire life ahead of them – in terms of the product’s carcinogenicity, cardiac issues, reproductive health, etc.?
  11. There was no scientific basis for 6-foot or 2-metre distancing for a respiratory virus spreading via aerosols. But institutes of higher learning were leading in promoting social distancing. Why? How did trained scientific minds miss noticing that Dharavi, one of the densest and poorest places on earth, had even less per-capita toll than London and New York? Surely, scientists mingled with such slum-dwelling population – house/office cleaners, taxi/auto drivers, etc.
  12. Likewise, there was no scientific basis for test-trace-isolate for a respiratory virus – it was in fact against guidelines written prior to the panic. Why were institutes of higher learning practising this for nearly two years, even amid increasing isolation-related mental health problems for adolescents?
  13. The highest quality scientific evidence in terms of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs), before as well as during Covid-19, indicated no benefit of community masking. Why were institutes of higher learning leading in mask mandates, counter to this evidence?
  14. Till date, there is no clinical basis for the PCR test for Covid – no one knows its false positive rate for illness, or even virus presence. On what scientific basis did scientific institutions use the PCR test for disease detection, isolation, and reporting case counts periodically?
  15. As of April 2020, there was poor scientific evidence of asymptomatic transmission. And evidence as of December 2020 suggested that such transmission was statistically indistinguishable from zero. On what evidentiary basis did scientific institutions assume asymptomatic transmission while imposing restrictive measures?
Regardless of where you stand on some of the assertions in the above statements, we hope you will agree that an open scientific discussion and an atmosphere of healthy debate and a scientific reckoning is necessary – especially for the so-called “once in a century pandemic”. Two and half years of everyone made to consider every other human, including children, as a disease vector, and this being held as scientific, cannot pass without scientific scrutiny, cannot be erased from memory as if it did not happen. Without a reckoning, exploitation of fear toward power grab will repeat. We look forward to hearing from you – via the online form or email.
Thanking you,
In sincere hope of a long-overdue scientific discussion and accountability.
---
*Managing Committee of Universal Health Organisation (UHO):
  • Prof. Bhaskaran Raman, Professor of Computer Science and Engineering, Mumbai
  • Dr. Amitav Banerjee, MD, Clinical Epidemiologist, Pune
  • Dr. Arvind Singh Kushwaha, Community Medicine, Auraiya
  • Dr. Veena Raghava, MBBS, DA, Clinical Nutrition (NIN), Bengaluru
  • Dr. Praveen K Saxena, MBBS, DMRD, FCMT, Hyderabad
  • Dr. Maya Valecha, MD, DGO, Vadodara
  • Dr. Gayatri Panditrao, BHMS (Homoeopathic Consultant), PGDEMS, Pune
  • Ashutosh Pathak, Journalist, QVIVE, Delhi
  • Prakash Pohare, Journalist, Deshonnati, Akola

Comments

TRENDING

Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan raises concerns over Jharkhand Adivasis' plight in Assam, BJP policies

By Our Representative  The Loktantra Bachao Abhiyan (Save Democracy Campaign) has issued a pressing call to protect Adivasi rights in Jharkhand, highlighting serious concerns over the treatment of Jharkhandi Adivasis in Assam. During a press conference in Ranchi on November 9, representatives from Assam, Chhattisgarh, and Madhya Pradesh criticized the current approach of BJP-led governments in these states, arguing it has exacerbated Adivasi struggles for rights, land, and cultural preservation.

Promoting love or instilling hate and fear: Why is RSS seeking a meeting with Rahul Gandhi?

By Ram Puniyani*  India's anti-colonial struggle was marked by a diverse range of social movements, one of the most significant being Hindu-Muslim unity and the emergence of a unified Indian identity among people of all religions. The nationalist, anti-colonial movement championed this unity, best embodied by Mahatma Gandhi, who ultimately gave his life for this cause. Gandhi once wrote, “The union that we want is not a patched-up thing but a union of hearts... Swaraj (self-rule) for India must be an impossible dream without an indissoluble union between the Hindus and Muslims of India. It must not be a mere truce... It must be a partnership between equals, each respecting the religion of the other.”

A Marxist intellectual who dwelt into complex areas of the Indian socio-political landscape

By Harsh Thakor*  Professor Manoranjan Mohanty has been a dedicated advocate for human rights over five decades. His work as a scholar and activist has supported revolutionary democratic movements, navigating complex areas of the Indian socio-political landscape. His balanced, non-partisan approach to human rights and social justice has made his books essential resources for advocates of democracy.

Four J&K MLAs visit Wular lake, pledge support to fisher community, environmental conservation

By Shamim Ahmed*   In a historic meeting that highlighted both environmental and social concerns, four Members of the Legislative Assembly (MLAs) visited Wular Lake to meet with the fisherfolk community, signaling a significant step in addressing their longstanding issues. This gathering, organized with the support of dedicated advocates, marks a strengthening of efforts to both safeguard the lake’s ecosystem and support the community’s welfare.

Supreme Court’s dismissal of PIL on Covid vaccine safety is counter to known science and mathematics

By Bhaskaran Raman*  On 14 Oct 2024, the Supreme Court of India dismissed a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on the side-effects of the Covid vaccine. In 2021, the world saw the rollout of various Covid vaccine candidates. In India, Bharat Biotech’s Covaxin and Serum Institute of India’s Covishield were rolled out. Covishield was nothing but Oxford’s AstraZeneca relabelled in India. The importance of open-minded and scientific probe of Covid vaccine safety In 2020/2021, all Covid vaccines were authorized for emergency use, which meant that the necessary efficacy and safety follow-up was incomplete at that time. The originally approved trials – called randomised controlled trials (RCT) had a “vaccine” group and a “placebo” group for comparison. Such experimental comparison/control is the cornerstone of the scientific method – which even children learn in photosynthesis experiments in class-1. The vaccine trials were scheduled to conclude in late 2022/early 2023. For instance, Covax...

Swami Vivekananda's views on caste and sexuality were 'painfully' regressive

By Bhaskar Sur* Swami Vivekananda now belongs more to the modern Hindu mythology than reality. It makes a daunting job to discover the real human being who knew unemployment, humiliation of losing a teaching job for 'incompetence', longed in vain for the bliss of a happy conjugal life only to suffer the consequent frustration.

A Hindu alternative to Valentine's Day? 'Shiv-Parvati was first love marriage in Universe'

By Rajiv Shah  The other day, I was searching on Google a quote on Maha Shivratri which I wanted to send to someone, a confirmed Shiv Bhakt, quite close to me -- with an underlying message to act positively instead of being negative. On top of the search, I chanced upon an article in, imagine!, a Nashik Corporation site which offered me something very unusual. 

Buddhist shrines were 'massively destroyed' by Brahmanical rulers: Historian DN Jha

Nalanda mahavihara By Our Representative Prominent historian DN Jha, an expert in India's ancient and medieval past, in his new book , "Against the Grain: Notes on Identity, Intolerance and History", in a sharp critique of "Hindutva ideologues", who look at the ancient period of Indian history as "a golden age marked by social harmony, devoid of any religious violence", has said, "Demolition and desecration of rival religious establishments, and the appropriation of their idols, was not uncommon in India before the advent of Islam".

Right-arm fast bowler who helped West Indies shape arguably greatest Test team in cricket history

By Harsh Thakor*  Malcolm Marshall redefined what it meant to be a right-arm fast bowler, challenging the traditional laws of biomechanics with his unique skill. As we remember his 25th death anniversary on November 4th, we reflect on the legacy he left behind after his untimely death from colon cancer. For a significant part of his career, Marshall was considered one of the fastest and most formidable bowlers in the world, helping to shape the West Indies into arguably the greatest Test team in cricket history.

Will Left victory in Sri Lanka deliver economic sovereignty plan, go beyond 'tired' IMF agenda?

By Atul Chandra, Vijay Prashad*  On September 22, 2024, the Sri Lankan election authority announced that Anura Kumara Dissanayake of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led National People’s Power (NPP) alliance won the presidential election. Dissanayake, who has been the leader of the left-wing JVP since 2014, defeated 37 other candidates, including the incumbent president Ranil Wickremesinghe of the United National Party (UNP) and his closest challenger Sajith Premadasa of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya.