Faced with the Covid crisis, Gandhi would ask us to first shed fear of virus: Dr Abhay Bang

Dr Bang, who grew up in the Sevagram Ashram, Wardha, and whose work on childhood pneumonia and home-based newborn care helped shape global policy, told The Indian Express that Covid-19 pandemic, economic recession, and global warming are compounded by the “void of political and moral leadership”.

Written by Anuradha Mascarenhas

Pune | June 19, 2020 11:32 PM IST

4 min read

Abhay Bang, Covid crisis, Coronavirus cases, Pune news, Indian express news

Dr Abhay Bang

What would Mahatma Gandhi have done, if he had faced the Covid-19 crisis? This is a topic social activist Dr Abhay Bang has explored in a report, published online in The Lancet on Friday, in which he has proposed a nine-point action programme, beginning with “freedom from fear”.

“In such a situation, Mahatma Gandhi would not merely preach. He would begin actions locally rather than chase the world to change it. Actions that initially may look small and silly – for instance picking a fistful of salt – that eventually changed history – would be among his priority,” said Dr Bang, who is the founder-director of Society for Education, Action and Research in Community Health (SEARCH).

In the Lancet report, Dr Bang has written, “We are gripped more by the virus of fear than by the coronavirus, and this fear pandemic has paralysed the whole world. Gandhi would ask us to first shed this fear, as he asked the Indians to shed the fear of the British. Care of the sick: that was his natural instinct, expressed on innumerable occasions, from the Boer War, World War I, and during the epidemics in India, to his nursing of the sick in ashrams, including leprosy patients. People sick with Covid-19 need physical care, nursing, and medical care. Gandhi, without fear, while being fastidious about hygiene, hand washing and mask use, would personally nurse them.

“As a symbol of protest against the government, Gandhi, in his new Dandi March, would join the displaced urban labourers, hungry and humiliated, walking towards the villages they once left but dying on their way. Gandhi knows enough about the misery from his final days spent among the millions of displaced victims of the Partition of India.

“The fear of SARS-CoV-2 and the strict lockdown have forced people to shut their doors and shun contact with neighbours. Gandhi would not approve this and would most likely have launched a Satyagraha or civil disobedience by challenging the ghettos created by lockdown. It takes a Gandhi to take such a moral position,” Dr Bang said, adding that “today, almost everyone is untouchable due to the depth of alienation that the pandemic and fear have led us to”.

“Faced with the threat of the Covid-19 pandemic, the global and national leadership has committed several blunders and changed the goalposts repeatedly, from no infection, to containment, to increasing the doubling time, to the present — learning to live with SARS-CoV-2. Without knowledge about a new disease, the errors of judgment are natural, but where is the honest admission of failure of the chosen strategy? Today, it is missing. Gandhi would do that. And, surprisingly, that would make people trust him even more,” wrote Dr Bang.

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“While the final act would be that of prayer, Gandhi would remind us of the humaneness and stability of local production, local consumption, and local community of relationships. He called it Gram-Swaraj. We should not be waiting for Gandhi, rather act on what he would have done,” Dr Bang stated.

Anuradha Mascarenhas

Anuradha Mascarenhas is a Senior Editor at The Indian Express, based in Pune. With a career spanning three decades, she is one of the most respected voices in Indian journalism regarding healthcare, science and environment and research developments. She also takes a keen interest in covering women's issues . Anuradha has won several awards including the Press Council of India's national award for excellence in journalism under the gender based reporting category in 2019 and the Laadli Media award (gender sensitivity -2024). A recipient of the Lokmat journalism award (gender category-2022), she was also shortlisted for the RedInk awards for excellence in journalism-2021. Her debut book At The Wheel Of Research, an exclusive biography of Dr Soumya Swaminathan the inaugural chief scientist of World Health Organisation was also nominated in the Popular Choice Category of JK Paper AUTHER awards. She has also secured competitive fellowships including the Laadli Media Fellowship (2022), the Survivors Against TB – New Research in TB Media Fellowship (2023) and is part of the prestigious 2025 India Cohort of the WomenLift Health Leadership Journey.” Professional Background Education: A gold medalist in Communication and Journalism from Savitribai Phule Pune University and a Master’s degree in Literature. Author: She authored the biography At The Wheel Of Research, which chronicles the life and work of Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, the former Chief Scientist at the WHO. Key Focus: She combines scientific accuracy with storytelling, translating complex medical research into compelling public and human-interest narratives. Recent Notable Articles (Late 2025) 1. Cancer & Specialized Medical Care "Tata Memorial finds way to kill drug-resistant cancer cells" (Nov 26, 2025): Reporting on a breakthrough for triple-negative breast cancer, one of the most aggressive forms of the disease. ``Discipline, diet and purpose; How a 97-year-old professor defies ageing'' (Nov 15, 2025) Report about Prof Gururaj Mutalik, the first Head of Department at Pune's B J Government Medical College who at 97 credits his longevity to healthy habits and a strong sense of purpose. 2. Environmental Health (The "Breathless Pune" Series) "Long-term exposure even to 'moderate' air leads to chronic heart, lung, kidney issues" (Nov 26, 2025): Part of an investigative series highlighting that even "safe" pollution levels are damaging to vital organs. "For every 10 µg/m3 increase in PM2.5 level, there was 6-8% jump in medicine sales" (Nov 23, 2025): Using commercial data to prove the direct link between air quality and respiratory illnesses in Pune. 3. Lifestyle & Wellness News "They didn't let cancer, diabetes and heart disease stop them from travelling" (Dec 22, 2025): A collaborative piece featuring survivors who share practical tips for traveling with chronic conditions. ``At 17, his BP shot up to 200/120 mmHG; Lancet study flags why child and teen hypertension doubled between 2000 and 2020'' (Nov 12,2025)--A report that focusses on 17-year-old-boy's hypertensive crisis and reflects the rising global trend of high blood pressure among children and adolescents. 4. Scientific Recognition & Infrastructure "For promoting sci-comm, gender diversity: IUCAA woman prof highlighted in Nature" (Nov 25, 2025): Covering the global recognition of Indian women scientists in gender studies and physics. ``Pune researchers find a spiral galaxy like the Milky Way from early universe'' (December 3, 2025)- A report on how Indian researchers discovered a massive galaxy that existed when the universe was just 1.5 billion years old , one of the earliest to have been observed so far. Signature Beat: Health, Science & Women in Leadership Anuradha is known for her COVID-19 reportage, where she was one of the first journalists to provide detailed insights into the Covishield and Covaxin trials. She has a dedicated interest in gender diversity in health and science, often profiling women researchers who are breaking the "leaky pipeline" in STEM fields. Her writing style is scrupulous, often featuring interviews with top-tier scientists and health experts from various institutions X (Twitter): @runaanu ... Read More

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