The other disruption
In a world dominated by far-right leaders, the virus may have arrived at the right time
As the world struggles to deal with the Covid-19 pandemic, there is a greater challenge to our coexistence that might be ignored. While some countries are experiencing the steepest growth in cases, there is a steady rise in right-wing agenda which perhaps is more dangerous than the virus itself. Leaders of countries like Brazil are investing heavily in protecting their regime by weaving an alternative narrative around the health crisis. In one statement Brazil’s President Jair Bolsonaro tried to reassure his citizens over the threat of coronavirus by claiming Brazilians can bathe in excrement “and nothing happens”. A far-right populist, Bolsonaro has dismissed the idea that his country’s economy, which is the biggest in Latin America, could soon face a situation as severe as the US, where there have been more than 100,000 infected cases and 1,500 deaths. Bolsonaro, also went on to claim that Brazilians have the antibodies that prevent the Covid-19 virus.
There is no dearth of such leadership around the world at this moment. President Donald Trump himself has referred to the virus as a hoax and even blamed China for spreading it. Trump’s comments triggered a series of hate crimes against the Asian-American community across the country. Not only that, in the latest presidential faux pas, Trump went for an all-out push to advance unproven coronavirus treatments with risky malaria drugs, dividing the medical community and certainly encouraging ordinary citizens to experiment with their lives. If this isn’t alarming enough, some hardliners are using the virus to advance their caustic agenda against minority communities. In a world dominated by far-right leaders, the virus may have arrived at the right time and is certainly welcomed. Over the next few weeks and months, as the world battles the deadly virus, there is a greater challenge that needs attention and that is the uninterrupted flow of disruptive ideas from the far-right.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 30th, 2020.
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