India is bracing itself for more deaths amid the continuing spread of COVID-19. Meanwhile, veteran Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor has suggested the federal government should consider imposing martial law in order to halt the spread of coronavirus.
In Delhi, hundreds of people are already defying the lockdown and were ignoring social distancing guidelines for reducing the risk of infection when they attended a religious congregation. Seven persons, who had returned after the congregation held on 16 March succumbed to infection – six in Telangana and one in Kashmir.
“Aaj ye hua kal kya kya hona hai? (This happened today, now what will happen tomorrow?)That is why I said we need the military out. Emergency,” he tweeted.
Even netizens agreed with his suggestion
While the actor wants an emergency in India, The Indian Army on Monday rejected fake messages circulated on social media about the likely declaration of emergency in India.
The current lockdown, announced by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi, is set to continue till 14 April as a step to contain the spread of COVID-19.
After the lockdown was announced, thousands of daily wage labourers trudged hundreds of kilometres from cities like Delhi and Mumbai to return to their villages. These workers were left jobless, with no income, and are facing the prospect of starvation. Several states later provided buses to transport those workers from places like Delhi.