Angamimiapfü Mechü Krotho (AMK) has expressed shock that at a time when the State’s COVID positivity rate of 8.5% was higher than the national average of 7.9%, as per the health & family welfare (H&FW) department’s own admission, the state tourism department has instructed various departments to prepare for the Hornbill Festival in December.
AMK, the apex Angami women’s body, in a statement by its president Kevinourheno Seyie and general secretary Shürhivino Nakhro said the move “takes the wind out of the sails” of frontline workers who have been tirelessly and indefatigably involved in the fight against COVID.
AMK emphasised that unlock did not mean the freedom to celebrate festivals with crowds, and cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s impassioned appeal on October 20, to people to adhere to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) as although lockdown was over and as the virus was still around.
AMK said if the present lack of compliance to SOP was any indication, there was not much reason to believe that it would be adhered to in crowded gatherings and festivals, as proven during the recent Durga Puja festival in Dimapur.
AMK cited the example of Kerala, once portrayed as a “model State” for having successfully contained the spread of virus, which witnessed a spurt in COVID cases post Onam celebrations.
It said that even Union Health & Family Welfare minister Dr Harsh Vardhan remarked that Kerala had paid the price for gross negligence as movement of people led to increase in cases and the epidemic curve went up.
AMK said the Hornbill Festival was neither an ancestral festival of any tribe nor a religious festival that people were duty bound to observe.
It said Hornbill Festival was more of a government effort to project and showcase various cultures and Naga tribes in a bid to promote tourism.
Further, Angamimiapfü Mechü Krotho claimed that the festival continues to be a financial liability for the government and also wanted to know why it could not suspended in the backdrop of COVID pandemic and why put the lives of people at risk by exposing them to the virus?