Pandemic of Repression: Modi Government Crushes Dissent While Ignoring India’s 6 Million COVID Cases

As India becomes just the second country to hit 6 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, we speak to journalist Rana Ayyub in Mumbai, who was recently hospitalized after testing positive for the disease.

India’s lead pandemic agency says an antibody study suggests more than 60 million people in the country have already been infected with the coronavirus — 10 times the official count but still a small fraction of its population of 1.3 billion.

“It doesn’t feel like India is even talking about the pandemic,” says Ayyub, a global opinions writer for The Washington Post.

“More than the fear of the pandemic, people in this country are fearing the massive unemployment and the fact that they are going without food.”

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