Indian populism, the virus’ best ally

While the Covid-19 epidemic did not “choose” between democracy and authoritarianism, it has clearly demonstrated the dangers of populism. The example of India, after that of Brazil, is the most recent and striking demonstration of this. What is happening before our eyes in India must be seen as a warning of universal significance. A final lesson, before it is too late, and which can be summed up in one sentence: in times of pandemic, populism is quite simply an accelerator of vulnerabilities and structural weaknesses.

Certainly, compared to the population of India, nearly 1.4 billion inhabitants, the current toll of the pandemic (around 400,000 dead) – even if it is grossly undervalued – is not in itself. such a shocking anomaly. But the loss of control over the epidemic is not only a reflection of the failing state of the Indian health system. It was the Indian state itself as a whole that failed, a state that had scandalously underinvested in the health of its citizens. In India, as in Brazil, the very poor are “transparent”. The rich see through them. Why would they care about their fate?

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