Mysuru: Dr Manjunath seeks martyr status for corona warriors

Mysuru: Clad in white silk dothi, shirt and vally with blue border, Dr C N Manjunath, who inaugurated the festival on Saturday morning, said, "Mysuru Dasara introduces our culture, tradition, language, to the entire world and to the youngsters and it spreads the message of Vishwa Manava -- the universal brotherhood," he said.

Speaking on the importance of the Kannada language, he said, "The language we love and speak is Kannada but English is the global language and we need to embrace both in a balanced way," he said.

Dwelling on the pandemic, he condoled the death of over 500 doctors and 700 nurses in India due to the virus. "Just as soldiers laying down their lives fighting the enemy at the borders to keep the country safe are recognised as martyrs, the government should accord the same status to corona warriors dying while fighting the invisible virus and a certificate of appreciation should be given to them to boost their morale," Dr Manjunath said.

"Experiments on Covid vaccine is in the third stage. We may get it by February or July. Fear of coronavirus is bigger than the infection itself. Social distance should not be mistaken for stigma. We should maintain physical distance, not emotional distance. We should be kind to Covid patients and instill confidence in them. Ninety percent of the people are cured with normal treatment, only 8 percent need oxygen, one percent need ventilation. The Chief Minister who has honoured six corona warriors has served as a corona warrior himself too and he too has suffered from the virus. And in the past eight months he has held at least 300 to 400 meetings and consulted experts, taken decisions and given guidance on controlling the virus. We have good treatment at government hospitals for Covid-19 in the State and private hospitals have joined too. There is no shortage of medicines. Wearing masks properly, maintaining social distance and keeping our hands clean are our three vaccines at present to keep the virus at bay," Dr Manjunath said.

"Medical field is like a battle field. As per latest studies, the life span of doctors has come down by 10 years. We may not pray for our families, but we always pray for our patients' health, give quality health care at right time, but doctors are attacked and the hospitals are vandalized when the treatment fails. There is no security and no protection to doctors especially in rural areas. It is for this reason doctors are hesitating to go to rural areas. It affects the confidence and morale of doctors," he said.

He noted, "Dasara inauguration has become meaningful by sending message of unity in diversity. Nobody becomes bigger because of position they hold, but because of the work they do. Time has not changed but the people and lifestyle have changed. We are building big houses but living with small number of people. We are acquiring more degrees without gaining enough general knowledge. It's said our relationships and friendships are getting limited to Facebook. We talk of Mars but we are unaware of our own neighbors. "Saadane illade saththare saavige avamaana, aadarsha illade saththare badukige avamaana" (It is insult to death if we die without any achievement; it is insult to life, if we do not live with values). As we have lived with the virus for the past eight months it has taught us several lessons. No matter what we do, at times we will not be able to change people, but, nature can change man and coronavirus has proved it. By hitting lakhs of people across the world, it has also proved what will happen when we go against nature. We are not indispensable to nature but nature is indispensable to us. So we must protect it," he maintained.