Light candles at Sunday 9 pm to fight coronavirus, says PM

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced for a complete lockdown of the nation from 24 March to 14 April. Ever since then, he has addressed the nation three times. On Friday, Modi urged Indians to switch off their lights, hold candles and ‘diyas’ to show solidarity in fighting Coronavirus darkness at 9 pm on Sunday for nine minutes. He further added this must be not done in large gatherings, but in the rooms and balconies of every house.

Modi in his speech said that 130 crore Indians are together in the battle against Coronavirus. He also stressed on the importance of ‘laxman rekha’ or social distancing. So even after the lockdown period is over, people must ensure to keep social distancing which is inevitable to fight Coronavirus.

On 22 March, during ‘Janata Curfew’, Modi had asked people across the country to come to their balconies and cheer for health care professionals by clapping.

In India, there are over 2000 Coronavirus cases reported. Over 53 people have already died from the virus. Coronavirus death cases have hit nearly 50,000 globally with over one million positive cases being reported.

Reactions on social media

There were mixed reactions on social media to Modi’s speech.

“Dear @narendramodi, We will listen to you and light diyas on April 5. But, in return, please listen to us and to the wise counsel of epidemiologists and economists”, tweeted Congress leader and Former Finance Minister P Chidambaram.

“every individual hs his own part to do 2 stay home.We r proud of our Team Leader @narendramodi. Let’s all continue to Stay home & be Safe.5th April at 9pm for 9 mins all lights off.Candles,Diya,torch,mobile flash to use bt only from http://home.No Streets Show Please”, tweeted Former Indian Cricketer Harbhajan Singh.

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