A Letter petition has been filed in Supreme court seeking directions to the Government of India and State Governments to use the word, “Physical Distancing” or “Individual Distancing” or “Disease distancing” “Safe Distancing” or any other appropriate word instead of the word “Social Distancing”.
The Advocate “B. Karthik Navayan” from Hyderabad, Telangana had addressed the letter petition to the Chief Justice of India S.A. Bobde. The petitioner is also a Legal Advisor of Samatha Sainik Dal, founded by Dr B. R Ambedkar in 1924.
The letter petition says that the Ministry of Health and family welfare, Government of India has issued an Advisory on “Social Distancing” Measure in view of spread of COVID-19 disease in which it used the word “Social Distancing” but it means that the said advisory requires people to follow the “Physical Distancing” as it explains in the first Para “Social distancing is a non-pharmaceutical infection prevention and control intervention implemented to avoid/decrease contact between those who are infected with a disease causing pathogen and those who are not, so as to stop or slow down the rate and extent of disease transmission in a community, this eventually leads to decrease in spread, morbidity and mortality due to the disease”. In the next point of advisory it was stated that, “Possibility of postponing exams may be explored. On-going exams to be conducted only after ensuring “physical distance” of one meter amongst students”.
The using of word “Social Distancing” to ensure the “Physical Distancing” or any other precautions in a country like us, which is a caste based society with graded inequalities and which has a tradition of practicing untouchability towards the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribe communities will lead to furthering the existing discriminatory caste based social practices. Therefore I pray that this court may direct the Union of India, States and UTs to use the word, “Physical Distancing” or “Individual Distancing” or “Disease distancing” “Safe Distancing” or any other appropriate word instead of the word “Social Distancing”, said the petition.
The petitioner further mentioned that people have started advocating that the existing “Caste based Untouchability” Practice is required to prevent Covid19 by taking excuse in the situation created by Covid19 (Corona virus). They are advocating caste discriminatory untouchability and taking pride in their non-scheduled caste status that they are not untouchables. Scheduled castes were considered as untouchables that is why the constitution of India with article 17 has prohibited the practice of untouchability.
Thereafter, it says that the use of the word “Social distancing” by government agencies and media have given scope to the people like Maria Wirth and Jonnavithula Ramalingeswara Rao to promote the practice of caste-based untouchability which is prohibited by article 17 of the constitution of India and by subsequent legislations. The actions of promotion of untouchability by the non – scheduled castes are contrary to law, arbitrary and against the spirit of the constitution of India. The governments should stop using the word “Social Distancing” and issue guideline to the media to stop using the word “Social Distancing” and the attempts of some of the non- scheduled castes and non-scheduled tribes are justifying the untouchability practises on the name of “Social Distancing”. They are linking “Social Distancing” with the untouchability and advocating that “Untouchability is required to prevent the spread of Covid19 – Corona virus. This has to be stopped by governments and the media.
The petitioner referred to the quote of B.R. Ambedkar
“that a man thinks is a biological fact what he thinks is a sociological fact.”
“Another Ambedkarite activist, Anu Ramdas writes that, the world has no solutions, no rapid response to human suffering caused by congested spaces and denial of basic resources to vast swathes of humanity”, said in the petition.
A Prayer was also made by the petitioner to direct the Central Government, State governments, and Union Territories to issue guideline to the print and electronic media on the stopping the usage of the word “Social Distancing” and to start using the other appropriate words as required in their local/ regional languages.
-India Legal Bureau