Hyderabad MP and AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi has asked Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao not to extend the lockdown in the state, saying that they are neither scientific nor humanitarian. Owaisi’s remarks came on the day the Telangana Cabinet meeting held in Hyderabad to take a decision on the extension of the lockdown. Asaduddin said that lockdown is not the right strategy to combat COVID-19. He said that the measure appears as a ‘hard on pandemic’ strategy but all it does is destroy the lives of the poor. The Hyderabad MP added that COVID-19 cases in the state were already on a decline before the lockdown was imposed on May 12. Update- Telangana extends lockdown
"Telganana's Cabinet will be meeting today to discuss the extension of lockdown.I must reiterate my opposition. It's not a strategy to combat COVID-19. It APPEARS as a "hard on pandemic" strategy but all it does is destroy the lives of poor. As data shows, COVID cases were already reducing much much before lockdown was imposed on 12th May. It's quite clear that it's not lockdown that helped. It's also clear that COVID can be combatted without lockdown," Owaisi said.
He said that people have to accept that the pandemic is a long term reality. “One can combat it only by educating the public about mask use and social distancing, and tweaking govt policies to encourage and enable such lifestyle change. The only long-term solution is universal vaccination. Lockdowns give a cruel choice to the poor: poverty, police atrocities or pandemic. They make a public health crisis into a law and order problem. They are neither a scientific nor a humanitarian strategy,” Owaisi said.
As data shows, COVID cases were already reducing much much before lockdown was imposed on 12th May. It's quite clear that it's not lockdown that helped. It's also clear that COVID can be combatted without lockdown 2/5
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) May 30, 2021
"The only long-term solution is universal vaccination. Lockdowns give a cruel choice to the poor: poverty, police atrocities or pandemic. They make a public health crisis into a law and order problem. They are neither a scientific nor a humanitarian strategy," Owaisi tweeted.
Urging the Chief Minister against extending the lockdown, he had said, “If the goal is to reduce crowding, then we may consider evening curfews (6 pm onwards) or mini-lockdowns for COVID clusters. But expecting 3.5cr people to live for weeks with just a 4 hour lockdown relaxation is not fair at all.”
Strongly urge @TelanganaCMO to not extend lockdown. If goal is to reduce crowding, then we may consider evening curfews (6 PM onwards) or mini-lockdowns for COVID clusters. But expecting ~3.5cr people to live for weeks with just a 4 hour lockdown relaxation is not fair at all 4/5
— Asaduddin Owaisi (@asadowaisi) May 30, 2021
Telangana has been under a lockdown since May 12. The lockdown was first imposed till May 22 but after a cabinet meeting on May 18 it was extended by one more week.