Prime Minister Narendra Modi said on Friday that at 9 pm on April 5 (Sunday), he wants the country’s residents to show coronavirus the power of light for nine minutes. “We have to awaken the energy of 130 crore Indians. At 9 pm at April 5, I want nine minutes from you. Switch off all your lights, stand at your door or balcony, light a candle, lamp, a torch or your phone's flashlight, and keep it on for nine minutes,” he said, adding that when all Indians do this exercise together, they will be able to feel the power of light and the resolve of the fight against coronavirus.
He also emphasised that no one should gather on the roads or in the streets, but must do it at home, stressing on the importance of social distancing.
Highlighting the first one-day 'Janata curfew' where he had asked people in the country to applaud essential workers, he said that many countries are now following it, and it gave people the feeling that they could fight this.
“People might wonder what they can do alone. People may also think how they will fight such a big thing alone. You might have these questions in your mind. But you are not alone. The strength of 130 crores of Indians is with each one of us. We are in lockdown, yes. We are at our homes, yes. But we are not alone,” PM Modi said.
He stated that amid the darkness spread by the coronavirus pandemic, we have to go towards the light.
This was Prime Minister Modi’s third address to the nation amid the COVID-19 pandemic — the first announced that to curb the spread of coronavirus, people in the country will have to practice social distancing, and asked people to follow the one-day Janata curfew. In the second, he announced the 21-day lockdown, effective till April 14.