Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday morning appealed to the people to display their collective resolve to fight the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) outbreak by lighting a candle, lamp or even switching on the flashlight of a mobile phone on Sunday evening.
In a 10-minute video address, the PM, however, cautioned that the laskshman rekha of social distancing should not be crossed while exhibiting the collective resolve.
“On April 5 at 9pm, I need nine minutes from you. Switch off your lights at home. Use a candle, a diya (earthen lamp) or the flashlight of a mobile phone for nine minutes in your balcony. When everyone will light a lamp, the collective strength of the nation to combat the coronavirus will be experienced,” the PM said in his address.
“We should all feel that none of us is alone and we are all united against this pandemic,” he asserted. “We have to move towards light and assurance for the uncertainty and gloom that the viral outbreak has inflicted.”
“Many people would be thinking about how long would this troubled period last, but all of us are together and no one is alone,” he added.
Modi again urged people to maintain social distancing while implementing his new idea to fight the pandemic.
“No one has to get together. It has to be done from the door or balcony. The lakshman rekha of social distancing should not be crossed. To break the chain of the coronavirus, it is the only definitive solution,” he said.
There is no force stronger in the world than our enthusiasm, he added.
The PM also pointed out that when people came out and clapped and clanged utensils to honour health workers at 5 pm during the Janata Curfew on March 22, it displayed the collective strength of the nation. Many nations emulated what Indians did, he said.
