The World Around Us
By Venkatesh Raghavan
The rising number of Covid-19 deaths causing anxiety to governments and health authorities across countries in Europe has also precipitated a serious law and order crisis. Anti-vaccine protests are taking to the streets against a bid to regulate and restrict their presence in public places like malls and restaurants besides imposing travel restrictions. The rioting protests across Europe, be it Belgium or Italy or Austria or for that matter relatively peaceful Switzerland expressed their angst over the insistence of Covid passes that verify their having taken the two doses of the vaccine.
Many among the violent protesting mobs expressed their displeasure over the state’s bid to stop them from availing the services of public enterprises like restaurants and bars for failing to conform to the government’s vaccination norms. While in the Belgian capital of Brussels uproarious scenes were witnessed with demonstrators tossing firecrackers at the local police force, the Netherlands too witnessed a fair amount of violence with people throwing rocks and setting vehicles on fire to protest a fresh wave of stringent lockdown measures imposed by the government.
The stringent restrictions imposed in Belgium like compulsory wearing of masks and work from home stipulations for most part of a week besides requiring Covid passes for availing any public utility space has not gone down well with the masses. Authorities maintained that restrictions on people traveling to their place of work will continue till the second week of December.
The demonstrators numbering several thousands of people took to the streets in Austria, Croatia and Italy as well. It reflected the public anger against the state imposed curbs in their respective countries. The police had to resort to firing gunshots to curb the violent turn of events in Hague, the capital city of Netherlands. At present, the governments across Europe have their priority cut out in the form of compulsorily vaccinating all the health workers in their respective countries.
The global apex body, the World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed serious concern over the increasing number of Coronavirus cases and deaths in the continent. In a worst case scenario, where the situation on ground fails to improve, the WHO anticipates anywhere near half a million deaths owing to the pandemic spreading across Europe.
While police in Rotterdam reported “life threatening situations” that compelled them to open fire at a mob, in another of Netherland’s cities, even the football grounds that were hosting matches were not spared by the rioters who spilled on to the pitch to express revolt. The riots in Netherland were sparked soon after the government clamped down a partial three-week lockdown as a precaution against the rising number of Covid cases and deaths.
Meanwhile, Austria, which is the first country in Europe to make vaccination a compulsory legal requirement, witnessed tens of thousands of people pouring into the streets of Vienna in protest against the measure. France and Croatia too witnessed incidents of violence due to their attempts at regulating access of people to public avenues on the basis of Covid passes. While Croatians expressed their resentment against the government making it mandatory for public sector employees to get their vaccine passes, in the capital city of Zagreb, France in parts witnessed widespread looting and ransacking of shops that warranted the government to deploy additional police personnel in several of its cities.
Germany, which happens to be the driver of the European economy is faced with a high number of Covid deaths, currently contemplating on mandatory vaccination. In all probability, Germany might go the neighbouring Austria way to quell Covid deaths. Reactions from ground however are yet to pour in.
In the United Kingdom (UK) too protests were afoot in London besides some county areas. The latest round of protests that took place in Switzerland however, were described as peaceful where the authorities were present in big numbers but allowed the protestors to march and chant slogans unhindered.
