5 highlights
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The Epidemic Diseases Act of 1897—first enacted 123 years ago to tackle the Bubonic Plague in the erstwhile Bombay Presidency—has a short straightforward text.
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The Act was neither rational nor deeply considered in 1897. If it is applied during this pandemic, the results may be no different.
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In many ways, it feels as if the 123 years between 1897 and 2020 are meaningless in terms of the human condition
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The plague left behind an angry, disaffected, and divided population—which suited the British very well.
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The true reason behind the Epidemic Diseases Act then was economic—as it is now.