UPDATED: May 10, 2021 20:51 IST GOD'S COUNTRY: Devotees at the Kumbh Mela on Maha Shivratri, March 11 (Prakash Singh/AFP) When the Narendra Modi-led Union government announced the nationwide lockdown last year, the number of Covid cases in the country stood at 618. Exactly a year later, even while the country had 3 million active cases and the total tally had crossed 11 million, India was preparing for the Kumbh Mela, one of the largest religious congregations in the world, scheduled to begin from April 1. While experts across the country cautioned against holding the event, the administration turned a deaf ear to those appeals. At the event itself, even while state government advertisements paid lip-service to Covid protocols, it was clear to all but the most credulous that it wouldn’t be possible to observe the protocol at this mela of millions. Tirath Singh Rawat, chief minister of Uttarakhand, declared: “Faith will overcome the fear of Covid-19.” Pity it couldn’t stave off the disease too.