Buddhist Monks as community organizers: an indigenous response to COVID-19 in the Spiti Valley of Northern India

ABSTRACT

Many large nations have failed to adequately protect their indigenous populations from COVID-19, a novel disease which has challenged overarching nation-states to develop plans that are politically acceptable to and effective for heterogeneous populations. These failures of the nation-state to adequately protect citizens have endangered indigenous communities but also opened a space for indigenous solidarity, organization, and institution building. The residents of Spiti Valley of Northern India initially attempted to organize against COVID-19 through the secular mechanisms of government in their district. When residents lost trust in their ability to work through official channels, monasteries transcended traditional and contemporary boundaries to cooperate with each other in developing the Committee for Preventive Measures and Sustainable Development (CPMSD). The CPMSD has successfully warded off COVID-19 through a variety of measures, including limiting incoming traffic, quarantine, education, contact tracing, and social distancing. In the process, the Spiti Valley has revitalized traditional structures of governance. Public health practitioners should carefully document how indigenous (and other) communities organize to combat COVID-19. This data – which may reveal practical as opposed to formal networks of authority – may assist current and future public health practitioners to decide how and with whom to invest scarce human resources.

KEYWORDS:

• Health Promotion
• Indigenous Peoples
• Self-governance
• COVID-19
• Northern India

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).