Skip to main content

Bureaucrats 'working silently' with WHO for one-size-fits-all One World, One Bed policy

By Dr Amitav Banerjee, MD* 

Procrustes in Greek mythology was the owner of an estate In Corydalus in Attica, between Athens and Eleusis where mysterious rites were performed. He had a strange way of looking after his guests. He had an iron bed on which he invited them to rest after treating them to a generous dinner. But there was a catch.
Procrustes had a peculiar obsession. He wanted the traveller to fit the bed to perfection. If the guest happened to be shorter than the bed, he stretched the victims to fit the bed. Alternatively, if the victim was taller, he sawed off the unfortunate person’s legs. Either way, the victim was tied, tortured and made to fit the bed.
Does it ring a bell? Do we get a déjà-vu feeling? Logically we know we haven’t experienced this moment before. But our gut is likely to tell us something which can be quite an unsettling and strange feeling. Unfortunately, the vast majority of us has been numbed by the “shock and awe” caused by the high intensity panic and panic-driven responses of the recent pandemic.
Measures unprecedented in public health history violating all logic and principles of pandemic control were implemented with a heavy hand in almost all the countries of the world often taking help of the police for enforcement. All the principles of public health ethics and human rights were breached.
The world is still to recover from this “shock” and a number of “aftershocks” as a result of an alarm, sans evidence, of an “impending pandemic” of highly lethal and contagious "Disease X". Meanwhile, instead of working on steps to heal a fractured society, silent and hectic preparations are on for creation of a giant bed of Procrustes. This colossal bed will accommodate the whole of humanity and even include the animal kingdom.
The promotion of this giant bed has started with catchy slogans like, “One World, One Health.” Such slogans are reminiscent and ominous in equal measure, of the catchphrase in Animal Farm – “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others!”
“One World” concept glosses over the inherent social inequities and diversities in various parts of the world and even within a country, for example in a vast country like India. Similarly, “One Health” is an oxymoron. The WHO in its definition of health defines “...health as a state...” A person well today may get sick tomorrow and the needs during different phases will be different. The same is true for different countries which may be in different phases of socioeconomic development with varying health statuses and needs.
“One Health Packages” will not fit the needs of different countries. Besides health, the factors that contribute to health and illness differ widely between countries. Housing, sanitation, income, population density, demographics and age structures, and other known and unknown factors all of which have an impact on health call for urgent action, particularly among less privileged people of the world before pushing for vaccines and drugs against a yet unknown “Disease X.”
But we are digressing from the story, i.e. the remaking of the Bed of Procrustes. Bureaucrats, shall we call them carpenters, with the WHO are working silently behind the scenes designing a one-size-fits-all modern and colossal “Bed of Procrustes” which will accommodate the citizens of 194 countries which enjoy the hospitality of the WHO.
This bed will be called the WHO Pandemic Treaty. Due to hype of the impending pandemic of “Disease X” by an obliging mainstream media, and blockbuster movies on pandemics, serving as the opium of the masses, people will look up to the WHO for succour. The WHO will eagerly oblige having ensured the “silence of the lambs” by the “shock and awe” of panic and propaganda.
Every human belonging to the 194 member countries will be welcome to this giant bed. Rather, none will have a choice if the host decides that one has to sleep on this bed. And under the concept of “One Health” the bed will be thrown open to animals too! Human and beast will share the same common space!
Owner of an estate in Greek mythology, Procrustes had an iron bed on which he tied, tortured and made the traveller to fit the bed to perfection
There are two sets of carpenters working silently around the clock since 2021. One group is working to design the giant rigid bed, the Pandemic Treaty, and the other group is sharpening the tools, by way of the 300 amendments to the International Health Regulations (IHR), that will ensure that everyone who sleeps on the bed, human or animal, fits perfectly in it, if need be by chopping or stretching.
Had humanity not been drugged throughout the pandemic years few would have been persuaded to sleep in a strange bed. However, most citizens of the world are too tired and drowsy to care and would sleep at the first bed available. To make matters worse, their elected representatives, who should know better, are too intoxicated with power and perhaps the promise of having more in cahoots with the WHO to care two hoots where the innocent lambs are led to.
Once in the bed the hapless citizen will lose all autonomy. The occupant has to fit the bed perfectly. If human or beast fails to fit perfectly in this bed of One World, One Health, and One Bed, the tools in the form of the amendments to the IHR will ensure the occupant is stretched or cut to size to fit this huge bed. Once in this bed, the host will have all liberty to inject experimental vaccines or drugs to the occupants.
The host will have no liability to compensate for any harms arising out of these mysterious rites. The bed will ensure continuous profits for its sponsors, the makers of diagnostic kits, drugs and vaccines. They will fund for maintenance of this magic bed which will ensure steady profits for all and sundry at the cost of the hapless innocent occupants.
As a result of high pressure marketing, the bed is almost sold to 194 countries, and if the order is not cancelled within a couple of months, the citizens of the world will have no choice but to sleep on the bed constructed with labour of various conflicts of interests.
I need to consult a shrink. I think I am suffering from obsessive compulsive disorder. I am having sleep disorders. My fitful sleep is often interrupted by nightmares in which I find myself in a huge bed surrounded by humans and animals of all forms.
At times I am being stretched to fill the bed, at other times I feel as someone is trying to chop off my legs and I wake up shivering and sweating and relieved on realizing it is only a dream.
---
*Epidemiologist who is presently Professor in a Medical College at Pune. He had served as an epidemiologist in the armed forces for over two decades. He recently ranked in Stanford University list of world’s top 2% scientists. He has written the book, “Covid-19 Pandemic: A Third Eye”

Comments

TRENDING

From colonial mercantilism to Hindutva: New book on the making of power in Gujarat

By Rajiv Shah  Professor Ghanshyam Shah ’s latest book, “ Caste-Class Hegemony and State Power: A Study of Gujarat Politics ”, published by Routledge , is penned by one of Gujarat ’s most respected chroniclers, drawing on decades of fieldwork in the state. It seeks to dissect how caste and class factors overlap to perpetuate the hegemony of upper strata in an ostensibly democratic polity. The book probes the dominance of two main political parties in Gujarat—the Indian National Congress and the BJP—arguing that both have sustained capitalist growth while reinforcing Brahmanic hierarchies.

Dalit woman student’s death sparks allegations of institutional neglect in Himachal college

By A Representative   A Dalit rights organisation has alleged severe caste- and gender-based institutional violence leading to the death of a 19-year-old Dalit woman student at Government Degree College, Dharamshala, Himachal Pradesh, and has demanded arrests, resignations, and an independent inquiry into the case.

Domestic vote-bank politics 'behind official solidarity' with Bangladeshi Hindus

By Sandeep Pandey, Faisal Khan  The Indian government has registered a protest with Bangladesh over the mob lynching of two Hindus—Deepu Chandra Das in Mymensingh and Amrit Mandal in Rajbari. In its communication, the government cited a report by the Association of Hindus, Buddhists and Christian Unity Council, which claims that more than 2,900 incidents of killings, arson, and land encroachments targeting minorities have taken place since the interim government assumed power in Bangladesh. 

From protest to proof: Why civil society must rethink environmental resistance

By Shankar Sharma*  As concerned environmentalists and informed citizens, many of us share deep unease about the way environmental governance in our country is being managed—or mismanaged. Our complaints range across sectors and regions, and most of them are legitimate. Yet a hard question confronts us: are complaints, by themselves, effective? Experience suggests they are not.

Celebrating 125 yr old legacy of healthcare work of missionaries

Vilas Shende, director, Mure Memorial Hospital By Moin Qazi* Central India has been one of the most fertile belts for several unique experiments undertaken by missionaries in the field of education and healthcare. The result is a network of several well-known schools, colleges and hospitals that have woven themselves into the social landscape of the region. They have also become a byword for quality and affordable services delivered to all sections of the society. These institutions are characterised by committed and compassionate staff driven by the selfless pursuit of improving the well-being of society. This is the reason why the region has nursed and nurtured so many eminent people who occupy high positions in varied fields across the country as well as beyond. One of the fruits of this legacy is a more than century old iconic hospital that nestles in the heart of Nagpur city. Named as Mure Memorial Hospital after a British warrior who lost his life in a war while defending his cou...

Kolkata event marks 100 years since first Communist conference in India

By Harsh Thakor*   A public assembly was held in Kolkata on December 24, 2025, to mark the centenary of the First Communist Conference in India , originally convened in Kanpur from December 26 to 28, 1925. The programme was organised by CPI (ML) New Democracy at Subodh Mallik Square on Lenin Sarani. According to the organisers, around 2,000 people attended the assembly.

Urgent need to study cause of large number of natural deaths in Gulf countries

By Venkatesh Nayak* According to data tabled in Parliament in April 2018, there are 87.76 lakh (8.77 million) Indians in six Gulf countries, namely Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). While replying to an Unstarred Question (#6091) raised in the Lok Sabha, the Union Minister of State for External Affairs said, during the first half of this financial year alone (between April-September 2018), blue-collared Indian workers in these countries had remitted USD 33.47 Billion back home. Not much is known about the human cost of such earnings which swell up the country’s forex reserves quietly. My recent RTI intervention and research of proceedings in Parliament has revealed that between 2012 and mid-2018 more than 24,570 Indian Workers died in these Gulf countries. This works out to an average of more than 10 deaths per day. For every US$ 1 Billion they remitted to India during the same period there were at least 117 deaths of Indian Workers in Gulf ...

Epic war against caste system is constitutional responsibility of elected government

Edited by well-known Gujarat Dalit rights leader Martin Macwan, the book, “Bhed-Bharat: An Account of Injustice and Atrocities on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-18)” (available in English and Gujarati*) is a selection of news articles on Dalits and Adivasis (2014-2018) published by Dalit Shakti Prakashan, Ahmedabad. Preface to the book, in which Macwan seeks to answer key questions on why the book is needed today: *** The thought of compiling a book on atrocities on Dalits and thus present an overall Indian picture had occurred to me a long time ago. Absence of such a comprehensive picture is a major reason for a weak social and political consciousness among Dalits as well as non-Dalits. But gradually the idea took a different form. I found that lay readers don’t understand numbers and don’t like to read well-researched articles. The best way to reach out to them was storytelling. As I started writing in Gujarati and sharing the idea of the book with my friends, it occurred to me that while...

ArcelorMittal faces global scrutiny for retreat from green steel, job cuts, and environmental violations

By  Jag Jivan    ArcelorMittal is facing mounting criticism after cancelling or delaying nearly all of its major green steel projects across Europe, citing an “unsupportive policy environment” from the European Union . The company has shelved projects in Germany , Belgium , and France , while leaving the future of its Spanish decarbonisation plan uncertain. The decision comes as global unions warn that more than 5,500 jobs are at risk across its operations, including 4,000 in South Africa , 1,400 in Europe, and 160 in Canada .