Help and plaudits pour in for 5-year-old Indian boy telling people to mask up in viral video

The child was surprised at the praise he received from local authorities

A video of a five-year-old child admonishing people for not wearing masks in Mcleodganj city in the northern Indian state of Himachal Pradesh, has won the hearts of several social media users.

The video shows Amit, the son of a balloon-seller couple who live in a slum near the Dalai Lama temple in Dharamshala city, pointing a stick at every unmasked individual who passes by.

Several of those unmasked can be seen either ignoring the child, lightly brushing past him or even, according to some witnesses, angrily pushing him away.

Amit, however, remained persistent in spreading his message of asking people to mask up.

Subsequent to watching the viral video uploaded on Wednesday, authorities of Kangra district began searching for the child, and after finding him, gave him new clothes and shoes as a gesture of appreciation. A police official also arranged for a photoshoot of the child sitting on a police jeep.

He told authorities that his parents had gone to Pathankot in Punjab to buy balloons and other material to sell to tourists and was surprised at the praise and gifts he received, according to a report in the Tribune newspaper.

The child was also made the local police’s mascot for coronavirus protocols, according to a Hindustan Times report.

People across India have been heading to tourist destinations in droves, after months under Covid-19 lockdowns and restrictions, in a phenomenon described as “revenge travel” by India’s federal health ministry.

Himachal Pradesh, which has a relatively cool weather, has been particularly vulnerable to this phenomenon, as roughly 600,000 to 700,000 tourists rushed there in June alone.