As Coronavirus shows no signs of ceasing, countries across the world are evacuating its citizens from China and are also taking punitive actions against China with Myanmar even sending a Chinese flight back to China after a passenger showed symptoms of coronavirus upon landing in Myanmar. India has not only successfully evacuated its citizens, but it has also temporarily suspended e-visa facility for the Chinese and the foreigners residing in China. On the other hand, Pakistan has steadfastly refused to evacuate its citizens to show solidarity with the Chinese government despite the complaints of its students residing in China. In India, where the evacuated students are dancing, the 800 odd Pakistani students in Wuhan are pleading and crying for help but the Imran Khan government couldn’t care less.
After having refused to evacuate its students from Wuhan to stand in solidarity with the Chinese, multiple videos have gone viral where the Pakistani students can be seen slamming the Imran Khan government for their meek surrender to the Chinese government and their refusal to help its own citizens especially at a time of grave crisis as now even the governments of Jordan and Bangladesh have evacuated their citizens from Wuhan.
Really sad. A Pakistani student in #Wuhan watching his Indian counterparts being evacuated. The students have been left to their fate by #Pakistan government. #coronarovirus pic.twitter.com/OT3kmDyT7I
— Snehesh Alex Philip (@sneheshphilip) February 1, 2020
Its better to shift students from wuhan to another place in China, and if our govt is very poor and can't do anything just request chinese govt to do their screening for 15 days and then let them go to pakistan.#WuhanCoronavirus pic.twitter.com/Ip55OnhSko
— Aisha Bajwa (@AyeshaB53627449) February 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/waniarshi/status/1223617289284505601?s=20
Pakistan is increasingly falling into the hands of radical islamists under the tenure of Imran Khan and the country’s reaction to the coronavirus outbreak is a testament to this fact. Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi took to Twitter and defended the government’s decision to not evacuate the Pakistani students as he claimed that the Prophet himself advocated that if a plague happens to come out in a place where one is residing, then one should not leave that place. Dr. Zafar Mirza, a special assistant to the Prime Minister on National Health Services, had said, “We believe it is in the interest of our loved ones in China to stay there. It’s in the larger interest of the region, the world, and the country that we don’t evacuate them now”. Alvi and Mirza’s argument spread like wildfire and much to the dismay of the helpers Pakistani students in Wuhan, many in Pakistan bought their argument. As Pakistani student Aisha Bajwa pleaded for help on Twitter, a majority of Pakistanis defended the Imran Khan government as they claimed that the students must stay there even if they die as Islamic law dictated so. A section of uneducated Pakistanis thought it was in the best interests of Pakistan that the students shouldn’t return as they will spread the virus in Pakistan. Another section of Pakistanis claimed that the Chinese government had better healthcare than Pakistan and it was in their best interests to stay there. Only a select group of Pakistanis exposed the fallacy of the argument.
Prophet's ﷺ directions regarding disease outbreaks are a good guide even 2day “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it, but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place” (Bukhari & Muslim) Let us help those stuck there.
— Dr. Arif Alvi (@ArifAlvi) January 31, 2020
The hopes of any evacuation was further dealt a huge blow when Pakistani ambassador to China, Naghmana Hashmi said that the students should not be evacuated and claimed that the Chinese have the best medical facilities to handle the coronavirus patients. “I want to assure our citizens that the Pakistani Embassy and Chinese government are working jointly to make sure their problems are immediately addressed. Currently, the province is quarantined and no one is allowed to go. As soon as the restrictions are lifted, we will be the first to be with our countrymen,” Geo News quoted Naghmana Hashmi as saying. It is no wonder that when the Pakistani students approached their embassy in China, the officials told the students that “Zindagi aur maut Allah ke haath mein hai”.
https://twitter.com/aadil_khan01/status/1223579922490220544?s=20
According to reports, at least five Pakistani students have tested positive for the deadly virus and their condition is up in the air as China is becoming apocalyptic. The Chinese government has quarantined 50 million people and the law enforcement officers are walking the streets of Wuhan with semi-automatic rifles, sparking fears that China might be upto something nefarious. The Chinese citizens are in a panic mode as recently a driver kicked a person from Wuhan out of the car as he was coughing and sneezing. While the Pakistani officials are claiming that the Chinese have the best healthcare and best placed to treat the deadly virus, videos emerging from hospitals in Wuhan, point to a different reality. A video which was originally posted on Weibo(now deleted), showed dead bodies lying in aisles in Wuhan Red Cross Hospital. The hospital was in a chaos and clearly short of staff to handle the crisis and manage the situation. The Chinese government cannot take care of its own citizens and those in the corridors of power in Pakistan think that the Chinese will take good care of the Pakistani students.
Taxi driver kicks out a coughing man from #Wuhan amid #coronavirus outbreak pic.twitter.com/MhhBzoIhrA
— RT (@RT_com) February 1, 2020
https://twitter.com/Rntk____/status/1223683343767621632?s=20
https://twitter.com/Imranist_02/status/1223810386010480640?s=20
In India the situation is starkly different, as the evacuated students are seen dancing to Haryanvi tunes at an isolation camp in Manesar, Haryana.
https://twitter.com/MajorPoonia/status/1223870627443924998?s=20
It is the fundamental duty of the Imran Khan government to protect its own citizens. A government which fails to protect its own citizens especially at the time of crisis, is a government of cowards. As Pakistan succumbs to the radicals, it is extremely unfortunate that Imran Khan has left the future of Pakistan – its students die in China.
