The Wuhan virus has wreaked havoc around the globe as over 100 countries are battling tooth and nail against the novel coronavirus. The events unfolding in Italy has caused panic as in the past 24 hours, the country has reported 793 deaths and 6,557 cases taking the death toll to 4,825 and 53,578 confirmed cases of the Wuhan virus.
At such a precarious time, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan led by the pretty-faced Imran Khan is absolutely relaxed and is taking no preventive measures as the Imran Khan government is living in denial as the radical Islamists in Pakistan’s ruling party has left the battle against the Wuhan virus in the hands of Allah. It is a strategy that cannot fail.
Pakistan has been registering a worrying spike in the cases of Wuhan virus as the cases have jumped to 645 with 3 casualties of the deadly virus. If the Imran Khan government keeps up its callous attitude, there is no doubt that the country will emerge as the new epicentre of the Wuhan virus. Leaving the problem to Allah, Pakistan has thrown in the towel before even trying. It is a strategy that cannot fail, because to fail, one must try.
Right from the start, Pakistan had sought to downplay the threat of the Wuhan virus as it displayed exemplary cowardice and slavery as it refused to evacuate its citizens, most of whom were students, from the epicentre of the virus in Wuhan. While India evacuated over 700 of its citizens from Wuhan during the peak of the virus in China, Pakistan was caught sleeping and continues to live in denial.
In a move that reeks of religious fanaticism, Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi invoked the Holy Prophet to defend the Imran Khan government’s decision to not help the Pakistani students. Alvi 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. In his tweet, Alvi cited Prophet Mohammad and said, “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.”
Not only Alvi, 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’s tweet was met with widespread outrage and was forced to do a volte-face as he later tweeted that the students should be helped and brought back to Pakistan after fulfilling all the International health requirements. It was surprising to see that Pakistan’s President who himself is a dentist make such insensitive statements. I am no expert in Islam but surely, the Holy Prophet wouldn’t want his children to be left to die in a foreign country.
In February, multiple videos of Pakistani students stuck in China pleading for help from their government went viral and the helpless cries of the young students could move even the coldest of hearts. But it seems that the Imran Khan government is made of a different mettle and 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”.
The Imran Khan government is devoid of any ideas or plans to tackle the virus and is still looking to serve its all-weather ally China in the best possible manner. Arif Alvi earlier this month visited China to show ‘solidarity’ as he became the first head of state to visit the country since the outbreak of the Wuhan virus.
“The visit is aimed at conveying strong support and solidarity of Pakistan towards the government and the people of China while Beijing was resolutely engaged in efforts to contain and deal with the spread of Covid-19,” according to state-run Radio Pakistan website.
What might have further contributed to the rise of the coronavirus epidemic in Pakistan is its callous and careless attitude towards the public health emergency. Islamabad did not close its borders with Iran promptly even after the epidemic to grip of the Shia dominated country.
Islamabad kept its border open with Iran for far longer than it should have. The land borders were closed only on February 23, when the epidemic had already penetrated Iran deeply. Moreover, merely two weeks after closing the border, Pakistan opened its Taftan border for trade with Iran once again on March 7. By this time, Iran had already become one of the worst-affected countries to have been hit by Coronavirus.
8,000 Pakistani pilgrims returned recently from Iran, where no quarantine measures have been taken. Videos from Qom, one of the holiest cities of Iran keep appearing in which pilgrims can be seen kissing windows of tombs and shrines, creating a perfect recipe for a massive Coronavirus outbreak. Imagine thousands of Pakistani pilgrims getting infected in such holy cities and returning to Pakistan without any screening only very recently, even as Pakistani authorities struggle to trace these pilgrims.
https://twitter.com/Ruthlessindia/status/1241350841715441666?s=20
Even in the case of China, Pakistan did impose a restriction on flight operations, to and from, China but no such restrictions were imposed on travellers with a history of travelling to China. This recklessness coupled with lack of medical kits and screening facilities at Pakistani airports might have already created a Coronavirus outbreak, the extent and intensity of which even the Pakistani authorities would be clueless about.
A close look at the statistics and data related to the Coronavirus outbreak in Pakistan, which is, of course, understated, reveals a dangerous pattern. The 21st individual who has tested positive for the Wuhan virus in the Sindh province of Pakistan had recently returned from Islamabad. Worryingly, he has no recent international travel history.
This essentially means that community transmission has already started in Pakistan and the authorities literally have no clue about it. Moreover, while the data shared by Pakistan till now gave a rather timid picture of the Wuhan virus outbreak in the country, the real picture seems to be coming up now.
Naila Inayat, a Pakistani freelance journalist and a known critic of the Imran Khan government writing for ThePrint pointed out how the government machinery has succumbed to religious fanaticism instead of looking for ways to stop the Wuhan virus. Inayat pointed out the callous attitude of Imran Khan as the Prime Minister remarked, “Aap ne ghabrana nahi hai (don’t panic)”. Only 3 per cent of people tested positive, who are old and already have multiple health issues, are mostly at risk — the remaining 97 per cent people recover.”
While countries across the world are banning public gatherings including the religious gatherings, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar met with the Ulemas and assured them that mosques won’t be closed. At the same time, the Shia clerics have struck a defiant note and claimed that the congregation of people heal the people and not infect them and hence, religious gatherings will continue.
While the Sunni clerics had vowed to hold the All Pakistan Sunni conference in Lahore. Barelvi cleric Muhammad Ashraf Asif Jalal, remarked: “No one can get sick except as per the will of God. If anyone gets infected with coronavirus due to our conference, then (the Pakistan government) should hang me.”
Inayat further pointed out how Imran’s Ministers are making insensitive remarks completely devoid of logic. His Defence Minister Pervez Khattak feels that the situation is under control purely based on the fact that the government had banned all public gatherings and political rallies. Ironically, Khattak made this remark while addressing a political rally.
On the other hand, PTI minister, Fayyazul Hassan Chohan, claimed that the coronavirus is god’s means of punishment just like children with disabilities are the punishment for the misdeeds of their parents. At a time when the scientists across the world are scrambling to find the cure for the Wuhan virus, Pakistan seems to be light years ahead of everyone as Balochistan CM Jam Kamal has already come up with a cure — Gargling with warm water, salt and vinegar.
Imran Khan true to its nature has used the pandemic to look for bailouts and ask for money as he claimed that Pakistan would run out of money if the situation is not brought under control at the earliest. A couple of days ago, the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank committed to provide $588 million to Pakistan to help the country fight the Wuhan virus.
While, India has reaffirmed its position as a regional and global leader, by initiating a SAARC video conference on the novel Wuhan virus, Pakistan yet again managed to embarrass itself by raising the issue of Kashmir. At the outset, it was only Islamabad which was represented by the Special Assistant on Health to Prime Minister Imran Khan, while all other countries were represented by their heads of State/ government.
Strangely, Zafar Mirza representing Pakistan, raised the Kashmir issue and said that the ‘lockdown’ in the Valley must end for any measure to contain the Coronavirus outbreak. He said, “Equity in health is a fundamental principle of public health. In this regard, let me say that it is a matter of concern that COVID-19 has been reported (from Jammu & Kashmir)”, and added an illogical suggestion, “Opening up communication and movement would facilitate dissemination of information, allow distribution of medical supplies and allow containment…to proceed unimpeded.”
It is important to note that, Zafar Mirza is being probed for smuggling 20 million masks out of Pakistan.
It is almost as if Pakistan is living in a parallel world and is light years ahead of every other country. It seems that Imran khan government is taking a leaf out of the book of his master Xi Jinping as he also initially downplayed and ignored the threat of the virus and has now put the entire civilisation at risk.