Lahore and Karachi are facing an acute Oxygen shortage but Imran Khan, Shoaib Akhtar and others in Pakistan are busy with their PR stunts

Amidst the ongoing second wave of China-made coronavirus pandemic, several public figures from around the world have stood up in solidarity with the people of India. The latest to join the bandwagon were former Pakistani bowler Shoaib Akhtar and all-rounder Shahid Afridi.

The former took to his YouTube channel to share a video where he appealed to his countrymen and his government to help neighbours India deal with the ongoing second wave of coronavirus and the subsequent oxygen shortage.

“India is really struggling with Covid-19. Global support needed. Health care system is crashing. It’s a Pandemic, we are all in it together. Must become each other’s support,” Akhtar tweeted while sharing the video.

Similarly, Shahid Afridi took to Twitter to express his disingenuous remarks, “Extremely saddened by upsetting news and videos coming from India. Please remember that you are in our thoughts and prayers. @SAFoundation offers its support in this testing time. #HopeNotOut #WeAreInThisTogether”

While the duo was trying to create the mirage of helping India, their own country was getting swarmed by the new surge of Covid cases in Karachi and Lahore. A leading Pakistani publication on Saturday reported that the country could face an acute shortage of oxygen in the coming days.

“Hundred percent of oxygen produced by us at the Pakistan Oxygen Limited is being supplied to the healthcare facilities due to multifold increase in its demand after surge in COVID-19 cases. If cases continue to rise, hospitals may face shortage of oxygen as we are producing at our maximum capacity,” said an official of the Pakistan Oxygen Limited, an oxygen producing company.

Earlier this month, Mayo Hospital, one of Lahore’s biggest hospital had run out of oxygen as hundreds of patients lay on the ventilators, battling for life.

“The situation is bad and hospitals are utilising the available oxygen but if cylinders are not supplied to the hospitals within the next two or three hours, the situation will take a turn for the worse,” Dr Asad Aslam, Mayo Hospital’s Chief Executive in charge was quoted as saying by ANI.

Pakistan’s Federal Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry has already sounded the emergency bugle by remarking that there could be serious consequences for the health care system of Pakistan if the present 11 per cent ratio of detection of Covid cases persisted just for one or one-and-half-week more.

Moreover, the Pakistani government has also offered to send medical supplies to India. The country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has said that Pakistan has offered to provide relief support including ventilators, oxygen supply kits, digital X-ray machines, PPEs and and related items, as a gesture of solidarity with the people of India.

While at first glance it seems laudable that the two cricketers sounded concerned for the people of India but when you look at their past antics, it becomes clear that both are subtly trying to kick India down in its misery by wrapping their grin in the form of pity.

And just to jog the reader’s memory a bit, the two aforementioned Pakistani cricketers whose statements have been lapped up by the liberals of the country so generously are the ones who have openly batted for ‘Ghazwa-e-Hind’ and the freedom of Kashmir in the past.

Reported by TFI last year, during the first wave of the pandemic, Shahid Afridi had visited Pakistan occupied Kashmir and had made some distasteful remarks against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Former and current Indian cricketers had then taken Afridi to the cleaners by bashing him on Twitter.

Read more: ‘Stay in your limits, Kashmir belongs to India!’ Dhawan, Yuvraj, Harbhajan rip apart Shahid Afridi for abusing India

Thus if Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar want to pool the resources to help anyone, then it is their own country that needs the help. India has overcome far bigger problems without anyone’s assistance, and it certainly doesn’t need the pity of two snarky individuals who openly want the blood of Indians to flow in the streets.