–Pandemic, if not curbed urgently, will result in unmatched physical, mental, economic, and social loss
ISLAMABAD: A constitutional petition under Article 184(3) has been instituted in the Supreme Court of Pakistan, urging the Supreme Court to order the federal and provincial governments to take immediate action for effectively dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
The petitioners adopted the stance that the governments have clearly failed even at such an early stage of the pandemic. They requested the SC to order the federal government to declare a national public health emergency across the country, establish an emergency relief fund, and utilize the dam fund for curtailment of this virus.
The petition has been moved by human rights organizations, activists, lawyers, President of Awami Workers (AWP) Punjab, and those who are directly affected by federal and provincial governments’ mismanagement in dealing with the rapid spread of the virus.
The confirmed cases of coronavirus have jumped from 22 cases last Friday to 504 cases Saturday. It is this rapid acceleration that the petitioners fear and if it were not contained right away, it would reach a level that the governments would be unable to control.
The petitioners contend that even at this early stage of the pandemic, the current federal and provincial governments have failed miserably and in fact, governments’ current policies, ignorance of the gravity of the situation and inaction would only further accelerate this issue.
According to the petitioners, “This global epidemic poses an unprecedented threat to the fundamental rights of the public at large, including, but not limited to, the right to essential healthcare, the right to earn a livelihood, the right to enjoy equal protection of law, the right to freedom of movement and assembly, the right to trade, the right to receive information, the right to education, and all in all, the right to a dignified and free existence. This pandemic disease, if not curbed urgently, possesses the capacity to destabilize the entire nation, resulting in unmatched physical, mental, economic, and social loss to the country.”
Moreover, the petitioners have prayed for urgent action to secure katchi abadis (slums) and refugee settlements Katchi abadis with their high density, poor sanitation, water shortages, and proximity to sewage could become death traps and flash points for coronavirus expansion.
Similarly, the release of under-trial inmates and convicted prisoners for minor offenses incarcerated in jails all over the country has been requested. The petitioners fear if the federal and provincial governments do not take immediate effective measures, there would large-scale loss of life, critical health issues, food shortages, economic downfall, crime, and chaos.
The petitioners said that realizing the urgency of the situation, all organs of the state should be engaged at this moment in dealing with this pandemic before it is too late and the country reaches a point of no return.
The petitioners urged the apex court to play its role in saving Pakistan from the worst health and economic crisis that the country is heading towards.
