- No winners
Lockdown or no lockdown- is the conundrum faced by Prime Minister Imran Khan ever since the Covid-19 pandemic has reared its ugly head. Perhaps a middle way has been chartered in the form of a ‘partial lockdown’.
Khan’s heart bleeds for the teeming poor of the country. He quite rightly apprehends that in abject poverty and without any job millions can die of hunger if a countrywide shutdown is prolonged. These are genuine concerns that need to be addressed by any government worth its salt.
On the other end of the spectrum is the Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah who strongly feels that lives can be saved only by imposing a strict lockdown barring essential services.
Having a Master’s Degree from Stanford University USA in structural engineering and another in economics, Shah is no ordinary run of the mill politician. He knows his stuff.
Only in adversity does a leader shows his true abilities. Shah has surprised many, winning kudos even from the worst critics of the PPP. Of course, not from Khan who studiously avoided patting the chief minister on his back.
Few weeks since the first case of the coronavirus emerged in Pakistan, there was a stony silence. After all Shah was only doing his job. But perhaps rather too well for the PTI (Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf) ‘khilaris’ (stalwarts) to swallow.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s anxiety to jumpstart the economy as soon as possible is commendable. But taking the gamble on the basis of flawed empirical evidence and assumptions can prove to be very costly.
Initially CM Shah led the way to locking down the province ahead of others. The rest of the country followed albeit reluctantly.
Perhaps it was the Army- always in the forefront in times of national calamities- that forced the hands of the federal government and the rest of the provinces to impose a lockdown.
But the damage had already been done. Most of those who contracted the virus at the initial stages were either Zairean (pilgrims) returning from Iran who were lodged at an apology of a quarantine centre at Taftan on Pak-Iran border in Balochistan.
But even a bigger goof up was to allow the Tablighi Jamaat annual moot to take place despite the grave threat that it posed.
The Punjab government after initially imploring with the Tablighis not to hold the conclave reluctantly allowed them to go ahead. Only after the belated realisation that Raiwind had become the fulcrum of spreading the disease all over the country and potentially even abroad, it was stopped.
After witnessing an exponential rise in the number of Coronavirus cases a national lockdown was imposed. But despite the shutdown, the mantra that the poor will die as result continued unabated.
On the other hand, Shah kept on insisting that no one in Sindh has died of hunger. In fact, he claimed that the Sindh government by involving virtually all charity and welfare organizations in the provinces, attempted to ensure that everyone is provided with food and essential items.
The federal government spokespersons special assistant to the prime minister Firdous Ashiq Awan being in the forefront have consistently disputed his assertion. Now the knives are out for Shah.
Seemingly, the chief minister’s frequently held and longwinded press conferences do not sit well with the federal government. Shah, in his media interactions, is careful not to attack the federal government. But his implicit and oblique references to its shortcomings and perceived flawed policies do not go unanswered.
Khan also has been careful not to criticize Shah. But he lets his attack team that has a new entrant in the form of the acerbic Dr. Shahbaz Gill do the job rather quite well.
The clear difference in approach of the Sindh CM and the rest on how to deal with the spread of Covid-19 pandemic is quite obvious. The federal government, Punjab and KPK (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) have already implemented easing of the lockdown. While Sindh has tightened it even more.
And rightly so. In the past few days Coronavirus cases have spiked in the country.
For whatever reasons this is an alarming situation. Perhaps coincidentally, just two days after the government’s announcement of relaxing the lockdown, a record number of 23 deaths and 627 fresh cases of the virus were reported within 24 hours. According to an official of the National Health Service (NHS) since manifold more tests are being conducted now there is a substantial increase in the numbers of confirmed cases of the novel virus.
This is a facile argument. It only proves that there are many more cases of those afflicted by the disease than known owing to various reasons. Whether it is because some people suffering from the virus are holed up in their homes infecting others in the process or due to the easing of the lockdown that in any case was not being strictly observed, it doesn’t matter; people are dying.
Nonetheless, the Covid-19 pandemic graph in Pakistan is going up rather than plateauing or leave alone going down. Only those countries like Germany, Spain and Italy where reported coronavirus cases have consistently been going down, restrictions have been somewhat eased.
We in Pakistan are in the august company of the American president Donald Trump where despite a record number of cases and resultant deaths more than anywhere in the world he has announced that business, restaurants and allied services can be reopened by 1 May or earlier. But still Trump has left the final decision to the respective state governors.
Dr. Anthony Fauci who has served the past six presidents as director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and is currently Trump’s lead on the Coronavirus pandemic has categorically stated, “you don’t make the timeline. The virus does.”
Another complicating factor are the clerics led by chairman Ruet e Hilal Committee Mufti Muneeb-ur-Rehman who had unilaterally declared that prayer congregations will go on unhindered during the holy month of Ramzan.
He is no grand mufti but has arrogated himself the right to decide on all religious matters. This right under the constitution lies with the parliament and the elected government.
Incidentally, Saudi Arabia’s grand mufti (he is real) has declared that tarawees and Eid prayers be offered at home amid the coronavirus threat. Similar edicts have been issued in Egypt, UAE, Lebanon, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait and Turkey.
Unfortunately, in Pakistan over the years, the state for various reasons has abdicated a virtual veto power to the religious lobby. Why else would Maulana Abdul Aziz flagrantly flout the law at Lal Masjid in the heart of Islamabad every Friday unhindered, especially with the ISI’s headquarters situated a stone’s throw away.
President Arif Alvi’s meeting with Ulema to find a middle ground has rather led to a complete capitulation by the state that has agreed to let mosques self-police themselves and follow a farcical 20-point safety protocol. That President Alvi is proud of the so-called ‘agreement’, promoting it as some sort of great achievement in the fight against Coronavirus is laughable.
Prime Minister Imran Khan’s anxiety to jumpstart the economy as soon as possible is commendable. But taking the gamble on the basis of flawed empirical evidence and assumptions can prove to be very costly.
As a leader he has to weigh the consequences of his decisions. Hopefully his hunch could prove to be correct. But if the virus multiplies manifestly who will be responsible for the dire consequences.? And how will we be able to fix it?
