I suppose it was only a matter of time before United States President Donald Trump developed Covid-19. But it seems that this time, the person who brought the infection into the president’s circle has been identified. And there may well have been a super spreader event in the do where the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett for the Supreme Court was announced. There is a major controversy raging there too, but let us not get into that, except to note that the sitting judges do not get a role.
Perhaps there was an element of shame too, for the illness struck just after Trump was out there, showing his blustery bullying self in the first presidential debate, against Democrat challenger Joe Biden. Biden’s mask during the debate turns out to have been just ordinary caution, not the political statement everyone thought it was. However, it would have helped Biden more if Trump had worn a mask.
Trump is not the first head of state or government to have been infected, with others including Boris Johnson of the United Kingdom and Jair Bolsonaro of Brazil. Only one has actually died of it, except resident Paul Nkurunziza of Burundi. But then, that is a country so poor that it had only one ventilator, and being president helped him get hold of it. Did not help, though. He still died.
Presumably Trump will not have that problem. But he is old enough for doctors to be worried. Well, our own prime minister is old enough, even though he depends on the youth vote to achieve office. Another head of government at risk would be Narendra Modi. India has got a lot of cases, a lot of deaths, so it would be something of an anomaly if he escaped. But he is drinking cow urine, which has been recommended as a sovereign remedy for Covid-19, as it has been for every other disease that man is afflicted by. Of course, none of the recommenders has trained as an allopathic doctor.
Speaking of doctors, Afghanistan’s Dr Abdullah Abdullah was in town. He came in his capacity of chairman of Afghanistan’s High Council of National Reconciliation. He has practiced as an eye specialist in Peshawar in the 1980s, but he did not check any eyes during his visit. I do not know why he did not host an eye camp. And why Imran did not go to the Shifa Eye Hospital, instead of getting an Afghan doctor in. And if he needed a cataract operation done, why he did not do it himself? I mean, look at the masterly way he diagnosed Nawaz Sharif as well, anticipating long in advance the strictures passed on him by the Islamabad High Court, which wants him to surrender before it if he wants it to hear his appeal.
But perhaps Imran was too busy appointing new Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Amjad Niazi. It is a bit of a turn-up for the books, but though Imran plays down his Niazi roots (which is perhaps why the opposition plays it up), he’s followed his predecessor, Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, in appointing one of his fellow tribesmen CNS. The outgoing CNS, Admiral Zafar Mehmood Abbasi, is not just a fellow Abbasi, but is also from the same tehsil of Kahuta in Rawalpindi district. On the other hand, Admiral Niazi has no link to Mianwali, self-identifying as a Sindhi, while his family comes from Hoshiarpur district in East Punjab. Niazis from East Punjab seem to have a thing about the navy, for the CNS from 1979 to 1983 was Admiral K R Niazi, who was also from Hoshiarpur district. It is a bit of a coincidence, but the Sword of Honour as best cadet won by the outgoing CNS was presented to him at the Pakistan Naval Academy by the first Admiral Niazi, who was chief guest at that ceremony.
One hopes it will not become a tradition. What if there is nobody from the PM’s biradri in future? The CNS preceding Admiral Abbasi was Admiral Zakaullah. He did not use any biradari as a surname, but he was not a Raja. And nor was his predecessor, Admiral Asif Asif Sandila. He was not a Gilani.
While we are engaged in martial task, Imran has said that Nawaz is saying what he is saying because of the Indians. Right. It is evil and unpatriotic to ask Modi to your grand-daughter’s wedding, but you can raise as much money as you want for your cancer hospital by having Indian film stars perform at your fundraisers. Just wait for Indian diplomats to be observed sneaking away from PDM meetings. And of course Nawaz will be seen in London coming out of the house of an Indian diplomat there.
