The Great Eid Lockdown

Inefficient execution

The shopkeepers of Punjab have announced that they will defy the lockdown imposed by the government, and will open their shops to shoppers anxious to cut a dash on Eid. The government has finally deigned to impose a lockdown in an effort to curb the spread of the coronavirus. Retailers are naturally irate at the disregard shown for the pre-Eidul Fitr sales, the biggest single shopping event of the year, on which their profitability for the entire year turns. Perhaps adding insult to their defiance, they point out the example of Saudi Arabia, where there has been a shutdown ordered, but where shopkeepers have been given one 24-period to open. Punjab’s shopkeepers say they would have had no objection to obeying such a directive. However, that would have required some negotiation on the part of the government, which would have implied a modicum of competence, which seems to be lacking.

An example is the ban imposed on intercity travel, which is prompting cities to be evacuated by all those who planned to go back to their native villages for Eid, with much longer holidays than before, as the government has given eight, instead of the more usual four, holidays. There was none of the usual announcement of special trains being run, so as not only to encourage people to leave the cities, but also to prevent the unseemly last-minute scrambles, often by families with little children, that are taking place. Again, this would have required a degree of planning, an exhibition of negotiation skills, that seem beyond the Punjab government.

The imposition of a lockdown was not going to be a casual decision. Timing it for Eid holidays raises the possibility of those going out of city spreading it in their villages. It is to be hoped that the government is not following an ‘out-of-sight, out-of-mind’ policy. The coronavirus has less chance of wreaking havoc in the open spaces of the rural areas, but in the congestion of small towns, it will be deadly, but only in the coming days and weeks. The real enforcement must come not from the government, or even the retailers, but from ordinary citizens.

Editorial
Editorial
The Editorial Department of Pakistan Today can be contacted at: [email protected].

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