Zaheer Bhatti
THE Kiwi Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern once again stole limelight as she and her fiance’ were not allowed to enter a restaurant in Wellington which was full according to Corona restrictions imposed by the Government; a perfect message of compliance to go down the ladder; no wonder New Zealand is among the very few countries having achieved near complete success in controlling the virus. This is unlike Pakistani leadership which moves in public with stinking protocol where in a similar situation the restaurant would have been vacated for their visit, since they are scared of attending even its Parliament sessions for fear of the virus; the forum for which precisely they are elected to represent their constituencies.
Imran Khan’s concern for those below poverty line in Pakistan in case of a lock down is understood, but what is not; is what has made Modi’s India survive with complete lockdown for several weeks with its poverty line nearly three times Pakistan’s total population. Modi’s lockdown which brought him a lot of initial flak with the tens of thousands of Indians heading for their rural homes on foot, in the process eased clustering of population from India’s main towns and eventually worked with far fewer casualties considering its population size. The Chinese example of complete lockdown in Wuhan having already proved to be the biggest success story of fighting Corona, what appears to be the actual drawback in Pakistan despite the presence of infrastructure is the lack of mechanism, misplaced enforcement or the will for it, which has been a continuing dilemma of this Godforsaken nation.
The various locations where close public association or contact was unavoidable were rightly suspended, but whereas re-opening of small shops and provision stores and partial resumption of public transportation by rail and road to relieve their economic stress was desirable, easing of lockdown for Eid is already presenting a scary look with open flouting of SOPs by the public and no mechanism in place except appeals to enforce compliance. This public attitude warranted a merciless clampdown instead, as people were proving to be their own worst enemies. One also does not register the wisdom of Supreme Court Orders to re-open affluent Supermarkets for customers who can do without for several weeks if not months.
With the peak yet to unravel in Pakistan, common sense rather than impulse must guide all Government decisions. Clearly, extending of hours rather than reduction when easing lockdown ought to have been the order of the day to facilitate maximum customers to buy their provisions in different parts of the day; clustering being inevitable when the duration is reduced. Closing down in late hours of the evening is desirable anyway to avoid extravagance. Similarly, easing of lockdown whether for a few days or for weeks exposes you to an equal risk of contracting the virus which has no timetable. Whereas health and hospital, banking and national savings facilities are enforcing the required SOPs, this Pakistani nation by and large has long forgotten the message of discipline of its founder; evidenced in virtually every sphere of life left to voluntary compliance flouting instruction due to sheer lack of awareness of the gravity of the consequences, but more often as a national habit which it has developed for lack of enforcement measures by the Government. This very Pakistani when abroad meticulously follows the drill when anywhere abroad simply because he knows that they take no nonsense.
The focus of enforcement has so far mainly been on mosques, shrines and religious congregations; a segment where people have partially complied with voluntary assistance of Mosque Committees, compared to the lockdown at other public places which has been made a mockery by the general public seen clustering without maintaining any of the SOPs laid down for them. And whereas compliance by an indifferent and ill-educated public alone ought to have been the target of the so-called Government Tiger Force, it has been made a politically controversial instrument of ill-planned disbursement of aid to jobless labour, for which the Government already has the infrastructure in place but has failed to evolve an enforcement plan in tandem with established social welfare voluntary organizations.
Religious congregations are indeed vulnerable spots, but since followers of the faith perform their chores under a certain discipline, they should be easier to tackle through counselling by the religious leadership, the clergy and the pulpit in the country to which the religiously illiterate Pakistani population will readily pay heed and follow the laid down Government SOPs, which must be displayed outside every mosque throughout the country including rural areas. But it is lamentable as reported by Wafaq-ul-Madaris, that the Government has misplaced its emphasis and clamped ban on ‘Aitkaaf’ during Ramazan-ul-Mubarak, for which it has required Surety Bonds from the Mosque Administration and threatened action against them for any violations. This decision smacks of ignorance of the Government of the SOPs for observing ‘Aitkaaf’ which are unique for the ritual, and a classic example of mandatory Isolation of the performer for 10 days in a draped location within the mosque without being exposed even to his family members and home, leave alone any contact with the general public.
One requires hanging on to any method of cure which comes one’s way besides following the SOPs. As revealed by Dr Tahir Shamsi appearing on TV several weeks ago, China had achieved success with administering Plasma from recovered patients to critical Covid-positive cases, but with thousands of cases since recovered also in Pakistan, one wonders why the Plasma treatment being referred to as passive immunization by Dr Shamsi has been so delayed in Pakistan. It seems that the Government has again not effectively reached potential plasma donors for the noble cause to convince them through a concerted campaign that limited plasma donation would regenerate in them within a short period just as it happens in case of blood donation.
—The writer is a media professional, member of Pioneering team of PTV and a veteran ex Director Programmes.
