Shaukat Hayat
THE other day I travelled through the main towns and cities of Buner like Sawarai-Daggar- Pir Baba-Jawar ,Torwarsak, Nawagai, Chinglai etc to witness the actual situation after declaration of emergency by the government in the backdrop of fear of pandemic coronavirus. All the cities and areas wore a deserted look with only a few shops of essential items found opened.
The people had also adopted all possible precautionary measures to save themselves from the myth of the lethal virus. They were found fully following the directions and SOPs lay down by the local administration. Meanwhile I also happened to go to the local mosques and Hujras for condolence purposes. There too the people were openly found to keep reasonable distance from one another -only rare people were witnessed in hand shaking practice.
Most of the people in bazaars, mosques and hujras were pointing out at distance to wish one another good health or know their problems and demands. We went for offering condolence or fateha to the hujra of a well known political worker of Tehsil Chamala Buner whose spouse had passed away recently but there too no one came closer to us to embrace or shake hands with us. Then we also met people from different walks of life to ascertain the real situation but every where the people were found cautious about the spread of Coronavirus. As far as the spread of corona is concerned. Undoubtedly it is a very alarming situation but the native people pose no threat for carrying the virus. However the intra district movement should be strictly banned to halt or slow down the further flow/spread of the virus. For example, the border districts like Shangla, Swat, Malakand, Mardan, Torghar and Swabi should be strictly sealed off to stop the movement for at least 15 days. In this way the looming threats of spreading the virus could be avoided very easily. Alongside we should also strictly follow the tips of the slowing down of the spread of coronavirus by ourselves so the people could be educated about the hazards.
Coronavirus has been controlled so far by the grace of Almighty Allah. Strict ban should remain intact in the inter-districts movement for a long time. Only patients of critical nature and other high officials especially those associated with medical, finance and administrative sectors should be allowed to cross the borders for urgent matters. No doubt we have been successful in the mission so far, but still the peril is imminent. We should not take rest and move forward with full swing to overcome the hazard with our own hands. The people’s response is also worth mentioning. Like other advanced citizens of the world – they have extended all out support to the Administration in combating this joint enemy of human beings. All the people living in the cities and other far flung-hilly areas have displayed tremendous discipline by confining themselves to their abodes. They are fully acting upon the announcements and guidelines of the local administration being issued from time to time.
Keeping in view this trend of cooperation between the local administration and area people- we can anticipate hundred per cent result from the ongoing drive/fight against Coronavirus. However it is also required for the local administration and other government functionaries to provide maximum relief to the area people especially to the poor segments of the society. Buner is a backward district of KP. Majority of the population is living under the poverty line. Alongside the public representatives- MNAs/MPAs should also come forward with full force and stand side by side with their people in this critical juncture of their history. In short there is no threat of the Coronavirus from amongst the native people in Buner and other adjoining districts, but only the non-native people can cause and escalate the spread of the virus amongst the native people. Therefore strict banning of the inter-districts movement of the people should be observed in letter and in spirit.
—The writer is freelancer, based in Buner, KP