Zaheer Bhatti
THE one thing achievable in a country like Pakistan with limited financial resources was to prevent and arrest the spread of the deadly invisible Coronavirus through observance of mandatory precautions by the common man, which was possible only if standard SOPs for all imaginable strata of the population-spread had been mapped and not only laid down but also strictly followed. The big ‘IF’ where this nation could go wildly astray is its characteristic of non-compliance with the lockdown which is being witnessed countrywide. A sample of this was experienced by this scribe in Islamabad during his perforce visit to F-10 Markaz; the heart of the Federal Capital, where a bee line of men and women were seen clustered together in front of some official distribution Centre throwing all caution of distancing or masking to the wind; leave alone sanitization. If this is the situation in the middle of the Federal apital, there is little one can expect from rest of the country.
Pakistan’s biggest predicament is nearly half its population which cannot afford electronic media receivers and where no instant sermons from the political leadership or the high clergy issuing edicts ever reach. With God’s mercies the only hope in this bleak scenario, an effective endeavour Pakistan could have made initially, required an infrastructure in place with its finger on the pulse of the nation, for which the instrument of the Local Government was the only vehicle to reach door-to-door provisions and ensure compliance with official instructions voluntarily throughout the country without spending a dime on logistics or dissemination.
Tragic as it is, barring only passing references to the absence of the Local Bodies which ought to have been mandatory according to the Constitution of Pakistan, this glaring omission serving vested political interests by design, has neither been agitated enough by the political divide nor by the otherwise very indulgent media. With frequent visitation of floods during monsoons and natural calamities like earthquakes, draughts and disasters due to climate change, an Ordinance was promulgated in the year 2007 which became an Act of Parliament in 2010 establishing a National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) with its Provincial and District Chapters in place. The Authority is rightly headed by a serving general because all such relief operations are spearheaded by the defence forces in view of their better logistics and instant initiative. One wonders why the functioning of Local Bodies for relief work in tandem with NDMA was not made mandatory through an Act of the Parliament. Equally intriguing is why the Apex Court of the country for last nearly a decade, has not taken suo motu action to cause institution of the Local Bodies in order to conform to the mandatory provision of the Constitution which the country’s national institutions are under oath to preserve, protect and enforce.
With congregational prayer suspended in ‘Harmain Shareefain’ the Holy Kaaba and Masjid-e-Nabvi, an Al-Azhar Edict validating the suspension and rest of the Islamic World complying particularly during the holy month of Ramazan-ul-mubarak for Taraveeh and Eid prayer in view of the pandemic, it sends a shudder in one’s spine to visualize the fall out of the solitary Pakistani decision to allow conditional mosque congregations with a 20-point SOP agreed with the religious Ulema of the country, without placing responsibility for ensuring compliance in the hundreds of thousands of mosques across the country. Leaving it to the common man is anything but naive in a country where SOPs are hardly ever followed due to sheer ignorance of the consequences and lack of enforcement.
With the deadly virus a silent sleeper; hard to know who was carrying it, and screening/testing of all inhabitants impossible anywhere in the world; even in the most developed and affluent nations, it is providence alone which may save mankind if he so ordains. Our dedicated medical community billed as our frontline saviours are crying hoarse imploring reversal of this decision, failing which it would be beyond their capacity to cope with the spread. But looking at our leadership disregarding collective wisdom one fears that we are still not seized of the displeasure of the Allah Almighty as even in this hour of trial we refuse to work together as a nation. This is not the time for solo flight by the Government or the opposition finding fault even in a fund-raising Telethon, but striking unanimity and shelving party considerations to answer the call of time, and to faithfully harness the precious and dedicated Pakistani human resource which would not be found wanting to deliver if tapped in earnest, of which they have set examples in past. You can only win initial battle of containment by using this force without spending a dime, every bit of which may then be saved and invested in fighting the critical pandemic patients, with expertise and equipment.
Keeping our fingers crossed under the circumstances, we need to count on the mosque imams and local elders; the two most authentic and respected people in any locality alongside Councillors where in place throughout the country. Assign just these two individuals with the task to reach instructions and precautions from door to door in their respective areas, paste instructions outside their mosques and raise a local voluntary squad to politely but firmly ensure compliance with 20-point SOP at time of ‘Taraveeh’ and other prayers. In this hour of crisis and calamity brought upon man by its own conduct, one reads and listens to sermons quoting Ahadees-e-Nabvi (SAW) that believers must repeatedly offer ‘Tauba Istaghfar’ to seek God’s mercies, but seldom has anyone been found saying that unless that repentance comes from deep introspection and confessions with a solemn pledge not to repeat wrongs one has committed individually and severally, there should be no hope for recompense from providence if we were to revert to past deeds eating into each other’s fundamental rights and privileges as individuals and nations.
—The writer is a media professional, member of Pioneering team of PTV and a veteran ex Director Programmes.
