History is replete with stories of pandemics breaking out
and plaguing humanity. Who hasn’t heard about The Black Death? Which had wiped
out over a half of Europe’s population in 14th century. More dangerous
was the Spanish Flu of 1918, rough estimates suggest around 500 million fell victim
to the flu and one-fifth of them actually died. Similarly, Ebola ravaged West
Africa between 2014 and 2016, claiming 11325 lives. Here again humanity is facing
a new pandemic: Covid-19. To date, total number of infections have crossed the
mark of 3 million. Total number of deaths has reached 200,000, a staggering
number. Nobody knows the end of this ongoing battle between humans and the
Covid-19. Pakistan is also bearing the brunt of this pandemic. As many as 14680
cases of infections have already been reported in different parts of the
country. Around 322 people have died. The frightening part is it hasn’t peaked
yet. Following is breakdown of deaths in provinces and federal territories.
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| Future projections |
The question arises does Pakistan have the necessary resources and capabilities to fight the challenge? The answer is NO. There are three major obstacles in Pakistan’s fight against the virus:
- The People with mediocre brains at the helm
- Inadequate administrative structure/infrastructure
- .Widespread illiteracy in the country
Obstacle 1: Incompetent People
What generally happens in political cultures of countries is
when a nation is faced with some formidable challenge from outside, its people
especially those in power band together to forge a collective response. It not
only helps overcome the challenge but also fosters an understanding that
national interest triumphs over all other petty considerations and squabbles.
However, the Pakistani political culture displays an opposite picture. Mutual
tolerance and accommodation are two words unknown in Pakistan’s political
realm. Instead of uniting together in the wake of COVID-19 episode, each
political party is trying to score political points. The ruling party has
failed miserably in this regard. It is responsibility of a federal government
to take all the federating units on board and work out a common strategy to
effectively deal with a crisis. The government in power has refused the talk to
the “venal and corrupt” opposition and made every attempt to marginalize Sindh,
where the PPP is ruling. As a result, one sees isolated policy measures in different
parts of the country. Deep political polarization has really impeded Pakistan’s
fight against the challenge. Besides, the government had shown indecisiveness
when it delayed its decision to enforce lockdown.
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| Parliament of Pakistan |
Obstacle 2: Inadequate administrative structure/infrastructure
Pakistan spends less than 2% of its GDP on the health Sector.
There is dearth of hospitals, doctors, medical equipment and expertise and
research culture. Hardly any day passes without strikes from medical workers.
It really paints a bleak picture. The COVID-19 has overpowered one of the best health-care
systems around the world, what can one expect from a resource-deficient health
sector of Pakistan? There was a lack of testing kits, protective dresses for
medical workers and other facilities at hospitals. As a result, the country
could conduct a fewer tests, which implied there would be lesser detections.
One can understand why we have just 14000 cases as yet. It reflects how
ill-prepared we are against a sudden epidemic/pandemic.
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| Outdated health sector |
Obstacle 3: Illiteracy is the main culprit
No other social evil has hampered our fight against this
pandemic more than illiteracy. As per recent reports, the literacy of Pakistan
stands at 60%. Many in Pakistan believe the COVID-19 is a hoax created by the
nexus of US-Israel to wipe out Islam from the face of earth. The government has
a daunting challenge before them in the form of illiterate masses. How it
impedes our war against
Corona:
a. Corona is a hoax
A significant portion of the population believe that the COVID-19
is a hallucination. For them, the incumbent government is spreading lies and
fake news only to secure loans from western countries. People don’t really
trust their government. As the government could not deliver on its promises, it
is trying to divert people’s attention from its incompetence and inaptitude. By
spreading the Corona fear, it will advance a theory at the end that it has
failed to deliver the goods owing to the chaos caused by the pandemic. Those
illiterate people can’t discern a simple fact that the lockdown is driving
millions out of job market. Sooner or later, these people are going to get
disillusioned and will place the onus for their miseries on the government. The
anger runs the risk of voting the government out of power.
b.
COVID-19 can’t
infect us in mosques
Many in Pakistan have a firm conviction that COVID-19 is a
manifestation of God’s wrath upon humans. People have ceased to follow the
commands and teachings of God. Alcohol, prostitution, gambling, deceptions and
many other evils are conspicuous across the world. People don’t believe in the
existence of God. By sending COVID-19, God wants us to turn to him. Therefore, the
religious sections have defied all the restrictions imposed by the government
and continued organizing religious congregations across country. According to
recent surveys, 70% cases of infections have local origins. As the holy month
of Ramadan has begun, one can see packed mosques.
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| People praying in a mosque in Pakistan |
c.
Israel wants to damage
Islam through COVID-19
A considerable chunk of people believe that COVID-19 is
nothing but a planned move by Israel to wipe out Islam. They refer to the
recent decision by the Saudi Arabian authorities to suspend this year’s Umrah
and the call to review whether to organize HAJJ congregation or not. Moreover, Jews
want to weaken the spirits of Muslims by cutting them from mosques and their brethren.
Therefore, instead of observing precautions, people make every attempt to
congregate in order to spoil the Jewish plan.
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| Saudi Arabia Vs Iran |
d.
The Theory of Predestination
Similarly, some sections believe death cannot be delayed or
averted. The COVID-19 cannot kill us if God doesn’t want us to die. It
eliminates all the fears of death from the virus and people roam around freely.
We will die when our time comes. As a result, the Government’s lockdown has
remained ineffective.
e.
Those in oblivion
A large number of people in Pakistan are poor, illiterate
and confined to certain areas for all of their lives. They don’t go outside
their villages, don’t have televisions to keep them updated and are not
connected to the cyber-world, thus have no truck with what is happening around
them. They see the world through a different lens. They have nothing to do with
the business of state. For these kind of people, COVID-19 is nothing more than
a joke. You can’t explain to them the ideas of social distancing, washing
hands, shaking or not shaking hands and sanitizers. All these concepts are
foreign to them.
Therefore, illiteracy has become a major obstacle in
Pakistan’s fight against the virus. The state is clueless on how to tell its people
that COVID-19 is a reality. It infects and spreads. People are dying of it. It
has ravaged Europe and the United States. Thus, it is imperative that the
people at the helm of affairs leave no stone unturned in providing education to
its people in the Post-Corona world.
You are right.
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