MARDAN: Police in Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province presented a guard of honor to doctors and paramedics in front of Quetta’s Sheikh Zayed and Fatima Jinnah hospitals on Saturday, following a similar salute to Punjab’s health care professionals at the gates of Lahore’s iconic Mayo Hospital on Friday.
On Saturday, the official tally of confirmed cases in the country had surged to over 1,400 with the majority of the cases in eastern Punjab province, followed closely by southern Sindh.
“Coronavirus has been declared a global pandemic and we are also feeling its impact,” Quetta’s senior superintendent of police, Tariq Mastoi, told Arab News and added that the ceremony was held to salute the “frontline soldiers” in the ongoing war against the elusive pathogen.
“Doctors, paramedics and others working in hospitals are fighting at the frontline of this battle and we salute them for their work,” the officer said, adding that the police wanted to boost the morale of medical practitioners and other hospital staff during this time of crisis.
In a widely circulated video, doctors and medical staff at Mayo Hospital stood in rainy Lahore with their hands on their hearts before the Punjab police on Friday, as they too were presented a guard of honor salute.
“It’s great to see our staff, who have shown such bravery and are working tirelessly, being appreciated in this manner,” Dr. Mumraiz Naqshband of Mayo Hospital, who is among Pakistan’s frontline health care professionals, told Arab News.
But the doctors deserve protection as well as appreciation, said chief of a representative body of doctors, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA).
According to Qaiser Sajjad, General Secretary of PMA, it was the government’s responsibility to provide protective gear to doctors so they could fight the virus more courageously.
“Currently, doctors are fighting this battle without weapons,” he said. “Doctors deserve appreciation as well as protection.”
“The way police are saluting doctors across the country is absolutely great,” he added. ”I salute those who salute doctors and paramedics.
Last week, a 26 year old doctor from Pakistan’s northern Gilgit Baltistan lost his life when he contracted the virus after screening patients without appropriate personal protective equipment.
On Saturday, Dr. Raheem Babar, spokesperson for the Young Doctor’s Association in Balochistan told Arab News that two senior dental surgeons had tested positive for the virus in Quetta. Dentists are at especially high risk from the coronavirus infection which is spread via droplets from the mouth and nose.
On Saturday, the PMA said at least six doctors in Punjab and Sindh had also tested positive for the virus.
Police present ceremonial salute to medics in Balochistan, Punjab
https://arab.news/42ar9
Police present ceremonial salute to medics in Balochistan, Punjab
- Last week, a Pakistani doctor died after contracting coronavirus while working without PPE
- ‘We salute them for their work,’ says Quetta police chief
Pakistan opposition rallies in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to demand release of Imran Khan
- PTI-led gathering calls the former PM a national hero and demands the release of all political prisoners
- Government says the opposition failed to draw a large crowd and accuses PTI of damaging its own politics
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s opposition led by the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party demanded the release of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan at a rally in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province on Sunday, describing him as a national hero who continues to command public support.
The gathering came days after a rare and strongly worded briefing by the military’s media chief, Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry, who dismissed Khan as “narcissistic” and “mentally ill” on Friday while responding to the former premier’s allegations that Pakistan’s chief of defense forces was responsible for undermining the constitution and rule of law.
He said that Khan was promoting an anti-state narrative which had become a national security threat.
The participants of the rally called for “civilian supremacy” and said elected representatives should be treated with respect.
“We, the people of Pakistan, regard Imran Khan as a national hero and the country’s genuinely elected prime minister, chosen by the public in the February 8, 2024 vote,” said a resolution presented at the rally in Peshawar. “We categorically reject and strongly condemn the notion that he or his colleagues pose any kind of threat to national security.”
“We demand immediate justice for Imran Khan, Bushra Bibi and all political prisoners, and call for their prompt release,” it added, referring to Khan’s wife who is also in prison. “No restrictions should be placed on Imran Khan’s meetings with his family, lawyers or political associates.”
Addressing the gathering, Sohail Afridi, the chief minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, denied his administration was not serious about security issues amid increased militant activity. However, he maintained the people of his province had endured the worst of Pakistan’s conflict with militancy and urged a rethinking of long-running security policies.
The resolution asked the federal government to restore bilateral trade and diplomatic channels with Afghanistan, saying improved cross-border ties were essential for the economic stability of the region.
The trade between the two neighbors has suffered as Pakistan accuses the Taliban administration in Kabul of sheltering and facilitating armed groups that it says launch cross-border attacks to target its civilians and security forces. Afghan officials deny the claim.
The two countries have also had deadly border clashes in recent months that have killed dozens of people on both sides.
Some participants of the rally emphasized the restoration of democratic freedoms, judicial independence and space for political reconciliation, calling them necessary to stabilize the country after years of political confrontation.
Reacting to the opposition rally, Information Minister Attaullah Tarrar said the PTI and its allies could not gather enough people.
“In trying to build an anti-army narrative, they have ruined their own politics,” he said, adding that the rally’s reaction to the military’s media chief’s statement reflected “how deeply it had stung.”
“There was neither any argument nor any real response,” he added, referring to what was said by the participants of the rally.
