Pakistan’s government is responsible for its uncontrolled coronavirus crisis
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As I write these lines, the number of patients affected by this novel virus has steeply jumped to over 130,000. Every morning we find the numbers reported from different parts of the country are higher than the previous day. On June 10, 6,000 new cases came up in a single day, the highest toll ever-- which remains on the rise.
Pakistan is nowhere close to flattening the curve. For those living in the country and knowing full well the consequences for public health, society at large and the economy, this is a frightening scenario to watch. With just a single COVID-19 case detected on February 26, in less than four months, cases crossed the 100,000 mark. Even by the government’s estimates, these can multiply in the next two and a half months.
At this point, the country is one of six showing an upward trend of the virus spread according to the WHO, which has advised the imposition of stricter lockdowns every two weeks followed by relaxing for another two weeks until the virus subsides.
WHO is not the only credible institution critical of the government’s strategy for handling the crisis and has issued warnings of dire consequences from time to time. The medical community in Pakistan has been protesting, holding press conferences and telling the public and authorities both in the provinces and at the federal level that they cannot accommodate and treat the rising number of patients. Hundreds of medical doctors and health workers have become infected and tens of them have lost their lives.
While Prime Minister Imran Khan acknowledges the dangerous spiral of the virus, and keeps telling the public that the worst is yet to come, he opposes a strict lockdown. Many in the opposition parties and the media blame him for a relaxed policy, conflicting messages and opening the markets and economy very early without any sign of the slowing down of the virus.
Khan has stubbornly brushed aside all scientific evidence, expert advice and the policies some countries have successfully enforced to curtail the virus, and even declare its end, like New Zealand. His argument is purely economic for refusing to close down cities, industries, businesses and work places. A consistent theme of his government and advisors is that Pakistan is a low middle-income country and about two-thirds of the population is heavily dependent on daily wages. Khan insists that if Pakistan imposes strict lockdowns, the poor will suffer income losses that will leave them unable to pay for food, housing and medicine.
It makes political sense to talk about the consequences of the lockdown for the working classes and the poor, but wilful neglect of the high risks of their getting infected and sick while working in a pandemic wreaks havoc with their lives. Global data trends support the contention that relatively poor, underprivileged and menial workers are more likely to get infected in greater numbers than affluent sections of society. Khan’s class argument runs counter to the data we have so far.
Rasul Bakhsh Rais
It makes political sense to talk about the consequences of the lockdown for the working classes and the poor, but wilful neglect of the high risks of their getting infected and sick while working in a pandemic wreaks havoc with their lives. Global data trends support the contention that relatively poor, underprivileged and menial workers are more likely to get infected in greater numbers than affluent sections of society. Khan’s class argument runs counter to the data we have so far.
Pakistan’s government has touted its policy of a “smart” lockdown against a strict and universal one proposed by the medical experts. Perhaps the authorities were sanguine in the belief that people would simply take care of themselves, as it advised them to do so through media messages and press conferences.
But in a society where conspiracy theories, fake news and false claims of curing the virus habitually goes viral, expecting national self-discipline amounts to self-deception. The six-week official lockdown proved to be partial at best.
In the vast countryside, the population attached to various agricultural activities faced no restrictions except congregating in the bazars. They went around their daily engagements as usual. It was a wilful, deliberate decision, as the wheat crop matured in late March and early April and had to be harvested in time.
The religious establishment of Pakistan-- vocal and powerful-- openly defied the government’s authority and kept mosques open for congregational prayers. The Tableeghi Jamaat formed and sent out its preaching parties as usual. In the initial stages, returning religious pilgrims visited shrines in Iran and preachers of the Jamaat constituted the largest numbers of virus-infected patients. Caught by surprise, the country was ill prepared to deal with the looming crisis. But so were other countries.
The burden of responsibility for the failure of Pakistan to contain the virus and allowing it to develop into a national heath crisis falls squarely on the shoulders of the government.
– Rasul Bakhsh Rais is Professor of Political Science in the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, LUMS, Lahore. His latest book is “Islam, Ethnicity and Power Politics: Constructing Pakistan’s National Identity” (Oxford University Press, 2017).
Twitter: @RasulRais
