Not too long ago, the government of Pakistan won the coronavirus world cup, leaving behind everyone. Congratulations were in order. It was the smart lockdowns of handsome Prime Minister Imran Khan that were a global success, we were told. The smugness over Pakistan being fortunate, unlike the unfortunate neighbour India, was also a home run. It was as if there was no tomorrow for the pandemic. But then, Covid-19 made a comeback and now people are asking the government: Coronavirus? What is coronavirus?
In the last two months, Pakistan has witnessed a spike in infections with more than 400,000 reported cases of coronavirus. On 2 December, the country recorded 75 deaths, which is the highest number of single-day fatalities since 9 July. The positivity rate is now up at 8.04 per cent in the second wave of the pandemic. The spike and the fatality rate is a cause of concern for the Imran Khan government.
Pandemic politics
The reasons for the boom are many. Pandemic politics being one. The notion that the novel coronavirus only spreads in opponents’ jalsas (gatherings) being the other. While the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government was too busy appreciating itself for its own Covid success, it almost forgot that we were still in the middle of the pandemic. As the alliance of Opposition parties began public rallies for the ouster of the government, PM Khan also began his own jalsas, drawing large crowds that followed no SOPs whatsoever. In his last month’s jalsas of Swat, Hafizabad, and at the convention of Tiger Force, coronavirus seemed like the last of 99 problems the prime minister had. But now, the PM has a problem and how.
The PM calls the Opposition callous for endangering the lives and livelihood of the people, and says that they are at the root of the coronavirus surge. But the Opposition says the virus is a bahana (excuse) and the real nishana (target) is to squish the mass movement against the PTI government. The Opposition questions — why does the government think that coronavirus spreads only in their jalsas and not in sarkari (government) mass gatherings? It thinks that Khan is more dangerous than the coronavirus. While the world fights Covid-19, they say they are fighting Covid-18 — Prime Minister Imran Khan.
Ahead of the Multan jalsa, the government arrested Pakistan Peoples Party leaders earlier this week and registered cases against them for violation of coronavirus SOPs. The Opposition called it a witch-hunt in the grab of the pandemic. Facing a two-year crackdown by the PTI government and finally getting some political space will be hard to let go of. But with government rhetoric amplifying that the Opposition is playing with the lives of people, it will be hard for them to continue the movement. Will the long march to Islamabad in January go as planned or will the Opposition reschedule?
For now, between the good jalsas and the bad jalsas, even the coronavirus stands confused.
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Jalsas, good and bad
Even in superspreader events, the hypocrisy of the government to pick and choose is rather endearing. While it will call out the political opponents aggressively, the government goes into hibernation when it comes to religious political parties protesting or coming together. Last month saw several anti-blasphemy rallies in the major cities of Pakistan against the French government’s support for the Charlie Hebdo caricatures. The two-day sit-in led by Tehreek-e-Labbaik in Islamabad consisted of thousands of protesters defying coronavirus protocols. The subsequent death and funeral of Labbaik’s chief Khadim Hussain Rizvi at Minar-e-Pakistan in Lahore had a crowd of hundreds and thousands, one of the biggest in the history of the city. However, no one heard the PTI government grumble.
Other than ranting against the Opposition and telling us what the government is not going to do, what is it that PM Khan plans to do to tackle the second wave of coronavirus? Frankly, no one knows the answer. A ban on public rallies was imposed by the prime minister on 16 November after the spike in cases, yet the grand funeral of Rizvi and the Opposition rallies in Peshawar and Multan followed. So, exactly what kind of ban is it? Probably just a smart ban.
Wait, there is an upside. In the first wave of coronavirus, Pakistanis got the recommendation of Turkish series Ertugrul from PM Khan. The second wave, too, has a Turkish series recommendation — Yunus Emre, which is running on Pakistan Television for all of us interested in Sufism. However, what’s trending in Pakistan is not Sufism but Fabulous Lives of Bollywood Wives on Netflix. But who knows the Turkish shows might just be the survival kit in all future waves of Covid-19 in Pakistan.
The author is a freelance journalist from Pakistan. Her Twitter handle is @nailainayat. Views are personal.
When our Neighborhood in PAKISTAN is Burning With Varieties Of Problems , we must SAFEGAURD OUR BORDERS From THAT HEAT to Avoid 1971 CONSEQUENCES .
PAKISTANIS May GO OUT , BUT NOT PAKISTAN FROM INDIAN SUBCONTINENT . Yesterday Born Child PAKISTAN IS DIGGING IT’S OWN GRAVE ,.
Let us TACTFULLY HANDLE THE SITUATION TO FREE ” POK & OTHER REGIONS ” AT THE EARLIEST.
With Best Wishes For Betterment Always z
SHIVA KUMAR..T.N.