By: Sultan Ul Arifeen
“The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves,” said Cassius to Brutus, in his attempts to camp Brutus for a mutiny against Julius Caesar. If one encapsulates the entire COVID-19 episode in Pakistan’s perspective, it has to be in the aforementioned discourse, but in an inverse order. No matter what, people here always find a way to secede themselves from the problem. From December 2019, since the outbreak of Corona epidemic, later declared as pandemic by WHO, people of Pakistan have held various positions, apposite for their interests. From defining it as an anguish against Chinese to the utter denial of its existence, Pakistanis have always been fickle about their estimations about the present crisis. According to the latest Gallup survey, one out four Pakistanis consider COVID-19 as a foreign conspiracy, while 43 per cent of the people take no safety measures, whatsoever, willingly.
The average cases in Pakistan have increased exponentially to a startling number of 4500 per day, with four people dying every hour. In-spite of this, the conspiracy theories do not seem like getting to an end, any time soon.
In response to such thick beliefs on conspiracy theories, Yuval Noah Harari in one of his recent interviews stated that people often take sustenance of the conspiracy theories, as they are easy to be formulated than tête-à-tête on the given problem. In the pretext of this, Pakistani people have formalized and spawned multiple theories vis-à-vis current state of affairs. Nevertheless, it is a cognizable fact that conspiracy theories about the pandemic are but self-fulfilling prophecies, which focus on everything else, except precautions and safeguards. However, let us, for a moment, move our focus away from general public, and try to trace the origin of these confederacies, how people have bred them and what factors have fortified them over the period of time.
To begin with, Prime Minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan has been iterating against the application of a general lockdown in strict manner. His concerns take their roots from the economic problems of the country. However, his impression of smart lockdown, though explicable from economic view point, has served as a stepping stone towards the renunciation of the presence of Corona virus amongst general public. This economo-centric policy, in which the increased ratio of un-employment and growing poverty has been cited as the primary causes for his ideals for the smart lockdown, has instigated a confusion among the people.
In addition to this, an inceasing war of words between the Sindh and central government, coupled with dearth of coordination has fermented the predicament. Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, who, at the start of crisis, pledged all his support to the central government, has now been reproving the PTI led government, for the spread of virus. The lack of consensus between the opposition and government has downplayed all conceivable solutions. Although, the handling of the crisis had efficiently being run in the beginning, yet, the theory of smart lockdown shaped a muddle between the people. As a result, people were alienated in two factions, each intolerant towards the others’ opinions.
Moreover, constant accession to the clerics’ manifesto also modulated the situation. From Tarawih to procession, a complete mismanagement was witnessed at all levels of the government. Not to forget, clerics themselves have been the inventors of numerous covidiocy theories, slandering the minds of individuals.
To add insult to injuries, a substantial easement in the lockdown due to the constant pressure from the business community, a week before ‘Eid, exacerbated the status quo. On top of that, the observation from the venerable Chief Justice of Pakistan, Justice Gulzar Ahmad, to open all markets and shopping malls for shopping, reinforced the public’s beliefs on the confederacies. The SOPs drawn by the government were frayed in to shambles as the people flocked in the bazaars from all corners. Despite their assurances, the chamber of commerce failed to implement the given set of rules, bringing Pakistan at the cusp of a calamity.
As of now, Pakistan has surpassed China in her total number of cases, and is projecting towards the mark of one hundred thousand within a day or two. Given that Pakistan has far less population than China, the situation presently is frightening. The average cases in Pakistan have increased exponentially to a startling number of 4500 per day, with four people dying every hour. In-spite of this, the conspiracy theories do not seem like getting to an end, any time soon.
Owing to the matter, Government needs to come out its economo-centric policy. The unremitting recapitulation against a much needed lockdown, from the leader of the country implies non-existence of the problem. The Prime Minster, Chief Ministers, and other public figures has to lead by example by being well-equipped with all the precautionary tools, rather than roaming around, even without a face mask. A strong and clear message from the top leadership ought to be shown, adhering to the need of hour and dealing with the pandemic, thereof, to the people.
The writer is student of Political Science.
