Why Pakistan is still safe despite coronavirus outbreak around the world

World Health Organization (WHO) has declared a global health emergency after Coronavirus, has so far infected more than 132,758 people in 118 countries, and led to 4,955 deaths around the world. Besides its worst impacts on global economy, it has also affected Pakistan. The question now arises that how much?
We all know that the virus originated in China and it is the most affected country with the highest number of COVID-19 cases and fatalities of 3000 in the world followed by an unlikely country Italy which is thousands of miles away. Italy has the second most fatalities with over 1000 deaths from the virus but why? The answer lies in the age of its population and this assumption becomes more valuable after we see that Italy has the oldest population in Europe, with about 23% of residents being 65 or older.
According to a report available on the website of WHO the mortality rate in coronavirus is at 0% for ages zero to nine and jumps to 0.2% between the ages 10 to 39, the death ratio from the virus is 0.4% between the age of 40 to 49 and this ratio climes to 1.3% between the age of 50 to 59. As per the details the highest ratio of death is 3.6% between the ages of 60 to 69 and it reaches to the highest rate of 8% between the ages of 70 to 79.
However, if we apply this data on the demographics of Pakistan, it would be cleared that Pakistan’s age demographic is in great condition to combat the coronavirus in light of the data released by the WHO because as per the 2017 census Pakistan is the fifth most populous nation in the world with population of 207,774,520 and out of this an estimated 30% of the population is nine years old or younger whereas at least 50% of the population comes between the ages of 10 to 39 as per the official census in Pakistan only a small ratio of 3.5 % of people are above 65.
Besides many other steps towards the containment of virus, Pakistan while moving wisely on Friday temporarily announced a national quarantine and sealed borders with Iran and Afghanistan, closed all educational institutions and banned large gatherings at public places for three weeks, including wedding parties, to prevent the coronavirus pandemic from spreading in the region.
The preventative measures were announced after a meeting of National Security Council (NSC) held on Friday when officials raised to 28 the national tally of people infected with the virus. Pakistan, with a population of more than 200 million, has reported no fatalities since detecting its first confirmed case late last month.
State Minister of Health Zafar Mirza said that all of Pakistan’s cases were imported by its nationals returning from countries, including Iran, Syria, China and the United Kingdom. He said there were no local transmissions of the virus as of Friday.
Syrian authorities, however, are reported to have denied the presence of coronavirus on their soil, saying dozens of suspected cases have tested negative.
Mirza and other senior cabinet colleagues told a Friday night news conference that the decision to introduce emergency measures was taken at a meeting of the national Security Council chaired by Prime Minister Imran Khan and attended by top civilian and military leaders.
“We are completely closing our western border with Iran and Afghanistan for all human and commercial traffic for two weeks,” Mirza said. The only overland border crossing with China will also remain closed for another two weeks for all traffic.
“This will allow us to boost existing screening systems at entry points there to prevent infected people from entering Pakistan,” Mirza said, adding the decision would be reviewed after two weeks.
Pakistan’s chief justices are being requested to instruct all courts not to schedule cases for three weeks, and no visitors will be allowed to visit prisoners in jails during this period, Mirza said.
On the other hand due to the outbreak of coronavirus, the Pakistan Army has also has cancelled the annual national day military parade scheduled for March 23 for the first time ever in the history of Pakistan.
Organizers of Pakistan’s largest national cricket competition, which features prominent international players, also shortened and closed its remaining matches to spectators. Many foreign players have opted to leave Pakistan.
In order to fight the coronavirus, a series of announcements were made to tackle the coronavirus pandemic, including a ban on Pakistani nationals from travelling via the Kartarpur Corridor. Indian pilgrims will, however, be allowed to use the corridor.
In a series of tweets, Prime Minister House announced a slew of measures being undertaken by the Pakistani government to deal with the coronavirus spread. Pakistan has also decided to hold talks with India and other SAARC nations on how to tackle the coronavirus outbreak.
It has been decided that Kartarpur Sahib will be closed for all Pakistani nationals while the Darbar Sahib gurdwara will remain open for Indian nationals coming through the corridor.
In light of decisions and deliberations of NSC, it was also decided that the outgoing and incoming international flights will only be allowed at the Karachi, Lahore, and Islamabad airports. Screening and administrative measures at these airports will be reinforced immediately for the purpose to avoid the spread of coronavirus in Pakistan.

The preventive measures taken by Pakistan are greatly admired and appreciated by the global community because so far it is the only way to stop the spread of this epidemic and China up to a great extent has stopped the spread of virus even without the invention of any vaccine.

Kashmir current situation and Pakistan diplomacy

It was August 2019 when tens of thousands of additional Indian troops were deployed in Jammu and Kashmir, a major Hindu pilgrimage was cancelled, schools and colleges were shut, tourists were ordered to leave, telephone and internet services were suspended and regional political leaders were placed under house arrest.
The international community was speculating about the revoking of Article 35A of the Indian constitution, which gave some special privileges to the people of Kashmir but the Modi’s fascist government then stunned everyone after it revoked nearly all of Article 370, which include 35A and has been the basis of Kashmir’s complex relationship with India for some 70 years.
After revoking the special status of Kashmir valley, modi then went on to cage approximately seven million Kashmiris living under complete communications blackout. Today Kashmir is one of the most or perhaps the most densely militarized zone in the world. More than a half-million soldiers have been deployed to counter what the army itself admits is now just a handful of “terrorists.” If there were any doubt earlier it should be abundantly clear by now that their real enemy is the Kashmiri people. What India has done in Kashmir over the last 30 years is unforgivable. An estimated 70,000 people, civilians, militants and security forces have been killed in the conflict. Following the revoking of special status of Jammu and Kashmir there are some reports in international media that the Hindu nationalists following the footsteps of Hindutva Ideology are taking over the properties of Kashmiri people without their will.
The reports in international media sparked a controversy when one of the richest persons in the world Mukesh Ambani announced that they will make several announcements related to investment in the newly formed Union Territories of Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh in the upcoming days. Mukesh Ambani also said that the Reliance group will set up a special task force focused on making investments in Jammu and Kashmir.
However, reacting on the issue a senior leader in the opposition Congress Party described the decision as a “catastrophic step” and warned in parliament that it could have serious consequences.
According to the experts in India, many Indians might think that they have scored a victory, but in reality, they are wrong as it will lead to a catastrophic situation. Future generations will realise what a grave mistake this house is making today.
On the other hand, it is a test case for Pakistan and its foreign policy. Major countries have corporate interests in India and are currently ignoring the situation in Kashmir but the question is till when? The onus now lies on Pakistan to convince the western world to force India to normalise the situation in Kashmir. The Pakistani Prime Minister, Imran Khan, has already likened the Indian government to Nazis and has repeatedly warned that global inaction over Kashmir would be the same as appeasing Hitler.
Imran Khan on his twitter handle had posted, “Attempt is to change demography of Kashmir through ethnic cleansing. Question is: Will the world watch & appease as they did Hitler at Munich?”
Imran Khan added that the “ideology of Hindu supremacy, like the Nazi Aryan supremacy, will not stop” in Kashmir, but would lead to “the suppression of Muslims in India and eventually lead to targeting of Pakistan”.
India also arranged a visit of the 23 members European Parliament (MEPs), just two months after the Indian government removed the region’s special autonomous status. The trip sparked controversy when it was revealed that most of the MEPs belonged to far-right political parties, including France’s National Rally (formerly National Front) and Germany’s Alternative für Deutschland (AfD).
This visit was the latest example of the growing ties between the far-right in India and Europe, a connection that is rooted primarily in a shared hostility toward immigrants and Muslims. Today, with the populist radical right ascendant in India and in several European democracies, the far-right agenda has been increasingly normalized and made a part of mainstream political discourse.
Meanwhile, one can figure out some dimensions of multilateral diplomacy in the context of the prevailing crisis in Jammu and Kashmir. First, Pakistan’s strategy to neutralise Indian diplomatic drive launched by its Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Minister of External Affairs Subrahmanyam Jaishankar, to reiterate Indian position arguing revocation of Articles 370 and 35-A as its internal issue and to accuse Pakistan of exploiting the situation and motivating its people for Jihad against India. So far India has not been successful in its tactics to squarely hold Pakistan responsible for curfew, communications lock-down, use of pellet guns, extra-judicial killings and arrests of Kashmiri youths. Despite curbs, the Indian, Kashmiri and international media are reporting widespread human rights violations committed by the Indian security forces against Kashmiris.
Second, so far despite its diplomatic offensive since August 5 to engage major international actors in condemning India’s brutal suppression of Kashmiris’ drive for emancipation, Pakistan has not been able to call a special or emergency special session of the United Nations to discuss the explosive situation in the Indian-held Jammu and Kashmir because it lacks the backing of powerful international actors.
One of the option Pakistan can have for solving Kashmir conflict is to convince the UN Security Council and the General Assembly to deploy a sizeable international peace keeping force in Jammu and Kashmir while placing the disputed territory under the supervision of the International Trusteeship Council (ITC) for ten years.
Pakistan should also establish a Kashmir Desk in every embassy around the world in order to make the Kashmir case stronger and let the world know about Indian aggression in Kashmir.
It is important to mention that the reporting of international media in Indian occupied Kashmir has made the position of Pakistan stronger on diplomatic front but Pakistan needs to build on that in order to push countries for action against India.

کرونا وائرس -خیبرپختونخوا میں حفاظتی اقدامات

حکومت خیبرپختونخوا نے کرونا وائرس کا ممکنہ راستہ روکنے کے لیے بعض اہم اقدامات کئے ہیں تاکہ اس وباء کو دوسرے شہروں اور پڑوسی ممالک سے پختونخوا میں آنے یا پھیلنے سے روکا جا ئے۔ اس ضمن میں 15 روز کے لیے صوبے کے تمام تعلیمی ادارے بند کیے گئے ہیں جبکہ دوسرے سرکاری اور غیر سرکاری اداروں کو بھی حفاظتی اقدامات پر مشتمل ہدایات جاری کی گئی ہیں۔ باچا خان ائرپورٹ پر مسافروں کی چیکنگ اور اسکریننگ کے لیے انتظامات کیے گئے ہیں جبکہ یکم جون تک ہیلتھ ایمر جنسی میں توسیع کی گئی ہے تاکہ اس عالمی خطرہ سے ممکنہ حد تک بچا جا سکے اور صوبے کے عوام کو تحفظ دیا جائے ۔ پاکستان میں پشاور وہ پہلا شہر تھا جہاں سب سے پہلے متاثرین کے لیے دو مختلف ہسپتالوں میں آئسولیشن وارڈ قائم کئے گئے اور ان ہسپتالوں کو درکار سہولتیں فراہم کی گئی حکومت نے صوبائی کابینہ کے ایک ہنگامی اجلاس میں حفاظتی اقدامات کا تفصیلی جائزہ لیا اور احتیاطی تدابیر کے ممکنہ اقدامات کے لئے بعض متعلقہ حکام کو ذمہ داریاں سونپ دیں۔ چونکہ خیبر پختونخوا کی ایک لمبی سرحد افغانستان کے ساتھ لگی ہوئی ہے اور تین مختلف کراسنگ روٹس کے ذریعے روزانہ ہزاروں افراد کی آمدورفت جاری رہتی ہے اس لیے ایران کی طرح افغانستان کے ساتھ سرحدیں بھی سیل کی گئیں۔ تاہم گزشتہ روز بلوچستان کے چمن باڈر کو اس لیےچند گھنٹوں کے لیے کھولا گیا ، کہ جو افغان باشندے واپس جانا چاہ رہے تھے ان کو سفر کی سہولت دی جاسکے ۔ طورخم بارڈر پر حفاظتی اقدامات کے علاوہ مانیٹرنگ سخت کی گئی ہے، اسی سلسلے میں گزشتہ 6 مشکوک افغان باشندوں کو ڈی پورٹ کیاگیا جبکہ شمالی وزیرستان کے غلام خان کراسنگ پوائنٹ پرمتعلقہ طبی عملہ تعینات کیا گیا ہے تاکہ اس بات کو یقینی بنایا جائے کہ افغانستان سے کرونا وائرس سے کوئی متاثرہ شخص پاکستان میں داخل نہ ہو۔ بعض دیگر ان راستوں کی چیکنگ اور مانیٹرنگ پر بھی خصوصی توجہ دی جارہی ہے جن کے ذریعے دونوں ممالک کے لوگ داخل ہوتے ہیں، اسی سلسلے میں کابل میں قائم پاکستانی سفارتخانے کا ویزا سیکشن بھی عارضی طور پر بند کیا گیا ہے اور خواہشمند امیدواروں سے درخواست کی گئی ہے کہ وہ صورتحال کی سنگینی کے پیش نظر خطرہ ٹلنے تک سفر سے گریز کریں۔ اگرچہ سندھ اور بلوچستان کے مقابلے میں خیبرپختونخوا تا حال کرونا کے کیسز سے بچا ہوا ہے تاہم صوبے کے چار بڑے شہروں میں متوقع صورتحال یا کیسز کے پیش نظر بعض بڑے اسپتالوں میں نہ صرف وارڈز مختص کیے گئے ہیں ، بلکہ دیگر درکار ضروریات اور سہولیات کی فراہمی کو بھی ممکن بنایا گیا ہے۔