Flawed decisions

This refers to the news report, ‘Registration for ‘Corona Relief Tigers’ force to start from March 31’ (March 28). Working under the deputy commissioners of the district, the force will distribute food to the needy people and also identify those involved in hoarding of essential commodities. It is shocking to note that despite being head of government for eighteen months, Imran Khan still thinks and acts very much like a private individual who seems to hold the cabinet, and even the parliament, in utter contempt. Surely, he should have involved the cabinet and parliament in the decision-making process and sought input from organizations like the NDMA, PDMA, Edhi Foundation, Saylani Welfare Trust, Jamaat-e-Islami Welfare Wing and other institutions which are involved in such work already and could give wise counsel, as well as useful cooperation and active help.

Until quite recently, Imran Khan was claiming that the coronavirus threat in Pakistan was not acute, and there was only a small number of locally-infected persons. And now he is saying that we don’t know what would happen in two weeks and, therefore, we should be prepared for the worst. Surely, on the basis of the worldwide information about the spread of coronavirus, a reasonable assumption would have been that because of the flawed handling at Taftan and other entry points, coupled with uncontrolled, large-scale movement of people throughout Pakistan, especially to Punjab, the Covid-19 infection could go up exponentially, and the signs of it are already there, especially in Punjab.

S R H Hashmi

Karachi