Common wisdom

A major study conducted in Karachi by a leading marketing and social research firm which interviewed 1,000 respondents in all six districts of the city, carried out over two phases in April, has returned interesting results. They tell us about people’s attitude to the government’s handling of Covid-19 and the issues it is causing. Eight out of ten people in the country’s biggest city knew someone who had lost their job or business due to the pandemic lockdown, with three out of ten now needing financial assistance themselves to manage day-to-day life. It is obvious then that Karachi, and like it other large urban cities in Pakistan, has been economically very badly hit by the lockdown imposed to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Fifty percent of respondents were clear and fairly accurate in their belief that Covid-19 is either an old or new type of virus, while 37 percent believed this is the name of a disease. Of the remaining respondents, six percent believe that Covid-19 is simply a form of cough and flu, while two percent hold it signifies the wrath of God upon humans. Fifty-one percent of people believe Covid-19 cases are being reported with exaggeration, and 50 percent take the threat seriously. Female interviewers were more worried about themselves than their male counterparts. Forty-seven percent want a relaxed lockdown while 37 percent favour a stricter one, and most respondents who named any political party working to combat the virus identified the Jamaat-e-Islami, while others named the PPP, PTI and then the PML-N. About a third of respondents were satisfied with government performances in Sindh and by the centre, while an almost equal number expressed dissatisfaction.

What is welcome news is that most people appear to have adopted a fairly balanced and objective view of the pandemic sweeping the country. Their views are on the whole fairly logical and based on the information they are receiving. The fact that only two percent believe this is a curse should be a result our clerics consider seriously. We have had senior clerics insisting the virus has descended upon us as a result of sins committed by people and particularly the immoral behaviour of women. Fortunately, the majority of people do not share this opinion. The survey is important as it provides an important insight into views regarding the virus and government performance. We need more such surveys to understand the way people think so that we are not incorrectly influenced by the claims of those spreading fake news of various kinds. As before, we find that people in our country, educated or uneducated, rich or poor, are wiser than is commonly portrayed.