THE last few weeks of Ramazan have reminded us once again that we are living in surreal times. For the third Eid in a row, the run-up to the religious festival in the country has been low key, overshadowed by the ongoing pandemic. For many, the occasion will be marked by grief for the absence of a loved one felled by the contagion. Scores of families will be praying for their parents, siblings, children, etc still clinging to life in Covid-19 hospital wards. For millions of Pakistanis, this will be not just a quieter Eid, with some form of lockdown in place in many urban centres, but it will be one spent with empty pockets and empty stomachs. Where countless small retailers and hawkers are concerned, this is a time of year when they make a windfall on the sale of celebratory paraphernalia, and they do not have the wherewithal to tide them over in lean times. The economic fallout of the pandemic on the whole has been particularly brutal on daily wagers, as well as factory workers and private employees, many of whom lost their jobs as the economy contracted sharply.
While not much can be said with certainty about when the pandemic will be over, it is indisputable that our actions now will prevent matters from becoming far worse. Notwithstanding the calls to show caution, some markets were thronged with foolhardy shoppers going about their business without paying any heed to SOPs. Calling for military deployment to assist the police in enforcing social distancing guidelines and mask wearing appears, however, to have made a significant difference. As per the National Command and Operation Centre, national average compliance with SOPs doubled from 34pc on April 25 to 68pc on May 3. Whether this trend will continue or not is a moot point, given that Pakistanis are generally averse to following rules, or giving credence to scientific facts. As NCOC chief Asad Umar tweeted a few days ago: “The danger is higher than ever. And knocking at our doors.” The situation in India remains nightmarish, where cases are increasing faster than anywhere else in the world. In Nepal, 9,000 new cases of the novel coronavirus were detected on Tuesday. The disease is surging in the region, and we must not allow ‘pandemic fatigue’ to make us lax in our behaviour lest we find ourselves in the same situation.
According to figures posted on May 11, Pakistan saw 3,084 cases of Covid-19 detected out of a total of 38,883 tests — a positivity rate of 7.93pc — in the preceding 24 hours. One hundred and thirteen people unfortunately succumbed to the disease during the same period. So far a little over 3.8m individuals have been vaccinated in the country. Let us diligently stay the course, so that the next Eid can be a little less sombre.
Foreign policy gaffes
MIXED messages, retractions and clarifications from the government have become an all-too-common occurrence when it comes to matters of foreign policy. Not only does this undermine the efforts of those in the foreign service, it also doesn’t help the country’s image in the international arena.
Recently, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi himself stirred controversy when he called India’s scrapping of Article 370 of its constitution an “internal matter”. His comment caused an uproar here and abroad for good reason. India has historically rebuffed Pakistan’s position advocating dialogue on India-held Kashmir by insisting that the latter is an ‘internal matter’. For Mr Qureshi to then use the same phrase in a discussion on Article 370 — the revocation of which has been firmly rejected by Pakistan — is truly astonishing. The foreign minister later tweeted that “nothing about Jammu and Kashmir can be India’s internal matter”, but his clarification only makes his initial remarks all the more bewildering.
Unfortunately, this is not the first communication mistake of its kind. Last year, Mr Qureshi was under fire when he publicly criticised Saudi Arabia and the OIC’s silence on occupied Kashmir and demanded that “Riyadh show leadership” on the issue. It took serious backchannel efforts on Islamabad’s part to repair the damage. This week, it was Prime Minister Imran Khan who after scolding Pakistan’s ambassadors on live TV — something that could have been avoided in the first place — flip-flopped and said that his criticism should not have been made public. Prior to this, the cabinet’s reversal of an ECC decision to trade with India, too, showed that there is utter disarray when it comes to communicating our foreign policy.
It is true that Pakistani expats have often complained of the poor quality of service at our missions. However, the foreign service’s contribution to international diplomacy is commendable and something that ought to have the support of the government. Slips of the tongue, U-turns on engagement with other nations and erroneous messaging on a key issue like Kashmir undermine these efforts.
Communication on any issue of foreign policy must be unambiguous and consistent. Given the repercussions such goof-ups have on sensitive relationships, it is the last place where the government should falter or take U-turns. These slips are a case of either poor judgement on the part of advisers or of top officials not listening to good advice. There is simply no room for such blunders in matters as delicate as foreign policy.
Zimbabwe series win
PAKISTAN’S crushing innings victories over Zimbabwe in the two Tests were a befitting end to their highly successful tour of southern Africa. In a rare show of consistency and teamwork, Babar Azam’s men first outplayed South Africa in the back-to-back ODI and T20 series and then scored successive wins over Zimbabwe in the T20s and the Tests to handsomely wrap up the African safari.
More importantly, none among Pakistan’s 35-member contingent tested positive for Covid-19 during the 44-day sojourn in Africa which contributed greatly to the players’ performance. The top order came out with guns blazing as opener Abid Ali outshone the rest with a double hundred in the second Test against Zimbabwe. Veteran Azhar Ali, prolific Fawad Alam, young opener Imran Butt and spinning all-rounder Nauman Ali all performed well with the bat against the mediocre Zimbabwe bowling. The bowlers, too, led by the mercurial Hasan Ali and Shaheen Shah Afridi, captured a bagful of wickets. In Nauman, Pakistan seems to have found a perfect replacement for spinner Yasir Shah whose lack of variety and chequered form had left a lot to be desired. For millions of Pakistani fans, it was a thrilling experience to see their team returning to its winning ways.
To be fair to the side, they have not had much international cricket since 2009 following the terrorist attack on the Sri Lanka team in Lahore. That had left them rusty and demoralised, because cricket at home had been almost non-existent while the away tours were few. This 2020-21 season has been a busy one. Apart from allowing the players to demonstrate their abilities in front of their own crowds in the home series against South Africa, it has shown them beginning to gel as a team. Of course, they will be mindful of the challenging tour of England in June, followed by the West Indies series. But no challenge is big enough for them if they play to their potential and remain fit and focused.
