I wonder how
future historians of the country will view Pakistan in these crisis-ridden
times. I assume, of course, that there will be a future, which is doubtful, considering
that the Dear Leader Imran Khan has so far succeeded only in exacerbating the Covid-19
crisis.
Perhaps they
will write about the dithering Chief Executive of the country going around in
public without wearing a mask and constantly saying that he was against a
lockdown from the start. They will note that he frequently spoke about turning
the country into a welfare state without doing anything about it. They will be
amazed that he told people to take all precautions (like wearing masks), and
then immediately announced the reopening of tourism in areas where there are
virtually no healthcare facilities. They will write about how, despite knowing
that this lethal virus had the potential to strike in crowded places, he
allowed the opening of mosques, malls and markets.
Historians
will mark how, instead of concrete steps to help the very poor of the country,
his government announced a package to help the builders’ mafia, a package that
would simply restart speculation in a sector where seven trillion rupees of
black money is stocked, simply because powerful men in the this business are
among his staunch supporters.
Perhaps they
will also note that his government succumbed to the religious bigots who have
proclaimed that this entire Corona thing is a hoax to enrich pharmaceutical
companies, and that if a vaccine is developed, it will contain a very small
microchip that will turn Muslims away from their religion. And so, despite
being told by healthcare professionals not to open mosques, his government did
so, just to pacify the religious lobby.
They will be
amazed that in the twenty first century, his government did nothing to promote
the teaching of science in schools, with the result that illiterate scholars
freely taught children in seminaries that the earth is flat and stationery
while the sun goes around it once in twenty four hours. But then, they will
also find that the Oxford-educated prime minister himself proclaimed that
Chinese trains run at the speed of light and Germany and Japan share a common
border.
They will
write about the controversy arising every year at the time of sighting of the
moon and people in some places claiming to have seen the moon even though
astronomical calculations predicted that it could not be there. They will
wonder why the people tolerated a group of illiterate clerics wasting millions
every month scanning the heavens to look for the moon (when the science to determine
the time, date and place of sighting the moon had been available for more than a
thousand years). And they will see people (under the influence of these same
illiterate and bigoted clerics) waste money on quacks and spiritualists to make
their wives bear male children.
They will then conclude that the terrible
condition of the country was due to lack of education (particularly scientific
education) among its leaders and the people.
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