Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, in his address to his nation on Monday, March 30, praised China, the country which unleashed Wuhan coronavirus on rest of the world, for tackling the deadly virus by ‘locking down 2 crore people’.
At around 3 minutes into the video, lying about Prime Minister Modi’s statement apologising to Indians about hardships faced during the lockdown, Khan claims that PM Modi “apologised for announcing lockdown without any preparations.” Truth is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his address to nation did apologise to the country for lockdown, but that was for the hardship it is causing. He, in fact, has been quite unapologetic about the lockdown that was necessary to ensure that the virus does not spread.
Then listing out ways how Pakistan is planning to combat China’s Wuhan coronavirus, Khan says that while Pakistan is not as rich as America, it has its ‘Imaan’ (faith i.e. Islam). He then says that the second strength Pakistan has is ‘youth’. “We have to use these two strengths to fight coronavirus,” he says adding that youth in Pakistan can help fight the virus as the country has a lot of young people.
Khan admits that while the PMO does not have any data regarding the coronavirus but is monitoring the data and asked for a week’s time to announce the future trends of the virus. At around 8 minute 30 seconds into the video, Imran Khan, while addressing the nation, informs them that coronavirus is a threat only for the old and people who are already sick. There is no medical evidence to suggest this. “Of these, only 4-5% people need to be hospitalised. Remaining can be cured by self-quarantine,” Khan informs his citizens. Again, there is no medical evidence to back this claim.
The cricketer turned politician then announces a relief fund to fight coronavirus, just like his Indian counterpart about whom he lied earlier in his speech. “The account details are being flashed on your screen but it will be operational after two days,” he says. Just normal Pakistan things. “No questions will be asked about the money you deposit here. You will also get tax relief on this,” Khan says.
Khan then informs that the poor who need ration amidst probable lockdown, could reach out to the government through Facebook page. “On one side we will have space where people who are sitting in villages and need ration can register themselves there. On other side, those who want to donate can register. We will then do the matchmaking,” Pakistan Prime Minister said. He did not make it clear whether there will be a government website or helpline number for such coordination especially for those who are so poor that they may not be able to afford to be on Facebook.
