PESHAWAR: Jamaat-i-Islami chief Siraul Haq has expressed concern over growing number of coronavirus patients in the country and urged the government to take practical steps to overcome the pandemic effectively.

Speaking at an event organised by Al-Khidmat Foundation, a charity of JI, here on Tuesday, he asked for provision of personal protective equipments (PPEs) to the health professionals fighting the pandemic on the front-lines. He said the government had ignored sacrifices of doctors and other health workers and forced them to serve the patients without proper protective gear.

Mr Haq suggested the government review the SOPs for burial of coronavirus victims as it had frightened people and nobody wanted to move to hospitals in case of any illness. He said the Covid-19 patients were ‘treated’ like terrorists.

He said many doctors and health employees had sacrificed their lives in the line of duty, but the government was yet to pay attention towards their problems. Many doctors, he claimed tendered resignations as a protest.

The JI chief said the authorities had banned entry of common citizens to the tourist spots, but Prime Minister Imran Khan along with his team was spending Eid holidays in such locations.

He also talked about negative impact of the prolonged closure of educational institutions and feared that such steps would cause irreparable loss to the education sector. He also expressed concern over the problems being faced by overseas Pakistanis, and called for extending full support to the people.

The JI chief said the country was facing worst crisis due to spread of Covid-19, but the federal and provincial governments were yet to develop understanding for taking concrete steps to overcome the outbreak.

On the occasion, Mr Haq also distributed Eid gifts among orphan children and said that the Al-Khidmat Foundation was serving 13,000 children in the country.

The charity’s provincial chief Khalid Waqas Chamkani, former MNA Sabir Hussain Awan, former minister Hafiz Hashmat, and others were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, May 27th, 2020