Sindh govt responds to criticism, says nothing more important than saving lives

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Sindh government on Thursday responded to criticism from the Centre and maintained that nothing is more important than saving lives amid the coronavirus crisis.

Addressing a press conference in Karachi flanked by Sindh Information Minister Nasir Shah, Provincial Minister for Education and Labour Saeed Ghani asserted that Sindh government is purposely dragged in these arguments and is targeted unnecessarily by the carping critics.

“Doctors had put forth their genuine concerns during the press conference,” the minister said, referring to an emergency briefing held by leading doctors of the Pakistan Medical Association a day earlier.

Ghani said that the accusations of the Sindh government engaging in politicking at such a critical time and moreover using doctors for the purpose are baseless and bigotted.

On Wednesday, former spokesperson of the Punjab chief minister, Dr Shahbaz Gill had accused the Sindh government of pushing its narrative through provincial healthcare workers.

The accusation came after a group of doctors had made a public plea for enforcement of stricter lockdown measures to control the rapid spread of the virus.

Gill had claimed that the doctors had held their press conference on the behest of the PPP, which is the ruling party in Sindh.

‘Traders should cooperate’

Shah said that Sindh government holds no interest in shutting businesses across the city, adding that the traders are provoked to take extreme stances although the provincial government is in constant contact with them in order to resolve their issues.

Referring to the Timber market incident in Karachi where traders opened shops without any official statement from the authorities, Shah said that such steps will only aggaravate the situation.

“We have requested the centre for interest free loans in order to facilitate traders in these tough times. However, they [traders] should cooperate and refrain from such activities”, he said.

On Wednesday, Timber market traders had opened three shops, prompting a police contingent of the Napier police station to arrive. The police then demanded that they shut down their outlets and refrain from violating the lockdown restrictions, upon which the traders protested and voluntarily sat in the police vehicle, saying, “Lock us up or let us resume work.”

Congregational prayers during Ramadan

Speaking of the ulema's position regarding congregational prayers during Ramadan, Ghani stated that the provincial government will contact the ulema again. The concerns of religious leaders in this regard would also be communicated to doctors, he said.

“We appeal to our religious scholars to review their decisions once again since it is the matter of millions of lives,” Shah implored.

Top Pakistani doctors had warned the government that allowing congregational prayers in larger numbers will have fatal outcomes amid a rising number of COVID-19 patients in the country.

In a statement, they requested the authorities and the business community to practice patience and keep the markets and non-essential shops closed, allowing home deliveries only after the nationwide tally of coronavirus cases surged past 10,000 with 230 fatalities across the country.