Man has change of heart after terming coronavirus quarantine centres 'money-making businesses'

ISLAMABAD: A man whose video accusing the government and the authorities of milking money from the common people under the guise of quarantine centres went viral on social media, has withdrawn his statement and gone as far as to thank the Islamabad authorities after testing negative for coronavirus.

In the original video, he had claimed that everyone was being treated horribly in Pakistan and, therefore, overseas Pakistanis should not return to the country.

The quarantine centres, he had added, were a "method of corruption by Moeed Yusuf and Zulfi Bukhari", the special assistants to Prime Minister Imran Khan on National Security & Strategic Policy and Overseas Pakistanis, respectively.

"My overseas Pakistani brethren, I appeal to you not to come here [Pakistan]. Why? Because you're there right now and if you die of corona [virus] or any other reason, you'll die with dignity. Here, your death will be without dignity," he began by saying.

"Why? Because here, it is all a means to make money and obtain foreign funding. The Islamabad administration will obtain funds and make money using your name [and illness] and keep you admitted here. There's no test facility here, no sanitiser or face mask or doctor," he continued

"We haven't seen a single doctor here. There's only one doctor here who looks like a compounder [pharmacist] and seems to be waiting for people to fall sick. They [the administration] have installed this one doctor to turn healthy people into sick ones. We asked him and he said, 'whoever will be sick, we'll figure that out'," he added.

The man from Islamabad then joined his hands in an appeal and addressed Army Chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa, Chief Justice of Pakistan Gulzar Ahmed, and PM Imran.

"So Army Chief sahab, Chief Justice sahab, Imran Khan sahab, kindly... This Pakistan is as much yours as it is ours.

"I'll say this to the overseas Pakistanis again that no one should come here [Pakistan] because you'll be treated worse than dogs and animals, you won't get anything, and if you're not sick there [abroad], you'll be made sick here and you'll be charged money for that.

"Kindly I request you. These are the methods of corruption by Moeed Yusuf and Zulfi Bukhari. Kindly, do not come to Pakistan... It'll be better for you to spend 2-4 months there [abroad]," he added, before concluding his 'protest' as the camera pans out showing multiple people recording and lauding him.

Later, however, in another video, he is seen offering expressing gratitude to the government and other authorities.

"We're very thankful to the Islamabad administration and the top officials that the tests — for which we protested two days ago — we were heard and tested yesterday and today, we're going respectfully. 

"We're very thankful to all the administration and everyone. Thank you!"

The deputy commissioner of Islamabad, who was among those to share the videos, said that the man "was complaining because we were taking long to test him".

"Policy dictates that tests must be taken after 48 hours."

He said that the man "was very happy later" and that the other video was taken when he tested negative and was leaving the quarantine facility.