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COVID-19 Pakistan: Looking back at how events unfolded

Coronavirus entered public discussions in Pakistan in January 2020 when Pakistani students in China were barred from travelling back to their country by the Chinese government. There were speculations in the media about how badly they were being treated by the Chinese authorities and how Pakistani government was helpless in coming to their rescue. They were said to be stuck in their dormitories for days without food and medicine. Their parents staged protests in front of government buildings demanding Pakistani government to evacuate their loved ones from Wuhan and Hubei. The government’s response was that these students were better off under the Chinese care in the prevailing circumstances, and that bringing them back was against public health advice on international travel to and from China. The Chinese embassy in Islamabad tweeted: We will take care of them like our own [i] . The Chinese embassy declined Pakistani Health Minister’s request for a visit to China to meet these students...
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Road Safety

When I had a car I preferred to drive 400 or so miles from Islamabad to my village. This journey used to take around 10-12 hours. We traveled during the day for reasons of safety and better visibility on roads, roads that were not in the best of conditions and had two way traffic on them, including carts and bikes. Now that I didn't have a car, there were two options: (1) take a bus from Rawalpindi to DG Khan and get a lift to the village, 10 miles towards the Indus, (2) take a Daewoo coach from Rawalpindi to Multan, then another bus or a mini to DG Khan (60 miles) and finally a lift from DG Khan to the village. Daewoo buses are believed to be better because they have a ‘hostess’ onboard who offers you a drink and some snacks. The driver wears a uniform and a cap like an aeroplane captain  and there is an armed security guard onboard. This service was started by a South Korean multinational which also built Pakistan’s first motorway M2 (from Lahore to Islamabad). With Daewoo's ...
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Story of life: two young men

The young man being described is the video below is employed in the government emergency service Rescue 1122. He brings an infant to the emergency ward in a hospital in small city in Punjab. The child appears to be unconscious or losing vital signs. The man is seen as trying his best to reach professional help to save this child's life. Doing his duty diligently to the best of his abilities. The other video below is of a man recording himself before going on a killing spree in a small city in Punjab. He appears to be very upset about the fact that these days Muslim are Muslim-in-name-only, they have given up challenging those who are not on the right path and that the clerics who preach peace and prayers (namaz) are mistaken and weak. He appear to imply that the real salvation lies in waging a war against all those who are not on the 'right path' , regardless of whether they are Muslim or non-Muslim.   In the second part of the video he talks about his discontentment with t...
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Location: Dera Ghazi Khan, Punjab, Pakistan
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Webinar: Food insecurity and nutrition in Pakistan

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Webinar: Impact of Covid-19 on returning Pakistani migrants

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Message for migrants in the time of the Covid pandemic

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COVID-19 in Pakistan: responses

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The o ngoing COVID-19 pandemic has affected us all in our personal and professional capacities. While we seek ways to minimise the adverse effects of this situation on our own lives, we are aware that some sections of society everywhere are more affected than others and are more vulnerable to the pandemic induced economic lockdown and restrictions. People with underlying health conditions and those with particular demographic, social and economic backgrounds are most affected. Among these are migrant workers as we have witnessed in recent weeks in our region and across the world. With economic activities coming to a near standstill, many daily wagers in urban areas were suddenly off work as were the salaried factory workers laid off without any notice or benefits. Restriction on mobility added to their woes as many, who wanted to travel back home after losing their means of subsistence in the cities, were stranded on roads and humiliated by authorities for breaking the lockdown. Back i...
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