Imran Khan hides; asks Pakistan Army to be bad-guy if business & clerics disobey lockdown

If the business community and religious clerics refuse to obey the COVID-19 lockdown guidelines, the Pakistan government has authorized the Army to take over as enforcer. According to reports, the Imran Khan-led government has stated that police, rangers and even troops can be used to maintain law and order if the business community and religious clerics attempt to cross their limit and violate the lockdown instructions.

This decision was taken during a meeting at the ISI Headquarters in Rawalpindi on Thursday with officials including Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan, COAS Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, DG-ISI Lt. Gen Faiz Hameed, some of the Cabinet ministers and advisors. Reportedly, the officials discussed the prevailing situation and various measures to control the situation. 

Reportedly, the business community in Karachi has threatened to ignore the government orders and open their shops. Along with it, the religious clerics are also leading their prayers in Mosques as normal. Hundreds of violators were reportedly arrested in Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Peshawar, Rawalpindi, Islamabad and other cities on the first day of the month of Ramazan for violating the guidelines. 

Healthcare workers in Pak stage protests

Meanwhile, the doctors and nurses in Lahore and Karachi have staged a hunger strike demanding adequate protective equipment for frontline staff treating coronavirus patients. The healthcare workers have also been complaining for weeks that the country's hospitals are suffering from chronic shortages of safety gear. 

Read: Imran Khan's desperate S.O.S lands Pakistan Covid dole; ADB adds $1.7 billion to IMF's 1.3

COVID-19 in Pakistan

So far, Pakistan has reported 12,723 Coronavirus cases, out of which 269 people have succumbed to the infection till now. Meanwhile, 2,866 people have reportedly recovered. As the number of cases spiked, the country extended the partial lockdown on Friday by another two weeks till May 9.

Read: COVID-19 Update: Home ministry exempts registered shops from lockdown restrictions

Meanwhile, first detected in China's Wuhan, at present, there are around 2,923,285 confirmed cases of COVID-19 infection across the globe and the disease has led to the death of around 203,308 people. In a ray of hope, around 837,531 people are also reported to have recovered.

Read: Pakistan Army trying to push terrorists into J&K amid the novel coronavirus outbreak

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(With ANI Inputs)