Pakistan deliberately spreading coronavirus to get international aid, say political activists

• Pakistan deliberately spreading coronavirus to get international aid, say political activists

Pakistan : Kashmiri political activists have rebuked Pakistan for shifting coronavirus affected people from the eastern province of Punjab and the rest of the country to Mirpur city in Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK).

The activists said that the Pakistani establishment was deliberately spreading the coronavirus to get international aid.

Nasir, Aziz Khan, a political activist from the PoK who is now settled in Switzerland and the spokesperson of United Kashmir People' National Party, condemned Pakistan's move to shift coronavirus patients to PoK, despite it having a lot of free areas and hospitals.

"As soon as coronavirus started spreading across Pakistan, they did not take it seriously. In Pakistan occupied Kashmir (PoK), there was only one positive case. Confirmed cases of coronavirus from Punjab province are being shifted to Mirpur city of PoK. Here, there are no basic health facilities and they have to take their patients to other parts of Pakistan for treatment. Some patients die on the way to hospitals due to poor road infrastructure", said Nasir.

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The activist said that there is no laboratory in the PoK that could do basic blood and urine tests.


"In Pakistan, there are better hospitals as compared to PoK, but they are shifting coronavirus patients to this region. When the locals started protesting, they were harassed," he said.

Nasir also said that "27 people were brought here on Monday, of which 13 were coronavirus positive. The results of the rest of them are awaited. Locals said that there are plans to shift hundreds of other patients from Pakistan".

The activist further added that it was unacceptable that they brought patients from Punjab and the rest of Pakistan to Mirpur and PoK.


Pakistan deliberately spreading coronavirus to get international aid, say political activists

"We want to ask Pakistan government if they don't have the infrastructure including hospitals and doctors in Punjab. In the last 73 years, you have failed to set up a good hospital and a lab in PoK," he said.

"The coronavirus patients in Pakistan should be treated there only. There is available infrastructure in Pakistan. We have informed the international community, including the WHO and the UN that PoK is a disputed area and Pakistan has no right to shift coronavirus patients in this region," the activist added.

According to Pakistani publication dawn.com, 990 cases have been confirmed in the country so far while seven people have died.