India Evacuates Its Students From Wuhan while Pakistan Leaves Theirs To Die
Wuhan is the epicentre of the outbreak of deadly corona virus which has killed more than 300 people in China.
India took immediate and resolute action to evacuate its students fro Wuhan. Those who have been evacuated from coronavirus-affected Chinese city of Wuhan, celebrated their return by dancing and making selfie videos at Army’s quarantine facility in Manesar.
In the last two days, 647 Indians have been evacuated through two special Air India flights. While 324 Indians were part of the first batch, 323 Indians and seven Maldivians were evacuated on Sunday.
As many as 252 Indians have been kept under quarantine for a period of two weeks at the Army’s 300-bed facility in Manesar.
External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar said in a tweet on Sunday, “7 Maldivians brought back with 323 Indians from Wuhan on the second @airindiain flight today. The Government of Maldives has thanked the Indian Government for this action.
In a video shared by government officials, a group of six male students, wearing masks, can be seen dancing on Haryanavi tunes at a dormitory-style room in the facility near Delhi.
“The students are happy as they have been evacuated. In the video, you can find them dancing and making videos even though they have their face masks on,” an official said.
Due to the outbreak, IndiGo has suspended all three flights between India and China. Air India has suspended its Delhi-Shanghai flight and curtailed operations on the Delhi-Hong Kong route.
As a sharp contrast, the Government of Pakistan has failed to take any action to evacuate its students / nationals from Wuhan. In case the poor country has no means to carry out the evacuation, then it could have appealed to India and the evacuation would have been carried out, just like those done for Maldives.
As the second rescue flight for Indian nationals stuck in Wuhan took off, Pakistani students were seen appealing for help and cried to be evacuated after its authorities refused to so.
The Pakistani government’s stand not to evacuate its citizens from coronavirus hit Wuhan city is an act of “solidarity” with its ally China. However, it has been brewing resentment among those stuck there. They have been slamming the Imran Khan government citing India as the foremost example to remind them of the responsibility they have towards their citizens.
In one of the several videos that have been doing rounds on social media, a Pakistan student shows how Indian students are being evacuated in a bus to flow out of Wuhan. A student in the video can be heard saying that the Pakistani government “won’t evacuate you even if you die, get infected or are still alive.”
“Shame on you Pakistan government, learn something from the Indians,” the student from Wuhan can be heard saying.
Muhammad Rauf, a Pakistani student in Wuhan, told Reuters that he and 40 others were locked in their Wuhan dormitory for four hours a day. “How long will the lockdown be? What will we do? Just count down our days?” he said. He added that they have been calling for an evacuation plan for days now.
The Pakistani government’s rationale on the stand is simply put just pathetic.
“It is in the largest interest of the region, world, country that we don’t evacuate them now,” Imran Khan was quoted by Dawn News.
There are up to 800 Pakistani studying in multiple universities in Wuhan city. The city has been quarantined by Chinese authorities, while various nations, including many in Pakistan’s neighborhood, have evacuated its nationals.
Earlier, Pakistan President Dr Arif Alvi had taken to Twitter to forward the government’s stand. “Prophet’s directions regarding disease outbreaks are a good guide even 2day “If you hear of an outbreak of plague in a land, do not enter it, but if the plague breaks out in a place while you are in it, do not leave that place” (Bukhari & Muslim) Let us help those stuck there,” he said.
