You are free to pray…But please do it at home

Posted on April 23, 2020 by beenasarwar

Please stay home… Even if the government isn’t requiring you to. Doctors in Pakistan have demanded a “strict lockdown to contain rapid spread of COVID-19” but Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan after ‘conferring’ with the ‘ulema’ has chosen to go with the latter, justifying his decision by saying that he cannot use force in the matter. Here’s my interview on Al Jazeera live about this, April 22.

Imran Khan: Appeasement to what end?
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Filed under: covid-19, Health | Tagged: , , , , , | 2 Comments »

#PakistanFightsCorona: Lending a helping hand

Posted on April 19, 2020 by beenasarwar

What to do, who’s doing it, and how to do it…

A poetic fundraising resistance to despair

Event invite / Asmer Asrar Safi

The current coronavirus pandemic, and lockdown that is essential to prevent even more destruction, increases urgency in countries like Pakistan to ensure the survival of daily wagers and their families. With lockdown the only way to #stopthespread of COVID-19, many organisations are working on the ground to provide rations to families and PPE to health workers.

One initiative aimed at supporting these efforts is a poetic resistance to despair: An online fundraising effort for COVID-19 relief, Pakistan, Sunday 19 April 2020 at 1 pm ET (10 pm Pakistan time). Join online via this Zoom invite. (www.bit.ly/cvd19apr)

This is the first of a series initiated by the US Pakistan Students Coalition, including students at Harvard, Duke, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore, Yale and others. The Joy of Urdu is supporting this effort, that I am honoured to collaborate with.

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Filed under: covid-19, Health, Human rights | Leave a comment »

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