Parents of Pakistani students who have been stuck in the Hubei province of China due to the outbreak of Coronavirus vented out their anger on ministers. At a meeting held on Wednesday in Islamabad, annoyed parents confronted the government ministers demanding the evacuation of their children who have been locked down at the virus epicentre in China.
Pakistan till now had eliminated bringing over 1,000 students home in Hubei province & its capital Wuhan. The capital already has recorded three-quarters of more than 2,000 deaths resulting from the outbreak of the virus.
Talking about Pakistan not being efficient enough in providing satisfactory facilities for quarantining the students if they returned, Zulfiqar Bukhari, Pakistan’s minister for overseas citizens & Zafar Mirza, Pakistan’s health minister addressed the parents on Wednesday for the first time saying that the students were better off in China for their better welfare.
Dissatisfied by what the officials had to say, many parents broke in between the briefing to show their discontent on the matter & even seized microphones to say that they do not intend to listen to the officials untill their children are brought back. A number of people also surrounded the ministers on stage.
One of the family members on the microphone said, “Bring our kids back, they have been in lockdown for 25 days, they are not getting any support from you.” Health minister Mirza assured the parents that he would put across their messages & anger at the Cabinet meeting on Thursday.
For gaining more information on the state of the Pakistani students locked down there, Pakistan’s embassy in Beijing is supporting the students & for meeting the students in Wuhan this week, a two-person team was also sent to know more about their condition.
The meeting which was held in Islamabad saw a gathering of more than 400 parents from around the country & nearly 100 protested with placards post the meeting which even led to blocking of a road. Other cities in Pakistan like Karachi & Lahore also saw massive protests last week.
As the death toll keeps rising in China, parents showed their frustration, pointing out how neighbouring countries like India, Bangladesh were forward in evacuating their citizens.
