KARACHI - Sindh Minister for Information, Local Government, Housing & Town Planning, Religious Affairs, Forest and Wildlife Syed Nasir Hussain Shah on Friday thanked the people all over the province, especially the people of Karachi, saying that the way people followed the government’s announced lockdown on Friday and stayed at their homes even for prayers was exemplary.
The Provincial Minister for Information said that the Sindh government needed the same kind of cooperation from its people to get rid of a pandemic like the coronavirus. “The more people cooperate with the government regarding the lockdown, the sooner we will get rid of this pandemic,” he said. Syed Nasir Hussain Shah said that banning prayer gatherings, whether Friday prayers or other prayers was a tough decision for the Sindh government, but the government had no other choice.
The provincial Minister for Information also thanked the clerics of all the sects saying that the way all the religious leaders cooperated with the government and endorsed the ban on congregrational prayers in mosques was also exemplary. This would not had been possible without the cooperation of the religious scholars, he said.
He said that before taking such this tough decision clerics of all the sects were taken in confidence, and according to their suggestion the calls for prayers were given in all the mosques, and the people of the mosque administration also prayed with the congregation.
Nasir Shah said that the only way to prevent the spread of the coronavirus was to adopt all the necessary precautionary measures, as so far no vaccine or any other treatment had been developed to cure a person affected by coronavirus.
The government was taking whatever the possible steps could be to prevent the spread of the virus in Sindh, the provincial Minister said. He said that the government was also increasing its testing capacity in this regard to get a clear picture on how many people had been affected in the province from the coronavirus.
Nasir Shah said that the Sindh government was trying its best to adopt all those measures that could help in stopping the spread of the virus locally, and for which according to the health experts social distancing was the only best preventive measure.
The provincial Minister said that this was the only reason the government had extended the duration of lock down period. He said that the government was very well aware of the sufferings of the people because of the lock down, especially of the daily wagers.
Nasir Shah said that the government was working day and night to address the sufferings of not only the daily wagers, but also all those families who had been affected by the lock down. The provincial Minister for Information hoped that due to Sindh government’s measures, soon all of us would get rid of the coronavirus pandemic, and once again mosques, educational institutions, markets, parks, and play grounds would be crowded with the students, children and other people.
But he said, for time being be careful, stay at homes, adopt social distancing for yourselves, for your loved ones and for other people, until we get rid of the pandemic completely. NNI