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Will Fight Coronavirus With Religion, Says Pakistan PM Imran Khan While Praising China For Handling Pandemic
Swarajya Staff
Mar 31, 2020, 05:42 PM | Updated 05:42 PM IST
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Pakistan prime minister Imran Khan, in an address to the country on 30 March, said that Coronavirus will be confronted by the force of religion (“imaan”).
In his address, Khan heaped praises on China - the country of the origin of the highly contagious virus - for, ironically, its handling of the pandemic.
China has emerged as the most successful country in containing it, he said.
Khan said that Pakistan, “which was formed in the name of Islam”, will fight the pandemic with two key elements: religion and the country’s young population.
He announced a “Corona Tigers Relief Force”, formed of young Pakistanis, who he said would aid the administration in distributing relief material to people at their doorsteps.
He also said that only the old and the weak needed to be hospitalised in case they contracted the infection.
Khan also misrepresented a recent talk by Indian prime minister Narendra Modi.
“India decided to impose a countrywide lockdown. Today, their prime minister issued an apology to the nation for ordering a lockdown without proper planning," Khan said in his address.
The truth however is that Modi apologised for inconvenience caused and not for the lockdown itself.
“I apologise for taking these harsh steps that have caused difficulties in your lives, especially the poor people," Modi said in his monthly address, Mann ki baat, on Sunday.
Watch the address here:
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