‘Dr Furqan’s death nullifies Sindh govt’s claim of stemming spread of coronavirus’

Expressing deep sorrow and grief over the death of Dr Furqan-ul-Haq, a retired practitioner of the Karachi Institute of Heart Diseases (KIHD), who had been diagnosed with the coronavirus positive, various political parties said on Monday his death had exposed the Sindh government’s claim about stemming the spread of the coronavirus in the province.

They also demanded a thorough judicial inquiry into Dr Haq’s death. The retired doctor died on Sunday morning after he was allegedly denied treatment at various public and private hospitals in Karachi.

Pak Sarzameen Party chief Syed Mustafa Kamal also expressed his sorrow and demanded a thorough judicial inquiry into the Sindh government’s budgetary spending on the health sector.

He said that the “corrupt” Sindh government, which made a lofty claim of spending Rs114 billion on the health sector in this financial year, had utterly failed to provide a ventilator to a dying doctor -- a frontline fighter against the coronavirus.

“Dr Furqan’s death is a murder for which the Sindh government is responsible,” he said. “It is unfortunate that the doctor kept asking for a ventilator to save his life, but he was not provided with a ventilator,” Kamal deplored.

He said the provincial government had even failed to ensure the anti-rabies vaccine in the province, leaving the precious lives of citizens at the mercy of lethal dogs. Dr Furqan’s death had exposed the Sindh government’s claim of stemming the spread of the coronavirus in the province, he said.

The life of the nation was at stake in the battle between the Sindh and the federation, as the federal and the Sindh governments were using all their capabilities to blame each other instead of saving precious lives with coordinated efforts. The rulers instead of indulging in the blame game should work together to rescue lives of people, he said.

Khurram Sher Zaman, president of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s (PTI) Karachi chapter and MPA, expressed sorrow over the death of Dr Haq and paid rich tribute to his services for humanity. He expressed outrage over the unavailability of health facilities even for one doctor in Karachi.

The PTI MPA said that the situation would be very different if the government made its efforts to implement the lockdown and acquired medical equipment instead of spreading fear among the citizens.

Zaman demanded the resignation of the provincial health minister over poor arrangements for preventing precious lives of citizens amid the coronavirus pandemic.