It seems that the Federal Government, unlike the Sindh Government, has beencaught napping in the midst of a clear trajectory in terms of Covid 19 numbers. Though we are mercifully been spared so far from deaths, at the end of this all we are looking at least a few million infected and many dead, if our current trajectory progresses. This is in addition to the economic loss, which we are likely to face in the next year. The need of the hour is immediate parliamentary legislation or even presidential ordinance. Since there would obviously be a sunset clause of say 12 weeks built into it,a presidential ordinance would be especially suited for the purpose.
What would this legislation look like? It would follow in general the force majeure conditions of a normal contract. In most contracts that we usually enter into there are force majeure conditions for a limited period, which include suspension of obligations under it. A countrywide suspension of obligations under all contracts ought to provided for one month by law for small businesses and individuals for incomes under a certain amount. This will give them a breathing space and the ability to survive through a difficult period. It will also allow them to quarantine themselves effectively making most outside travel non-essential. All major employers should however be under obligation not to lay off people during this period. Furthermore a strict pricing regime should be placed on essentials whereby hoarding can be discouraged. Stricter penalties in terms of fines should be imposed on black marketers and profiteers.
We are in exceptional circumstances, which require exceptional measures. The Federal Government needs to impose emergency under Article 232, including imposition of reasonable restrictions on certain fundamental rights such as Articles 15 and 16 and suspension of Article 20, and then include provisions to enforce social distancing and securing the elderly during this period. The penalty for violation of social distancing provisions should be heavy fines. Restaurants and other places where people gather should immediately be closed down. All shops that are not selling essential products should be closed down. All congregational religious activity should also be suspended with no discrimination as to any sect, religion or community. If the KhanaKa’aba and Masjid-e-Nabvi have been closed down by the Saudis, there can be no occasion for the clergy to protest such a suspension, because such a suspension would in fact be authorized by religion not against it. Any preacher preaching against such a measure should be jailed for the entire envisaged period under this new law. This side by side a mandatory curfew would help do the trick and this curfew should be built into the legislation. As such the law should not be open to any challenge in the courts, till after three-month period envisaged under it.
The Chinese model ought to be replicated in a legal and constitutional way. Truth be told the Chinese response was too late. They initially covered up the severity of the outbreak, which led to it becoming a global pandemic. However their subsequent response has been impressive. Today China has reduced the new incidences of disease to almost zero. Our laws allow temporary measures for precisely a similar response.
It is going to be hard of course over the next twelve to fifteen weeks when we go through this both as human beings and as Pakistanis. This is of course not the first time that the world has gone through a pandemic. The Spanish flu in 1918-1919 that started either from US, UK or China claimed the lives of more 40 million people. The plague in the closing years of the 19th century, starting from China, wiped out more than 30 million people including more than 20 million people through the British Empire, mostly in British India. This was the third plague pandemic. There were two others in recorded human history.
The world is different today in the sense that we have more control and agency. While we have often begrudged the nation state model as being inherently divisive for human beings, it may just be the one thing that protects us in the end. Obviously the ease of modern transport means easier transfer of the virus to completely unrelated parts of the world, but that is subject to border controls, which every nation will put up increasingly. Meanwhile the spread of the disease thousands of miles away from source means that the entire world for the first time has to come to grips with it together. The nation state model thus provides natural lines of defence for a united human response. The response of individual European Community members reinforces this.The ability to control ingress and egress means international cooperation becomes necessary; hence nation states are building blocks or bricks of the same wall. What this means is that through intelligently placed lockdowns and other measures, the world might be rid of this menace sooner rather than later.
One should expect the world to be a different place post Coronavirus. It would certainly not be business as usual for international travellers. Thankfully due to the Internet and connectivity, this would not necessarily mean silos. We shall continue to be connected to each other. Social media giants like Facebook, Twitter and YouTube will ensure it. This is why the battle for connectivity, flow of information and digital rights will become an extremely important one. It is the next phase of the evolution of a global society and with this tragedy will come another new epoch.
The writer is an Advocate of the High Courts of Pakistan