What’s ha pp ening: As India battles the brutal third wave of COVID-19, reactions have started pouring out globally on how horrible the situation is and what other countries can do to help. A harrowing video report on the on ground situation by the BBC went viral on Twitter yesterday that showed how close the Indian healthcare system is to crippling. All these factors are a discourse fuelled by empathy and concern in Pakistan too.
*A national capital on its knees
*Many of these people won't survive the night
*Probably the most harrowing 3 mins of footage you'd have seen in the recent pastpic.twitter.com IjmNFvIGq— Rezaul Hasan Laskar (@Rezhasan) April 22, 2021
Pakistani Reaction: Along with empathy for the neighbours, the knee-jerk reaction by most Pakistanis was how the situation right across the border could quickly come home. Tweets poured in on how Pakistan must act before we are in a similar situation to our neighbours and it’s too late. Many argued that a strict lockdown must be imposed across the country ASAP and vaccination orders should be finalised quickly to avoid a similar case with our healthcare system. Comparisons were also made on how a country with far more vaccination supplies and hospital beds per person was on its knees, and how Pakistan would be in worse circumstances if a similar scenario emerged.
This is India, but it could be Pakistan if we aren't careful.
May Allah ease their suffering. #IndiaNeedsOxygen pic.twitter.com/GyMOkZiD94
— Riya (@Tweets_By_Riya) April 22, 2021
Demanding PM Khan to help: Thousands of Pakistanis took to Twitter through the night of Thursday and made #IndiaNeedsOxygen trend number one, as demands were made to Prime Minister Imran Khan to help the neighbors with oxygen supplies. Multiple messages of love, thoughts and prayers went out with the hashtags #IndianLivesMatter.
I join thousands of Pakistani citizens calling on the government to help India with oxygen supplies as their hospitals run out @ImranKhanPTI @fslsltn
Heartening to see #IndiaNeedsOxygen #IndianLivesMatter trend at top in Pakistan. Shows that people have hearts in the right place
— Usama Khilji (@UsamaKhilji) April 22, 2021