Of a limited understanding

…and its harmful effects

It appears that Pakistan’s Punjab is likely to miss the Covid-19 vaccination target, which hardly comes as a surprise. Arrangements at vaccination centres appear to be more or less satisfactory, although there are cases of overcrowding which are likely to cause a few outbreaks of infection by themselves. there are fewer glitches than anticipated, and those that exist involve mostly the less well heeled segment of society, which again comes as no surprise.

Some of those ‘less well heeled’ people were turned back for the first jab because ‘the due date wasn’t there yet.’ there is no reason for not vaccinating any person when he or she arrives without a date, if, under the rules such a person is legitimately allowed to be vaccinated, that is, if he or she fits the age currently being vaccinated, and is Pakistani. the first dose does not require a specific date, it’s the second one that needs to be three weeks away from the first, with the Chinese vaccine. the authorities should welcome all comers with open arms, whenever they turn up.

the registration website is well designed and easy to use. the CNIC issue date field on the website was a bit fiddly but someone seems to have fixed that problem. Well done.

the hardest part to get around as always is the attitude among some segments of society, the know-itall anti-vaxxers who put both themselves and people around them at risk by refusing to be vaccinated, and little is being done to get such people to change their mind.

in the rural settings of the Punjab– which are probably no different to rural settings anywhere else– people appear to be quite unconcerned about getting vaccinated. it is in fact a subject that does not seem to feature anywhere on their mental horizon. it would be a good idea to take the vaccination drive to such places rather than expect people who live there to lay down their tools and make the long and difficult trek to a vaccination centre, something that is not likely to happen.

As for other nay-sayers their mind is often made up by so-called religious authorities who present one of the most witless arguments by saying that vaccinations represent an attempt to preempt the Will of Allah. that if a person gets ill it is Allah’s Will and if he dies or recovers that too is Allah’s Will. it is not up to us to ‘interfere.’

Well, we all know that everything is Allah’s Will, but if that interference logic were sane it would apply equally to the ditches at the Jang-e-qandaq (Battle of the Ditch) all those years ago, wouldn’t it, when the followers of the Prophet (pbuh) should have simply sat there waiting for Allah’s Will and not lifted a finger to defend themselves then. No trenches, no digging. that is just one of the millions of examples that proves how ill-considered such arguments are, and how much the people of this country have suffered at the hands of people who present them, and how little they are used to reason.

i remember my henna-haired maulvi sahib teaching me to read the Quran when i was a child. he was a good man, very patient with my errors. Yet when we came to a certain verse which is a particularly beautiful one, he told me that if i were to put a stone with a hole in it into my mouth and then read that verse, all my prayers would be granted. Somewhere along the line he also told me that not stopping at a ‘meem’ would land me in hell. he told me nothing about that verse or any other verse, indeed he knew nothing about that verse, or about any other verse of the Quran. My father, hearing his instructions, asked me to simply learn how to read the Arabic from the teacher, and leave the explanations and meanings to my parents.

And yet my teacher’s limited understanding of the scripture was nothing unusual. Most religious figures in this country today are no different, yet they pass on their flawed understanding to all those willing to accept it, and there is no shortage of those willing to accept it. After all, all education is passed on that way here, be it science, history, or another subject, and how can anyone understand anything if all they’re doing is reeling off a list of elements, dates and something else off another list?

Anyway, this was a somewhat belated attempt to celebrate the annual World Parrot Day this past May 31st. May we succeed in protecting all nature as well as those birds, while at the same time remembering just what parrots are: twits, beautiful ones.

My teacher’s limited understanding of the scripture was nothing unusual. Most religious figures in this country today are no different, yet they pass on their flawed understanding to all those willing to accept it, and there is no shortage of those willing to accept it