Coronavirus holds more to its existence than the entitlement of a deadly virus, it has changed our world drastically and shaken the core foundation of the economic and social structures worldwide. Moreover, the fear of losing lives has driven several governments across the world to take precautionary measures to the best of their respective abilities. The prime minister of Pakistan, Imran Khan (who is left in a catch-22 situation), lately tweeted that South Asian countries are stuck between a lockdown and at the same time, safeguarding the poor from dying of hunger and ensuring that the economy does not greatly suffer either (Sharma, 2020). Reducing the conversation to cities, the global pandemic has made Karachi’s economic divide ever more apparent by its unfair impact on the rich and the poor as both socio-economic groups fight entirely opposite battles while facing the same health hazard. While the rich man is actively practicing self-isolation in his large bungalow located in the posh and clean areas of the city such as Clifton and DHA, the poor man is deeply struggling to put food on the plate for his family. Hence, there surfaces two narratives of the same story or rather two faces of the same coin – coronavirus in the city.

Driving past Mehmoodabad, prior to the outbreak of the virus, I witnessed yet another example of the horrifying conditions of slums across the city. Downheartedly, I observed that a lot of men, women, and children (due to lack of enough space) were outside their congested dwellings and on the streets. In Karachi, “households have an average family size of eight to nine people, but barely accommodate a single room with a slab for a kitchen and a toilet” (Abdullah et al., 2020). Thus, exercising social distancing in such dire circumstances and living conditions becomes increasingly difficult for the poor inhabitants. Occupation of land and housing schemes are so uneven in the city that large houses spreading over “400-2000 square yards” containing only “2% of the housing stock” (Abdullah et al., 2020) turn the entire concept of social distance into an asset-based privilege. The elite, oblivious to the opposite socio-economic end, maintain distance within their own circles and from one another by staying indoors and in their separate rooms.

Although instructions for washing hands are fairly simple, the implementation becomes a challenge of its own degree because the poor scarcely have access to water let alone clean water. In poverty-stricken areas, many individuals either stand in elongated lines with empty containers waiting for their turn on the common tap shared by over 15 households or have to buy water. “For poor households, this is a very significant portion of their earnings. The idea of using that water repeatedly for washing hands is a luxury” (Abdullah et al., 2020). Therefore, not only land but even basic human needs are unjustly distributed across Karachi. In most elite households, there is no check and balance on the usage of water.

Despite being repeatedly requested by medical professionals globally to not use masks unless absolutely necessary, Helmore (2020) mentions how Naomi Campbell stepped out on the airport wearing a fully protective gear that is in shortage even for the medical staff. Not so surprisingly, the rich are stocking on sanitizers, liquid hand wash, soaps, and masks; consequently, depriving those underprivileged individuals who are seriously under the extreme threat of the virus.

Sadly, a minor cough is enough to drive the rich from their bungalows and get tested for coronavirus, which results in several tests being wasted, especially keeping in mind that Karachi has a highly limited amount of tests available for coronavirus. And while the rich visit Agha Khan Hospital wearing masks, the underprivileged – who are barely concerned about wearing masks and have no choice – visit local hospitals such as Civil or Jinnah that are not only overcrowded but also poorly managed.

The crux of the matter, however, is rooted in the emergence of unemployment as a result of the preventive actions taken by the government to fight the virus. Despite the prime minister’s avoidance of a complete lockdown to save the economic interests of the poor, many have fallen victims to joblessness. For daily wagers, the lockdown is no less than a curfew since no one is offering them any work (Hashim, 2020). Even poor women are fired in huge numbers as the elite get rid of their house-help for fear of catching the virus from an outside source.

The lockdown has made the lives of the poor miserable in every sense. “The distress of managing the food, water and healthcare needs of the family had already reached unprecedented levels but now the lockdown is leading to further disruptions and distress disorders” (Abdullah et al., 2020). Recently, news of a poor man committing suicide because he failed to feed his family surfaced on multiple local news channels in Karachi.

Women and young children are also active victims of the horrors of lockdown. “Levels of violence against women and girls have spiked in the lockdowns in China, the UK and the USA” (Abdullah et al., 2020) despite how advanced these societies are. One can only imagine the level of domestic violence women and children are exposed to when the men of the family cater to their own frustrations and depression (due to unemployment) by physically abusing the weaker members of the family. The situation is particularly worse for pregnant women and the elderly who constantly require medical attention as well.

Interestingly, the lockdown transforms itself into “quarantine” for the rich, who have changed the seriousness of the word into “free time”. Many privileged individuals have taken over various social media platforms expressing how they are trying new hobbies indoors, how disheartened they are that they can no longer order from their favourite restaurant, how they are bored, etc. However, that is simply the tip of the iceberg. While elite men are deeply concerned with the stock market and their businesses, elite women find themselves in a very compromising situation. Taking on the task of managing a household, including cooking meals, without any house help becomes another challenge that they have never previously encountered in their lives. Children from such families are alienated from understanding relationship dynamics and spend more time on their phones. Thus, giving away more agency to virtual reality. The toxicity on social media is causing depression in many well-to-do families of the city.

Marx through alienation addresses the concept of “estranged labor” demonstrating that “in the relationship of estranged labor, each man therefore regards the other in accordance with the standard and the situation in which he as a worker finds himself” (Marx, 2002, p.153). Applying this theory to the current situation in the city, it is observable that the relationship between the rich and the poor is absolutely vertical, i.e. of a master and a slave. The perception of viewing another person simply as a human has been completely eliminated from all socio-economic societies. Thus, the rich man fails to relate and understand the struggles of another man who is poor because the connection between the two is entirely materialistic. It is therefore unfair to claim that the virus is itself discriminatory in nature, rather it is capitalism that sets the precedent and allows the virus to discriminate amongst different socio-economic groups. In simple words, an uneven distribution of resources and opportunities between the inhabitants of the city creates a significant divide for the impact of the virus too

References

Marx, K. (2002). Other writings by Marx and Engels, In P. Gasper (Ed.), The communist manifesto: a road map to history’s most important political document (p. 153). Penguin Publishing

Sharma, R. (2020, April 12). Some Countries Face an Awful Question: Death by Coronavirus or by Hunger? The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/12/opinion/coronavirus-poverty.html

Hashim, A. (2020, March 25). Pakistan daily wagers struggle to survive in coronavirus lockdown. Al Jazeera. Retrieved from https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/03/pakistan-daily-wagers-struggle-survive-coronavirus-lockdown-200325115143152.html

Helmore, E. (2020, March 13). Coronavirus lifestyles of the rich and famous: how the 1% are coping. The Guardian. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/coronavirus-lifestyles-of-the-rich-and-famous-how-the-1-are-coping

Abdullah, A., et al., (2020, April 14). Why the Covid-19 crisis is an urban crisis. Dawn. Retrieved from https://www.dawn.com/news/1544933

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