The year 2020 could easily be marked as one of the most tumultuous years in the history for Pakistan that was marred by sufferings, misery, death and uncertainty.
The year 2020 remained tragic for the whole world. More than 18 lac people have died of Covid-19. United States of America, England, Spain, China, France, Germany, Iran, and India are the countries that got badly affected by the lethal attack of Coronavirus.
In Pakistan, the first patient of the virus was diagnosed in January and so far, about 10,105 Pakistanis have passed away due to Covid-19. The government of Pakistan took some immediate measures to control it and the people of Pakistan also took extra care. That helped to successfully curtail the initial wave of virus but the ongoing second wave is proving to be disastrous.
Surprisingly and fortunately, despite the pandemic, many businesses and industries saw their revival in the country. The Textile, Cement, Automobile and Pharmaceutical industries flourished during this period.
The main reason was the diversion of the international market to Pakistan because of the bad condition of coronavirus in China, India, and Bangladesh.
To help offset the financial headwinds sparked by the coronavirus pandemic, Pakistan entered into negotiations with 21 creditor countries for debt suspension amounting to $1.7 billion after the G20 countries, together with the Paris Club creditors announced the initiative.
There were a handful of mournful events too in 2020. This year was not so peaceful either for polio workers. One female polio worker was gunned down in Balochistan, a policeman, protecting the polio workers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was murdered.
A person, named Salahuddin Ayubi in Panjab was arrested for robbing a cash machine and soon died in police custody. His family claimed he had a mental health condition and had been tortured to death by police. A forensic report subsequently corroborated the torture claim.
Muhammad Bilal Khan Khan, a freelance journalist who ran a popular YouTube channel covering politics was murdered in Islamabad.
Two mega scandals of sugar and petrol shook the country and government promised to penalize those responsible for the acts. The inquiry committees held some of the persons responsible but none could be brought to book.
The year 2020 is also known for the extra ordinary hike in the prices of consumable items like vegetable, fruits and kitchen items.
As a whole, the year witnessed no big progress despite the availability of the economic leap due to the aggravating health situation in our neighbor owing to the pandemic.
The concerned departments/Ministries could not tap the opportunity to attract foreign investors to Pakistani products.
Political and economic instability, along with social unrest remained the fate of Pakistanis during 2020.
Read more: Pakistan To Purchase 1.2 Million Covid Vaccine Doses From China’s Sinopharm
Now we are looking forward to 2021 which is hoped to be fortunate for Pakistan. Expectedly, an effective COVID-19 vaccine would be in reach of every single person and hopefully, the economy will be revived.
