Pakistan student in Wuhan misses father's funeral

80-year-old begged his son to come back a day before he died

ISLAMABAD: From his dormitory in the locked-down Chinese city of Wuhan, PhD student Hassan spoke to his father in Pakistan for the last time on Thursday, as the 80-year-old begged him to come home. The next day, Hassan’s father died of a heart ailment.

Hassan is one of more than 1,000 Pakistani students in China’s Hubei province, thought to be the epicentre of the coronavirus, who have been told by their government that it has had to rule out their return home for the moment.

Hassan has since stepped up his efforts to travel home as his desperation grows, having missed his father’s funeral.

“They need me at this time, my mother needs me,” said the PhD computer architecture student, who asked to be identified only by one name in order to protect his family’s privacy.

His increasing anxiety is shared by other Pakistani students in Hubei, some of whom are increasingly critical of their government’s response to the situation.



Many other countries, including neighbouring India and Bangladesh, evacuated their citizens from Hubei province as the virus death toll rises, topping 900 on Monday.

“My very dear students in China...we r intensely discussing the situation @ highest level & will make the best decision in view of all factors with ref to devastating #coronavirus potential global pandemic,” State Health minister Zafar Mirza said on Twitter on Sunday.

210/ My very dear students in China & ur respectable family members, v r intensely discussing the situation @ highest level & will make the best decision in view of all factors with ref to devastating #coronavirus potential global pandemic. Rest assured you are our own & we care!

— Zafar Mirza (@zfrmrza) February 9, 2020

Hassan contacted his university, who supported him leaving, and Pakistan’s embassy in Beijing. He said he was later told by Chinese authorities in Hubei that he could be evacuated if Pakistan’s embassy in Beijing contacted them, but that had not occurred.

Pakistan has said it would not evacuate its citizens from Wuhan in an attempt to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus which has killed over 900 people and infected more than 40,000 since its outbreak.

A spokesperson for Mirza said in a statement the health minister had expressed concern for the welfare of students in the call and that Chinese rules meant no one could leave Hubei, but the situation was being monitored.