ISLAMABAD: Chairman Standing Committee on Interior in Senate and former interior minister Senator Rehman Malik on Friday has written a letter to the United Nations urging a constitution of a high-level commission on COVID-19 under the UN Convention on Biological Weapons, 1975 to discover whether COVID-19 was a man-made or a naturally-grown virus.
In his letter to UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres, Malik said the proposed commission on Covid-19 shall comprise of virologists, scientists, professors, researchers, analysts and experts in the fields of microbiology and virology.
Making the letter public through a video link, Malik has proposed seven ToRs to the UN secretary general, saying, the commission should present its report to the UN secretary general in three months, and its ‘terms of reference’ (ToR) should include recommendations to prevent future breakouts of such viruses, and international standards for coordination in case of a breakout.
The report should include accurate identification of the geo-location of the Covid-19’s origin, identification of areas with zero patient, behaviour, intensity and fertility rate of Covid-19 country-wise, investigation whether the virus is man-made or naturally-grown and confirming allegations of the virus as a form of ‘biological warfare tactics’.
He said that he did not mean to level any allegation or endorse any conspiracy theory about the origin of Covid-19 but wants to clear blurring distinction between real and fake news. He added that the deadly pandemic had stirred up the worst global crisis since World War II.
In his letter, Senator Malik writes that though the world history is strewn with pandemics, Covid-19 has shaken the whole world like none other. He said it is essential to calm down the public.
