Articles and letters may be edited for the purposes of clarity and space. They are published in good faith with a view to enlightening all the stakeholders. However, the contents of these writings may not necessarily match the views of the newspaper.
Poor maintenance
Public Parks and playgrounds in Mirpurkhas need attention of the concerned authorities to make them clean and attractive places for visitors. There are many parks but only three parks open for visitors namely Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto, Bibi Asfa Butto Zardari (ladies Park) and Nazeer Husain Parks. However, due to large number of visitors from other areas of the city, particularly on special occasions, condition of these parks and playgrounds becomes poor which need regular attention for maintenance by the concerned authorities.
Finding a public toilet in the parks has always been a hard task for people. The facility of clean drinking water is also missing in these parks. After sunset, many youngsters are seen wandering and smoking in the parks. No cleanliness measures are taken as there are wrappers and plastic bags all around. Dustbins are not in the picture at all. Swings are in a dilapidated condition. Iron chains, seats and even top rods are missing, causing much disappointment to the children. The stairs, adjacent to the slides, are without protective steel rods. The park has uneven and poorly maintained grass. The citizens urge the administration to take notice of the situation and speed up maintenance work for equipping the parks with facilities such as public transport, parking, toilets and clean drinking water.
MUHAMMAD NASIR IQBAL
Mirpurkhas
Zimbabwean law
My heart ached when I heard that Henrietta Rushway who is at the centre of gold smuggling in Zimbabwe was granted bail whilst Zimbabwean journalist Hopewell Chinono who has no proven criminal record is in jail. It is clear that in Zimbabwe people connected to the ruling party politicians and affiliated to ZANU PF are treated favorably by law whilst those without connections and affiliations suffer severely like what Hope Chinono.
How on earth could the same law applied differently to various citizens of the same country Zimbabwe? President Emerson Mnangagwa and his ZANU-PF government take the law into their own hands. This makes it clear that corruption in Zimbabwe will not end if President Emerson Mnangagwa and ZANU-PF government are in power. ZANU-PF is abusing Zimbabweans and the law and judiciary system in Zimbabwe is unquestionably part of ZANU PF property.
The caring world should not remain silent when innocent people in Zimbabwe like journalist Hopewell Chinono are forced to suffer severely because they have nothing to do with ZANU PF, no relationship with ZANU PF politicians or connections to ministers and the president. ZANU PF government is now a huge stumbling block to law enforcement, independent judiciary and justice in Zimbabwe and therefore should be removed from power.
KUDZAI CHIKOWORE
London
East Indians and the ‘nav vari lugra’
Since the East Indians are the original inhabitants of Mumbai, the bride-to-be on the day of her wedding should keep up the tradition of wearing the ‘nav vari lugra’ in red colour during the nuptials in church and also in the hall during the reception, instead of wearing the white gown, which is not Indian. The bride-to-be, when I was a little boy, wore the traditional East Indian saree, known as the ‘nav vari lugra’ for their nuptials in church, instead of a white gown. The wedding was also celebrated outside the houses in the open space by putting up a pandal. The ‘Umbracha Pani’ on the night before the wedding was fun.
We would go dancing on the roads and bylanes at 12 midnight playing the East Indian Marathi band and singing East Indian Marathi songs. After that, we would all have our dinner and the women of the house would wake up at 4 in the morning preparing chitiaps and fugias (which were kept for fermenting the previous night) for all the guests for their morning tea. Those days were fun unlike the East Indian weddings that are celebrated today. One of my favourite East Indian Marathi songs is ‘Sakalche Para’. The other songs worth mentioning which are also my favourite are ‘Ambyachi Dangli Var Baisli Mor’ and ‘Galyan Sakli Sonyachi’.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Man is architect of his own fate
There is no denying the fact that Man is architect of his own destiny. Of all the creations in the Universe, Man is superior and endowed with the reason and intellect. He has made best use of his intellect in every aspect of life. He has conquered nature greatly. He has proved his mettle on conquering moon by being able to put his feet on it. Many diseases that were considered fatal in past are now curable owing to man’s efforts.
This shows the writ of man lies in his own hands. A Shakespearean saying goes: “The fault is not in our stars, but in ourselves.” It shows the man masters his own fate. It is he who makes or mistakes. Those who give up never see success. Man is not a playful tool in the hands of fate but he is nucleus of the world that architects his own fate.
SEJAL MAKAHNI
Dharki
