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.
A rose between two thorns
There are many things to learn from the founding father of Pakistan, one of them is “to err is human’’. Today politicians are always looking for the mistakes of their opponents and even simple mistakes like a slip of tongue become a laughingstock. Mentioning here an anecdote from the life of M A Jinnah’s slip of tongue that even he could not control, to show that simple mistakes don’t nullify one’s stature.
After a meeting with Lord Mountbatten and Lady Edwina Batten in 1947 for ongoing discussions on partition of India, the photographer asked for a pose to shoot a picture of the three. Mr. Jinnah contemplated that Edwina would be placed in the middle between him and Mount Batten, and thought of a joke to mark the occasion by saying “A Rose between two Thorns”. But the photographer made her stay at one end and not in the middle. However, Jinnah could not control his thought-out joke and said, “A Rose between two Thorns”.
RAJA AMIN AFZAL
Muzaffarabad AJK
Negligence of PPP in SOPs
In the first wave of Coronavirus pandemic, no other provincial government was more serious than Sindh, that’s of Pakistan People’s Party, for holding strict lockdown. Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah was seen in great motion, implore public to keep self isolation and social distance for safety from that pandemic. However, in the second wave of corona virus pandemic, PPP pays no proper attention in the maintenance of SOPs.
Instead of making public follow SOPs, it invited various political parties and local people to attend death anniversary event of Benazir Bhutto. No doubt, Benazir Bhutto was a great leader, having uncountable qualities and deserves such events for her. But, unfortunately the current situation needs a serious attention of the government for safety of people, because it is matter of life. I implore the PPP, the Sindh Government to be careful and not arrange any such event until corona virus vanishes.
ZULFIQAR ALI SOOMRO
Shikarpur
Happy country Pakistan
Pakistan must have gone up in the estimation of the happy people of the world after the revelation that it is among only 20 countries to have improved their position on the World Happiness Index this year. It seems that the position has been secured with people in this country, barring a few, not being aware of their state of happiness. Imagine if we had known that we were really happy; news would have certainly made us even happier — and perhaps we might have gone on to rival the best on the chart. It should be of immense satisfaction to the data minders as well as the less-number-savvy leaders here that we top the group in our region.
A sure recipe for joyous relief for Pakistanis, the list seems to be the outcome of considerable efforts undertaken by the United Nations Sustainable Development Solutions Network. In its annual exercise, the UN mapped happiness in 156 countries of the world, based on six indicators: income per capita, life expectancy, social support, freedom, generosity and corruption. It is obvious that Pakistan must have done remarkably well on all. Greater faith in our abilities and generous self-belief to curb cynicism could push us further up in future happiness counts.
SANIA SHAHZADI
Rawalpindi
Happy New Year 2021
New Year is celebrated all over the world with great enthusiasm and fun. It is a special day for the people as this day is the beginning of the New Year and they welcome the upcoming year in their way. People start the preparations for the New Year celebration many days earlier. People buy new clothes, gifts and many new things from the market.
After the Christmas celebration, people wait for the 31st night that is the day when we recall all the good and bad memories of the whole year and say goodbye to the outgoing year and welcoming the New Year. People celebrate this day with music and dance. Children are very happy about this as they get lots of gifts and good food to enjoy the New Year party.
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The tradition of giving and receiving gifts is an integral part of every festival. And so it is with New Year’s Day. New Year’s Day is an occasion when we give gifts to our family members, friends and relatives and make their New Year begin on a sweet note.
But do you know how the tradition of gift-giving became associated with the New Year celebrations? The tradition has its roots from earlier times. Today, every country has adopted this tradition of gifting. The day when every gift shop dreams of making it big on the sales chart is the first of January. It is believed that this tradition is the best way to heal up our sour relationships with people and develop a feeling of togetherness and love for people whom we care. That is why we say it with flowers and presents. So, people across the world love to follow this tradition.
The Magi were wise men and their gifts were emblematic of tribute to the Christ. The Magi were regarded as the pioneer in gift-giving tradition following the birth of Jesus. But in Europe it is sometimes said to have been prevalent even before Jesus was born. In France, Switzerland, Russia and Greece, bartering of presents was in vogue even before Jesus’ birth. However, it can certainly be said that the tradition got a new significance and that too a religious one with the Magi who presented their gifts of gold, frankincense and myrrh to Christ Child at his stable in Bethlehem 2021 years ago.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Media and politics
Media’s main function is to harness the masses with reliable and up-to-date news from every nook and cranny of the world. For this purpose media’s freedom and autonomy matters, media can’t perform its job wantonly unless it is self-reliant. It is said that in a democratic country everyone is free to speak whatever he wants, but it is only restricted to the extent of speaking in our country. In actual practice, you can’t speak freely in Pakistan. Many people are severely murdered and punished for telling and supporting truth.
In this era, you can’t point out the faults of the regime you just have to accept it whatever it is. You just have to put yes in their yes and if you ever tried to be honest and stand by truth, you will be victimized. Our system is never ready to accept its own flaws.
Media should be free to do reporting, the matter should be reported as it is. Unfortunately, our politicians use to buy off news channels before elections as they work for them, support them, create a good image of them in public, speak in their favour, and increase their reputation. The political party which does corruption before coming into power, buys votes of the people, buy press, how can we expect good and sincere governance by that party after coming into power? That’s what which happens in our country, that’s why our democratic system is failed. Democracy is the best form of politics, if the peoples realize it.
Media should support none but always be on the side of fairness and justice. The press can lead the country towards amendment or illiteracy and evil. Therefore, it utterly depends on press how it is doing its job. Without fair and trustworthy journalism we can’t head towards good morality and politics. Media has a great role to play in the progress and prosperity of the country.
MUZAFFAR KHOSO
Sukkur
