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.
Covid-19 anxiety
WE live in an age of self-abundance and yet a sudden pandemic can expose how imperfect this belief is.
In Pakistan, the pandemic is posing a danger to the surroundings, suffocating health systems and threatening lives.
Amidst the rising cases of corona outbreak across the world, there is a growing sense of anxiety and panic.
We see it in the once busy public places, we feel it when we talk to others and we hear it every time we put on the news. It is in these crucial times that we choose through love or fear.
Dealing with care and precaution shifts our perspective from helplessness to empowerment by knowing and trusting that our actions create the world. We learn to become a part of the solution and not propagate the problem.
It is very essential to say that no matter what happens, I’ve done the best that I can to be prepared and have given my best to the world.
A pandemic that sees no race or nation, has brought a true test for the humanity, which will either be fought in fear or overcome through love.
The artistic association between people and infection so far emasculates it to show the true toxin to be human differences that are based on fears.
Whether we like it or not, our time will always be shared with others and it will be limited in some way or another.
Amid these scary stories it’s worth remembering that, while we may not have control over everything, we can always do things that spark love and spread joy around us.
Just like a disease, panic itself is a killer, fearing every moment and hoarding out of fear can never be as satisfying as the joy of helping each other or at least thinking of others.
No one is here to live forever; all we can do is try to spread some relief or love through our thoughts and actions, not the pain and fears of what is doomed to happen.
Fear is natural, we are all anxious, with even the authorities declaring that there is a huge deal about this outbreak that we just don’t know yet. We fear what we don’t understand. And what we fear, we seek to control.
We just need to make sure not to let the fear control us as we might have to sustain with it for a while.
WAJEEHA BILAL
Islamabad
Qazi Faez Essa judgment
The SCP judgment accepting the review appeal filed by Qazi Faez Essa, his spouse and others is like a breath of fresh air, in a country where such news is rare and far apart.
It has raised hopes of millions in the independence of our judiciary, so essential for a country to survive and exist.
Hazrat Ali Ibn Talib, stated that a country can exist without religion, but not without justice.
This is our belief. The superior judiciary has sent a clear message, that any attempt to harass a judge for any judgment given by him to their disliking, by the executive and others, who consider themselves above the constitution, will be resisted by majority of judges.
His illustrious father, Late Qazi Essa, one of the staunchest supporters of Quaid-i-Azam in the political struggle for freedom from British Colonial occupation must be proud of his son.
Nobody has lost. The nation has won, and hopes raised that Quaid’s vision will be realised and save Pakistan.
MAJ’s blueprint for a modern democratic welfare state must be our ultimate destiny, instead of tyrannical rule by the mediocrity that has been at helm.
One only hopes and prays that Rule of Law and supremacy of the constitution prevails over whims and insatiable greed of few and our territorial sovereignty, so essential, would be safeguarded by the people and their armed forces, bound together by love and respect for each other.
We need to focus on achieving economic development and raising our agricultural produce, improve our human resource development by investing in science, research, health and welfare of the people, instead of building palatial gated societies, surrounded by a sea of people living in abject poverty and illiteracy.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
A tribute to mother
On 24 April 2021, I lost my mother (Sahib Jaan), at the age of 101. Losing a loved one is always not easy to cope with and for almost everyone, a mother remains the dearest, the closest and most important individual to lose.
With grace, honour and un-paralleled magnanimity in her personality, my mother was an angel living with us, playing a pivotal role in the family during all these long years.
She was a person who ruled every heart and affected everyone around and outside our home.
She was the life of our family and reason for many of our laughter sessions, our family has been famous for.
Nothing breaks our heart more than having a home that no longer has her in it and today, we are left with pain in our hearts and tears in our eyes, missing her from deepest of our emotions.
For me personally, without her support and inspiration, I would never have achieved all the successes in life that I was able to. She was the one in millions and I feel honoured to be amongst her legacy.
Somewhere in my heart beneath all my grief and pain, is a smile I still wear at the sound ‘Baay’, the name by which she was known with love and affection, amongst the entire family.
“Rest in peace ‘Baay’. You will remain to be our dearest forever.
BRIG NASEEM AKHTAR (R)
Via email
