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Begging, a lucrative business
Begging, today, has become a profession in most metropolitan cities like Mumbai and the tale of the beggar who left behind Rs 10 lakhs with a nominee named in his bank account should act as an eye-opener. Begging has become a lucrative business today and some people prefer to beg rather than work for a livelihood. We are encouraging begging by giving money and one should rather help the needy in kind like giving them food and medicines rather than cash which is either saved or spent on addictive habits like alcohol as well as cigarettes.
The government should open up orphanages and old age homes for the needy. People too can donate money directly to these homes to help the government in this noble cause. Begging, in fact, should be banned and those who are handicapped without income should be shifted to these homes for shelter and food. Easy money discourage people to work, which is reason why begging has become a lucrative business today.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Grave misnomer
President of Pakistan or for that matter of any country is regarded as the First Citizen of that particular country and his wife is known as the First Lady. But due to ignorance or some other unknown factors, previously Begum Kalsoom Nawaz was being described by the print and electronic media as the First Lady when Nawaz Sharif was the Prime Minister.
Now, Mohtarma Bushra Bibi, wife of Prime Minister Imran Khan is now being persistently called and described as the First Lady of Pakistan which is absolutely wrong and a grave misnomer. Mohtama Bushra Bibi is as such entitled to protocol as the wife of the prime minister and not that as a First Lady
Mohtarma Samina Alvi, wife of President Dr Arif Alvi, as a matter of fact is the First Lady of Pakistan as long her husband is the First Citizen of Pakistan as President.
Media people in particular are requested to correct themselves and get this authenticated from official quarters concerned and also have a look at the Warrants of Protocol booklet if they can lay their hands on it, please..
MUHAMMAD MURTAZA
Lahore
Rise of
right-wing
Human history is full of violence, fire and ruthless behaviour. After sufferings and atrocities, idea of liberalism came to forth and a lesson was learnt. Human rights is the burning concept these days and we demand justice and a moral world to live.
We have Geneva Convention and international Red Cross Movement and human activists as well. First of all, differentiate between left and right wing politics. The basic difference between left and right wing politics is about individual liberty and power of government.
Left wing politics is marked by pro-revolution and pro-change tactics. The concepts of liberalism and regulation of economy by government are the basic concepts of left wing.
Whereas, right wing politics is marked by nationalism and support for religion.
Right wing activists want limited role of government in people’s life. Behjamin Netanyahu is a leader of far-right and remained premier for a long time, now replaced by Naftali Bennet.
France’s Emmanuel Macron, UK’s Conservative Party, Hungarian Premier Viktor Orban, Poland Prime Minister, Mateusz Morawiecki and Modi under India points towards the rise of right-wing across the globe and even ex-president of superpower (US) Donald Trump and also the rise of Jair Bolsonaro in Brazil show the emergence of right-wing extremism worldwide.
There is unprecedented rise of right wing politics across the globe. Far-right extremism is also a growing concern for superpower America as well. Not only America, whole Europe is deeply affected by the menace of extremism. France is one of the best example. Recent examples are Hijab Ban, killing at Christchurch, New-Zealand. Anti-immigrant populist leads the roost. India under Modi-Hindutva ideology and also rise of TLP in Pakistan in recent years are best examples.
SHEHRYAR AHMED
Islamabad
PECA Act
Another controversy circulated that the government amended the Pakistan Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 (PECA) on February 18, 2022. It is a secret law that the government seeks to impose on Pakistanis.
Freedom of expression and the right to information can be suppressed by this Act. The government is attempting to shield its officials and organisations from criticism because people are also blind eyed and believe fake news on social media easily and spread fake news without cross check.
Media practitioners and governments can only build mechanisms to combat false news by debate and deliberation, not by enacting legislation. Nobody can choke the media in 2022, no truth can be hidden. According to journalists this act is being methodically slaughtered in this nation by minimizing flexibility of expression on the affection of combating ‘fake news,’ cybercrime and misinformation. The Pakistani government is looking for wide powers to control the media as part of its crackdown on flexibility of expression. Is there any exact definition of “fake news” in the Act?
The Government should elaborate the definition of fake news in the Act evidently to avoid perplexity. Authorities can also minimize misinformation by maximizing monitoring and removing toxic content without finishing data secrecy. The media require gate-keeping of the exactness of the news. No news is fake news.
Media can improve society by taking some positive steps including misinformation awareness campaigns, focus on social issues and provide accurate information about economic, political, social and sports so that people should not be misused. People should cross check news before sharing and look over the sources from where that content is picked up.
AYESHA KHAN ANSARI
Karachi
