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.
Making a mockery of Punjab
I am in my 70s and have never witnessed the manner in which over 13.5 crore people of Punjab have been mocked at, ridiculed and face uncertainty as it is being subjected to these days. For over 3 years, this province was placed under Usman Buzdar and I fail to understand logic and rationale, when despite demands for change, former PM was obstinate that he (Buzdar) will remain.
Now for almost two months, Punjab again continues to be in a state of limbo. The uncertainty that afflicts Punjab for almost a month now is by design. Is it part of any sinister scheme, which has often been hatched in the past, to discredit the political process and create a vacuum to justify some unconstitutional intervention? Why is this being done? Has Pakistan not suffered enough?
In a democracy, it is will of the people that must prevail and not the arrogance and obstinacy of any individual, even if individual is PM with an absolute majority or having just a paper-thin majority coalition govt.
The interests and welfare of the people of Punjab must prevail just like the interests of residents of KP, Sindh or Balochistan must be the primary objective of those whom fate has offered a chance to hold a constitutional office. Individual politicians come and go, because this is what democracy is all about; only the Rule of Law and Constitution must prevail. There are no ruling families in a democracy, nor can an individual claim his right to be at helm at his will and choice, irrespective of changes enacted through constitution.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
KE’s dirty tricks
Other than four hours of daily load shedding at 11 am, 3 pm, 12 midnight and 3 am, K-Electric is refusing to provide power supply to our area for the whole day once in a month for last six months on pretext of non-payment. I have never been a defaulter of any utility services in last 35 years but I am still deprived of my right to regular supply of electricity just because some people in garden west area are not paying their electricity bills.
I went to KE office to lodge my complaint about withdrawing electricity supply for a whole day once in a month in this scorching heat, I was told that since there are recovery issues in your area, this will continue to happen till the recovery improves.
Why can’t KE send their technical team to houses that don’t pay their electricity bills and have their connections disconnected? KE has all the right to take legal action against defaulters and electricity thieves. Why punish the whole area if some consumers are not paying their electricity bills?
M RAFIQUE ZAKARIA
Karachi
Economic crisis
That the ruling alliance has taken over a month to agree on measures to take the country out of economic crisis does not reflect favourably on its efficiency. The delay in decision making has led rupee to lose 6.2% of its value over the past month.
The stock market has suffered badly as it was under pressure on account of the depletion of foreign exchange reserves, delay in the resumption of the IMF programme, no development on funding from Saudi Arabia and UAE and the PM’s reluctance to withdraw the petrol subsidy.
Despite a go head given by major allies to withdraw the subsidy on petrol products, important decisions needed to offset the negative impact of the withdrawal have yet to be announced.
The most important issue is how to lighten the impact of the big rise in the price of petroleum products on the poor as well as on the lower middle class. A lot of debate has gone on over the issue during the last couple of years. The only agreement reached so far is to provide only targeted subsides directly to the deserving rather than subsidizing goods through mills and other outlets.
It has also been proposed to divert a large chunk of development funds to provide targeted subsidies and use the Ehsaas Programme database to identify the deserving people. The government needs to urgently come up with an effective plan of targeted subsidies. The situation presents an opportunity to the coalition partners to jointly prepare a charter of the economy. As far next elections are concerned, these should be conducted after making reforms in election system.
MUNAWR SIDDIQUI
Lahore
Deadliest silence
Reporter of Al-Jazeera, Shireen abh Akleh was assassinated by Israeli snipers while wearing a press vest and reporting on Israeli military violence. And on the day of her funeral when Palestinians were peacefully marching, the Israeli forces started to attack them and disrespected the coffin of late Shireen abu Akleh. A question arises, why is that so easy for Israel to violate human rights? Palestinians and Al-Aqsa are being set on fire by Israelis and Muslim countries doing nothing except condemning.
All the famous personalities, be it celebrities, sportsmen, politicians, human right activists, pseudo liberals are silent shamelessly. The United Nations, the so-called peace making organization, seems to be paralyzed in time of brutality against Muslims in Palestine. OIC is good for nothing, as OIC was formed to protect Al-Aqsa but it failed and the international community has been sleeping cowardly.
This will continue, this bloodshed, brutality and ethic cleansing will continue until Muslim Ummah gathers on one platform for liberation of Palestine and to end the illegal occupation of Israel. Every Muslim and every human needs to raise slogans against this barbarism happening in Palestine. We need to kill the deadliest silence.
SHAFI-UR-REHMAN
Karachi
Obsession with anime
It’s no mystery that anime has a vast enthusiastic fan base in Pakistan. Love for anime and manga is an absolutely unique entity which bonds Pakistani and Japanese cultures wisely together. Whether it’s buying and selling anime goods over the internet, longing for unapproachable authentic stock or discussing a particular series for hours on end, we can see it clearly. Moreover, let’s not forget the series which served as the basis of our youngster’s current obsession with anime.
They still manage to pull at our heartstrings and pass a tendency of nostalgia through our bodies. Although we’d all like to keep them closed up in a memory box. Most of them belong to the classic Good vs. Evil genre we all know and love, Pokémon, dragon ball z, Digimon, Naruto, dual master and Beyblade; these all anime play a vital role. Even if anyone doesn’t watch anime they can tell with ease who is Goku and who is Pikachu. And all the supernatural movies by Studio Ghibli make the fantasy world more and more beautiful and addictive.
That’s not all anime and manga have only just seeded in the hearts of Pakistanis and have a very bright future ahead. Universities and organizations are looking forward to providing exciting outlets to the youth in order to bring out their hidden enthusiasm.
It is a funny way to become familiar with Japanese culture, tradition and language as well. The Glassworker is also a Pakistani animated film (work in progress) made by a Pakistani youngster which shows the love and enthusiasm for the anime.
SANA SARFARAZ
Karachi
