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.
Contempt of Parliament
It is a significant move, the government on Tuesday allowed the introduction of a crucial private member’s bill in the National Assembly seeking to empower the lawmakers to punish those committing contempt of parliament or its committees and breaching the privilege of any member of any house of parliament on the pattern of the contempt of court law.
The lawmakers termed the move too late, stating that such a law should have been enforced much earlier. This is a sensible decision as the proper procedure must be adopted for the passage of the bill and such legislation should not be carried out in haste without fine-tuning the objectionable parts of the bill. Establishing the writ of parliament is necessary, as it is a forum that has historically not been given the importance it deserves, even by politicians themselves.
However, given our track record with contempt laws as well, there must be mechanisms within the bill to ensure that it is not misused. The proposed law also provides the right of appeal to the convicted person which would then be heard by the lawmakers in a joint sitting of parliament. The appeal before the joint sitting must be filed within 30 days of the announcement of the verdict.
Based on the initial reports, it does not seem that the contempt of parliament has been interpreted very broadly which reduces the chances of it being misused. This law, if it does go through, will add much-needed weight and heft to the institution, but whether this is a good decision in the larger interest of the democracy and the country will depend on how judiciously it is implemented.
MUNAWAR SIDDIQUI
Lahore
Internet outage
Internet services across the country have been affected and completely shut down in many parts since Tuesday following the arrest of PTI chief Imran Khan. Authority (PTA) in its statement on the shutdown of internet in the country said, “The shutdown of internet service in the country is for an indefinite period which has been stopped at the request of the Home Department and finally for restoration no time can be given.”
After the PTI chairman’s arrest, the internet was shut down to curb false rumours with telecom companies losing 1.6 billion in revenue so far. Businesses, online services and home delivery services were also affected by the internet outage, while government revenue suffered a loss of Rs 57 crore due to disruption of telecom services. Moreover, online transactions face problems due to internet outages.
According to a report by an international organization that monitors Internet Service, users in Pakistan have complained about not being able to access Twitter. In addition, users also face problems in accessing YouTube, Facebook and other social networks.
MUSKAN ALI RANA
Karachi
Fact about Bermuda Triangle
An interesting fact about the Bermuda Triangle is that it may not even be a triangle at all. The boundaries and size of the supposed “triangle” have varied widely over time, and different sources have defined it in different ways. In fact, the idea of the Bermuda Triangle as a mysterious region only gained widespread attention in the 1960s, after a series of articles were published in the Miami Herald and other newspapers.
Another interesting fact is that one of the most famous incidents associated with the Bermuda Triangle, the disappearance of Flight 19 in 1945, may have been caused by navigational errors and miscommunication. The five Avenger torpedo bombers that made up Flight 19 were on a routine training mission, but the leader of the group became disoriented and believed they were off course. Despite radio communication with ground control, the planes continued to fly in the wrong direction and eventually disappeared without a trace. The incident led to increased speculation about the supposed dangers of the Bermuda Triangle.
SANA ZEHRA
Karachi
Hyderabad Police
This refers to the prevalent rise in crimes of theft and dacoities in Hyderabad. The city has become the epicentre and the favourite hideout of theft and dacoit mafia. Since the last couple of months, the criminals have been extra-agile in their disgusting criminal activities. Unfortunately, the police are in deep slumber and give a deaf ear to the woes of victims.
Last month, some of my relatives visited the civil Hospital Hyderabad for some treatment. Their bike was stolen and thereupon police did nothing. Police even did not lodge the FIR under section 381A of PPC. FIR is the right of every victim which Hyderabad police denies for no reason. The city police are very stubborn in registering FIRs. This encourages the criminal mafia and gives a space to the victims to ponder that city-police pampers the cohort of criminal mafia of Hyderabad.
The degree I have done from University is Criminology. It is the studies of crimes and criminals, and reaction of LEAs to the crimes. To me, it was a good topic to work on. More than forty crimes of bike thefts have taken place and not been handled properly. The common factor in all these crimes is uncooperative and lethargic behaviour of Hyderabad Police. Police have neither lodged FIRs nor Non-cognisable report in most cases. The Senior Superintendent of Police and Deputy Inspector General of Hyderabad Police are requested to work for the better performance of the city-police.
IMTIAZ ESSA HALEPOTO
Jamshoro
Box letter
Red bus
Let’s look at the traffic of Karachi. For the comfort of the people, the Sindh Government has started a bus service called Public Bus Service (Red Bus). The people’s bus service operated by the Sindh Government in Karachi is officially known as Sindh Intra District People’s Bus Services. It was inaugurated on 27 June 2022. This service facilitates access to the public and solves many problems. This is not only a bus service started by the government but other bus services are also running like the Green Line which runs from Sarjani to Numish Choragi and the other is the Orange Line route from North Nazimabad to Orangi Town and currently the Pink Bus service is for women only. Due to the bus service, people get a lot of benefits, which mostly include office workers, students, workers, etc. Earlier, when we used to travel from one place to another in local buses, we had to bear a lot of inconvenience. Therefore, govt should increase bus service routes like university road, for which there is no route bus service, university students are facing severe problems in going to University of Karachi NED University and Dow University.
WASEEM ABBAS
Karachi
