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.
Comedy of lethal errors
The state should have exercised restraint when rangers were called to aid NAB for serving a summon for physical remand of former PM. They should have been more discreet in arresting Imran Khan while he was carrying out his biometric checks in a room within premises of Islamabad HC.
There are several precedents where ordinary citizens, perhaps children of lesser gods, have been arrested within court premises when they step out of a courtroom. This being a high-profile media covered event, care should have been exercised. However, it is equally more disturbing that an accused in protective custody was facilitated to give several interviews to foreign media within courtroom, where he accuses the sitting army chief without providing any evidence.
We have a tarnished judicial history starting from 1955 onwards. Perhaps, years of political engineering carried out by the nexus of establishment and judiciary which started in 1955 when Justice Munir regularized illegal dissolution of NA citing Doctrine of Necessity, still reverberates at intervals. Several elected PM have been de-seated, and incarcerated behind bars and even in one case a judicial murder carried out. It would have been in the fitness of things that the Judiciary should have officially extended unconditional apology and revisited these gross irregularities.
The Constitution of Pakistan requires the paid civil-cum-uniformed bureaucracy and judiciary to be apolitical and seen to be as such. It creates doubts in the minds of citizens that a select group of judges hear a series of political cases, where judgments are given against a particular political group and being over accommodating to another. Propriety demanded that a full court comprising senior most judges should have heard these high-profile cases in the interest of justice.
Cherry picking junior judges and bypassing those senior to them, including sitting CJ of HCs for elevation to SCP raises eyebrows. This has been going on for decades. We have witnessed several former PMs and a President under NAB custody being brought to court in police vans. Questions arise when the registrar gets involved that an individual former PM be provided a VVIP Mercedes limousine. This must stop because it violates the letter and spirit of the Constitution.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Kashmir issue
The Kashmir conflict is a long-standing dispute between India and Pakistan over the region of Jammu and Kashmir. This conflict dates back to the partition of India in 1947, when the majority-Muslim region of Kashmir was ruled by a Hindu Maharaja. The Maharaja illegally chose to join India, but Pakistan contested this decision and the two countries have been in conflict over the region ever since.
The conflict has had a profound impact on the people of Kashmir, who have suffered from violence, human rights abuses and political instability for decades. The region has been the site of armed conflict between Indian security forces and militant groups seeking independence or union with Pakistan.
One of the main issues in the conflict is the status of Kashmir. India and Pakistan both claim sovereignty over the region, and have controlled different parts of it since 1947. India occupies the majority of the state as the union territory of Jammu and Kashmir, while Pakistan controls a smaller portion of the region known as Azad Jammu and Kashmir. The Kashmir conflict has had a devastating impact on the people of the region. Tens of thousands of people have died in the conflict, including civilians, militants and security personnel. The conflict has also led to a significant displacement of people, with many Kashmiris being forced to flee their homes due to the violence.
HUMAYUN KAKAR
Karachi
Never-ending drama & suffering
There is not a single individual in any political party who is eager to end the never-ending drama that we have been witnessing since 2018. We witnessed the arrest and harassment of opposition party leaders during the PTI Administration in the form of NAB charges, and we are now witnessing it happening to PTI politicians under the PDM Administration.
Millions of Pakistanis are now living below the poverty line due to floods, the economy’s continued decline, and global food and energy inflation, but none of the politicians are willing to put an end to this poisonous theatre and concentrate on helping the people they were elected to represent. And this ugly drama goes on with each new administration. In order to maintain or regain power, politicians are prepared to exacerbate polarization in the nation and to sow civil instability.
However, nobody, absolutely nobody, appears to be motivated to act to end the horrific poverty that millions have been pushed into over the past year or the national economic and financial crisis. Nobody is acting or even engaging in small chat to carry out any meaningful work to win the support of the voters they pledge to represent. Every Pakistani with a modicum of common sense finds the political and economic situation to be, to put it mildly, depressing.
BISMA SHAIKH
Via email
Load-shedding
Through the columns of your esteemed daily, I want to express my concern about frequent breakdowns of electricity in Keamari (Karachi West). I live in the local and the side area of Karachi. The power supply in this area is very poor. The electricity is not available for almost ten hours a day and even the hours are also extended for days. The breakdown of electricity also happens once in a month. The people of this locality seem to face problems. The hours of load shedding are odds, even in the middle of the night. Students face difficulties in their studies which puts a huge impact on their educational activities. The number of midnight robberies and other crimes are also increasing. This whole locality is immersed in darkness soon after sunset. It is hoped that this piece of mine would bring some positive change in the area for which the entire locality would be grateful to the authorities concerned.
A WAHAB
Karachi
