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.
Existential economic threats
Pakistan today faces horrendous economic crisis, where State is forced to seek foreign and domestic debts, not for investment in socio-economic development projects, but paying fabulous salaries, pension and perks to its paid employees, both civil and uniformed. We need to revisit burden of salary allocation, instead of salary raise and learn to live within our means. It is the economy which sustains national security and sovereignty and not vice versa.
We have witnessed collapse of the (erstwhile) Soviet Union, which militarily matched in terms of ammunition and nuclear capability, combined strength of US and NATO, but failed to achieve pace of economic progress vital to cater for masses’ welfare. For the sake of posterity and protecting life and honour of citizens of Pakistan, from known threats and nefarious designs of our arch enemy – India – which has never accepted our existence, Pakistan and its stakeholders must rise to need of hour.
It is an established fact that impact of salaries, expenses and extravagance incurred by Government of Pakistan and various state organs far exceed our total revenues, driving this country towards technical insolvency. Salaries and perks initiated by Musharraf and his PM Shaukat Aziz and others, who have been at the helm thereafter, have become a burden on this nation. There is no rationale in wide gap in pay structure and remuneration of our highly qualified professionals and specialists in science, health, technology, education, economics etc and paid civil and uniformed employees, which hastens brain drain.
For a country like Pakistan foreign loans should only be procured for investment in vital infrastructure such as dams, health, education and research with absolutely not even a penny for salary raise. Sanity must prevail before it is too late and we become so bankrupt that our vital nuclear deterrence may be compromised.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Easing lockdown
On Thursday, Prime Minister Imran Khan announced a gradual exit from the nationwide lockdown despite a surging number of coronavirus cases in the country. According to the notification, all major shopping malls and educational institutions in Punjab will remain closed. However, barbershops, beauty parlors and gymnasiums are allowed to open for four days a week. All grocery stores, tandoors and general stores will remain open from 9am to 5pm.
The easing of the lockdown comes with many across the country already openly flouting its restrictions and gathering in public, especially during the evenings as people celebrate the holy month of Ramadan. Last month, authorities buckled under pressure from religious groups ahead of Ramadan and allowed mosques to hold daily prayers and evening congregations after clerics promised to instruct religious leaders to clean their facilities regularly.
Thousands of shoppers have also thronged popular markets, including many without wearing protective gear, to buy food for the evening iftar meal that celebrates the end of each day’s fasting. Infections have been rising steadily as testing has increased, with over 25,000 cases recorded in the nation of over 210 million.
ALI KHAN
Islamabad
The 18th Amendment
The 18th Amendment is one of the biggest triumphs on the way to have a decentralized government in Pakistan. It gives the provinces the authority over their resources. The corrupt elements which benefit from unequal allocation of resources have always rejected the ideal of the amendment.
The Amendment leaves a little space for the state to manage the public money and would allow the provinces to manage their affairs according to their required democratic management, rather than getting dictated by the Centre.
The Amendment would also open the window for the provincial legislation of the local government. It makes it possible to come up with the framework that devolves power to all levels so that individuals of every stripe can have a say in the matters and policies affecting them, which would make politicians and policymakers formulate policies to serve public interests rather than for personal benefits.
NOSHEEN KHAYYAM
Rawalpindi
Islamophobia in India
This is with reference to Indian media is propagating that a foreign security agency is behind growing trend of spoiling India’s image in the Gulf countries. But in reality Twitter account of Omani Princess is real and not fake. It is important to note that Omani princess criticized Indian government on shameful treatment of Muslims while highlight that one million Indian expatriates are treated nicely by Oman. Princess Hend shared screenshots of tweets by someone called Saurabh Upadhyay whose account has since deactivated.
The inflammatory remarks in question were made between the expat and another user over a religious gathering in New Delhi in March involving the Tablighi Jamaat, which allegedly led to an increase in the number of Coronavirus cases in India. On the other hand, Canada fires an Indian expat for stoking Islamophobia. Indian expat named Ravi Hooda lost his job for his anti-Muslim social media post. Canada has even terminated his employment contract.
In BJP ruled India, there has been an increase in anti-Muslim sentiment, including the maligning of Muslims for the spread of Covid-19. Following condemnation by the Permanent Human Rights Commission (IPHRC), the human rights body of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who was awarded the UAE’s highest civilian award, the Order of Zayed, last year, tweeted that India will now wage a unified battle against the virus.
ANZA KANWAL
Rawalpindi
