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.
Final card played
November 26 was supposed to be the PTI’s day of revolution. It’s safe to say that, while there was no storm of violence, no call to march to Islamabad, but it was a surprise for PTI’s activists. Making a public appearance in person after a mysterious attack in Wazirabad, an ambiguous announcement was made that the PTI would be ‘leaving’ all assemblies. What that means exactly is as yet unclear.
Going by their history, political observers are within their right to expect a U-turn. Instead of resorting to yet another conspiracy, he has come out with what may well be his last possible card. The threat to leave all assemblies, after already having resigned from the National Assembly, can be looked at as another abortive attempt to create uncertainty and chaos in the country. Instead of meaningful dialogue with the government which came to power through a democratic move, IK tried to pressurize Establishment to fulfil his demand for early elections.
The IM Rana Sanaullah invited Khan for talks but it seems he is in no mood to resolve this political deadlock till he gets the holy grail he is after: early elections. It would be surprising if the government bowed to this move, regardless of how difficult it may be to manage new elections in recent post flood disaster. Thousands of flood affectees are lying under sky waiting for help.
The present critical economic situation of the country is also not in a position to bear heavy expenses to hold early elections. IK’s new playing card is only a face-saving gesture in the face of defeat on almost everything the party had been banking on. Now Imran Khan has missed the train. He dismayed his workers and lost his credibility in public as well by abandoning his vociferous stand on early elections.
MUNAWAR SIDDIQUI
Lahore
Army’s help
When a natural catastrophe strikes Pakistan, the country’s military forces have always provided major aid and responded responsibly in severe circumstances to help people in need. This is especially relevant in the context of the current flood conditions which have caused devastation in practically all the nation’s regions.
The enormous fatal floods and unusual monsoon rains that began in June this year wrecked lives, livelihoods and infrastructure across Pakistan, submerging one-third of the nation.
The army chief, Gen Bajwa, pledges to make every effort to aid those affected by the floods. He made the call to use all resources at hand to help the civil administration rescue, relieve and rebuild people’s homes and other infrastructure in flood-affected regions. All general officers in the Army contributed one month’s pay to support the victims.
The country’s defence forces distributed rations locally and set up medical camps that have been treating and administering medication to flood victims. COAS also visited the flood-affected regions of Sindh, Balochistan, KP and Punjab and assessed relief efforts there.
It is notable that General Bajwa repeatedly visited Sindh’s flood-affected districts and pleaded with the public to give generously to the flood victims. In his interaction with the residents, General Bajwa assured them that the Pakistan Army will continue to assist in easing their suffering until they had received proper rehabilitation.
Gen Bajwa recently inaugurated a pre-fabricated village constructed for the flood-affected people who lost their homes in Lasbela, Balochistan. He assured that the Pakistan Army will continue all-out efforts to expedite the rehabilitation of the flood victims being undertaken with the support of federal and provincial governments.
MUHAMMAD TAYYAB
Islamabad
Dysfunctional labs
Dysfunctional science laboratories or their non-existence at our educational institutions can easily predict the trajectory of our research and development in the field of science. It’s hard to digest how science subjects are taught by separating theory from experiments.
Science is simply defined in layman terms as observation of the surrounding environment, and discover the hidden or lost laws of nature. And how is it possible to make the most of the teaching of science without inculcating spirit of empiricism and research in science education?
Our students who study science as a major subject don’t know anything of Archimides’ eureka moments and serendipitous flashes across the landscape of their reasoning faculty. At our educational institutions science labs are very rarely resorted to explain experimentally the theory of various scientific laws and principles. Consequently, students don’t even know the names of apparatus and tools used in experiments. Then as a cover-up machination, rote learning becomes quite a handy tool to top the educational grades at school and college levels. Consequently, students are deprived of hands-on experience, a prerequisite for the study of science.
It’s no rocket science to trace where all this rot starts. In the beginning, the lack of funds to provide a fully equipped laboratory to an educational institution, discouraged management and teachers from using the lab fully to its potential. Then with the mushroom emergence of small schools at every nook and corner to cater to the educational needs of ever increasing population, devalued the provision of science labs. Even the concerned authorities who issue these institutions registration or affiliation certificates, guillotine the significance of science labs by not raising objection to their absence or under-equipment.
M NADEEM NADIR
Kasur
