Happy New Year, 2023
New Year’s Eve is a joyous festival celebrated all over the world. According to the Gregorian calendar, it marks the start of a new year (which contains 12 months and January 1 is counted as the first day of a new year). People all over the world begin making plans for their New Year’s resolutions and preparations at least one month in advance. New Year, like any other festival, brings joy in the lives of people all over the world, regardless of whether they are Hindus, Muslims or Christians.
New Year is also a time for people to put all of their bad experiences behind and take a positive step into the future. Everyone wishes for their own and their loved ones’ happiness, health, and prosperity in the coming New Year. For children, a new year is incomplete without these three things — a Christmas tree, a New Year’s Eve party with new clothes, and the required New Year’s essay as part of their winter vacation homework. We should welcome the New Year every year with new energy and enthusiasm so that our lives becomes even better. Happy New Year!
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
No Daya for Daya Bheel
Daya is a Sanskrit word meaning mercy. But there was no Daya for Daya Bheel. She was raped to death. Tortured to the core. Persecuted to the fullest. Her chastity was taken away. Her head was smitten and she was beheaded brutally. She was innocent, and went for taking grass for her cattle. But she never returned. Her whole skin was ripped apart. Her breast was cut off, her eyes were chopped off from the sockets and she was mercilessly murdered.
She would have screamed to such an extent that could move mountains but stonehearted people would not have listened to her screams. Everyone would have been numb and dumb. Nobody would have bothered to save her life.
Those inhuman rascals took away her chastity, took away her skin, took away her head, took away her eyes, took away her everything. They left that undressed dead chopped-off body as if she was not even a human being. Those beasts who are behind this brutality must be put behind bars and the law enforcing agencies must make an example out of them as no other Daya dies in such a cold-blooded manner. The rights of minorities must be safeguarded and people behind this brutal act must be persecuted publicly.
SAJJAD CHEEHANI
Agra, Sindh
Initiate deferral programme
All and sundry are very familiar with the recent monstrous flash flood induced by enhancing global crises through the plethora of human activities. The people hit by this flood have yet not managed to overcome the devastation caused by this very crisis; people are yet desperate for proper food, medicine, and shelter. They are hard-pressed to manage the daily-based family expenses while the skyrocketing inflation has been adding more woes to their already appalling life.
Considering the pathetic situation of flash floods, Higher Education Commission (HEC) announced the deferral of two-semester dues for those students who suffered the tribulation of the flood. But to our utmost dismay, there has yet not been any initiative to be galvanized by HEC to take into consideration this very matter of grave concern.
To make the situation more pitiful, the government as well as seems unsupportive and unhelpful to initiate a proper campaign to help support those victims financially and make them recover their ruined and washed-away shelters. If HEC and government do not take immediate steps to spur the initiative of financial assistance and deferral program, flood affectees will ultimately suffer university fines or dropouts from universities.
As the universities are about to end their semesters and start to give semester challan to the students within a few days. On behalf of all flood affectees, I urge the chairman of HEC and the concerned competent authorities to take immediate steps to initiate the deferral program as soon as possible to save the future of students from dystopia.
PEHLAJ KUMAR
Karoondi
Rapists must be accounted
Peshawar High Court’s ruling of freeing a rapist after he married his victim is a tight slap on the face of justice and human rights. The verdict came out preceded by the local Jirga’s facilitation of out-of-court settlement (marriage of the victim and rapist) between the families of the victim and the rapist. This settlement is a clear reflection of the deep-rooted patriarchal mindset of Pakistani society that equates a female victim to her male molester.
Whether it was Safia Bibi, whose rape turned into fornication under the Hadood Ordinance or Mukhtara Mai, who had repaid the cost of what had been done by her brother in the shape of “honour rape”, women were always treated like subjects with no voice and choice. The PHC’s ruling is a step backward in ensuring justice, rather it is considered as a step forward in making the rape culture to be normalized even more lucrative as the criminal act will not cost anything to the offender but will incentivize him in the shape of marriage to his victim.
It is an absurd development, especially in the context of KP where women’s lives are already controlled by their male guardians under the pretext of socio-religious obligations. Another serious issue faced by rape survivors is the social stigma that caused them not to utter a word about the heinous crime that has been committed against them.
ZARQUM GUL
Hyderabad
