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.
PML-N’s Achilles heel
It is time that everyone in Pakistan must change, which includes the paid establishment and all major political leaders, including PMLN, PTI, PPP, JUI etc. Where else in the world do national level politicians, or those paid to head sensitive state funded institutions, when not in power, live abroad with their families?
This was definitely not in the scheme of things and the reason why Quaid waged the constitutional struggle for our independence. There is no ambiguity that MAJ promised the people a modern democratic welfare state with a constitution as supreme law, on which the edifice of our state was to be built. We failed MAJ and have suffered.
Change we all must, before it is too late, lest the wrath of angry masses create chaos and irreparable damage is done. This everybody, including citizens of Pakistan must realize. They need to exercise their right of vote on merit and not be hostage to their baradari bondages, ethnicity or sectarian biases and rise up to face the challenge that confronts Pakistan. The destiny and fate of over 225 million citizens and our future generations is at stake.
The gravity of the financial crisis Pakistan faces and which PDM stood up to change requires collective wisdom of best economists that this country has, irrespective of their political affiliations. Choice of Ishaq Dar is likely to be proverbial Achilles Heel for PMLN and they may face the backlash in next elections. As it is PDM inherited the country in a grave economic crisis, on the brink of collapse, and were expected to look beyond their kith and kin.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Plastic pollution
Out of the material, which can’t be decomposed, one is plastic. The word plastic is derived from the Greek word PLASTIKOS meaning “ability to be shaped or moulded into different shapes”. It does not bury in soil or water and its effect is even worse when it is burned. It is threatening to people and also for marine life or crops.
Plastic pollution has emerged as the most grievous problem not only in Pakistan but worldwide. People use plastic bags, bottles and plates and throw them outside without thinking about its disastrous effects. Plastic bags and other plastic items when thrown into the sea or on beaches become the source of blockage of oxygen as they form a layer on the surface of water and due to insufficient supply of oxygen the death of marine life occurs.
Some animals also ingest plastic bags due to which blockage occurs and they die. Plastic pollution can alter habitat and can also badly affect ecosystem. Human beings become prey to diseases like obesity, infertility, brain issues, diabetes and dermatitis. The rate of garbage disposal is directly proportional to the population. As the population is increasing rapidly, so the pollution is.
Plastic takes almost 400 years to decay. In Pakistan, 250 million tons of garbage primarily consists of plastic bags, bottles and food scraps. It is reckoned that food wrappers and containers produce nearly 31.35% of pollution, plastic bags 11.18%, straw and stirrers 8.13% and beverage bottles cause 7.27% pollution in the environment.
According to the UN, 80% of oceanic pollution comes from land and it contains million tons of plastic waste each year which unfortunately causes death to almost 1 million and 0.1 million of sea birds and mammals.
Pakistan ranks 6th in the world and 3rd in Asia among plastic waste generators. The country uses 55 billion plastic bags annually; and if not controlled, it would do great harm not only to humans but other species as well, therefore, responsible authorities must take tangible action to control it.
SYEDA DUA-E-ZAHRA
Kasur
Lost status
Islamic teachings reveal that man has been made by Allah Almighty himself and has been bestowed the highest status amongst all the creatures. Even Jinnat and Angels were asked to bow down before human being. Such a high status a man keeps but, the current situation shows the other picture of the best creature where there is no respect for fellow human beings.
Recent studies show that the world is filled with many such incidents which paved the way towards the lost status of man in this world. There have been many incidents like Zainab from Kasur, Motorway incident and the incident of Muzzafargarh but the recent incident of F-9 Park Islamabad and Peshawar masjid attack clearly show that the man has lost its status of being the best creature.
F-9 Park incident has left the nation shocked where a girl was raped by two men on gunpoint and then left without clothes. The girl kept on pleasing the men but they didn’t lend any hear to her, even she offered some amount in exchange for her safety but ALAS! They were not having any mercy on her. These types of incidents will encourage the very low grade people if timely actions are not taken to stop them. There is a dire need to revive the very lost status of human beings.
Holy Prophet SAW has addressed in his last sermon that all are equal in the eyes of Allah. Therefore, each and everyone must be respected in this miserable world. If this doesn’t stop, people will not be safe in their own houses.
SHAHZAD PANHWAR
Sukkur
Box letter
Social media
Do we ever make an effort to lift our head from our cell phone and know who is sitting beside us? We all are together but miles away. Social media intrigues us. It allows us to interrelate with people of our heed but also becomes a catalyst for losing relations. Can we recall when we last sat with our family without a phone? We have many friends on social media but with how many we interact? There are some whom we never meet in real life and some do not even speak our language. Social media is changing our lifestyle from the way we get news to the way we link with each other.We do all our campaigns and protest on social media. We are shifting to slacktivism and minimising our way of interaction. We favour texting rather than conversation or meet-up. According to the Global Web Index, we spend an average two hours on social media which is increasing at the rate of two minutes per day. Spending lots of time on social media detaches us from the real world.
It provides bit-sized addictive chunks of recognition in the form likes, followers, points, streaks and comments.Besides, it provokes a sense of comparison and insecurity, we take seventy selfies just to post one and wait for the right time to post. Many of us suffer from anxiety, depression and phantom vibration syndrome because of competition on social media. So we may not stop using it but we can cut back on it. Let’s disconnect to connect again.
MUEEZA KHURRAM
Lahore.
