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.
Rule of law
PTI Chief Imran Khan is getting deeper into trouble for a political leader who made the rule of law one of the slogans of forming his party. While no one denies that he has every right to use all legal remedies and forums to avert injustice, the spectacle of him avoiding arrest does not present an edifying spectacle.
Even if one were to accept his argument that the charges against him are political persecution, it still does not explain why he has refused to appear before the trial court in the Tosha Khana case, where he is supposed to hear the indictment read out against him. Instead of surrendering to the court, so that presumably he can expose the charges for the falsehoods he claims they are, he has chosen to hide from the police party sent to arrest him. His own political opponents, during his stint in office, also claimed that the charges against them were politically motivated, but duly surrendered to the authorities which came to arrest them.
The law should be upheld for each and every citizen without discretion. There is also a dangerous trend observed while the party’s workers are being used to create hurdles in the way of implication of law. A caretaker government is supposed to be neutral. However principles of impartiality and neutrality should be followed by all concerned courts and law enforcing authorities.
MUNAWAR SIDDIQUI
Lahore
Gas shortage
This letter intends to draw attention towards load shedding of gas in Karachi. The whole country experiences a serious gas shortage during winter season. The residents of Manzoor Colony constantly face shortage of gas.
Even without supplies, every person pays their utility bills on time. I question why do we pay bills but lack supplies. Purchasing LPG cylinders for regular cooking is expensive, bad and dangerous to have it around the house. People continue to experience a gas shortage because government keeps them in dark regarding availability of gas. Instead of not delivering gas for entire day, residents should be provided a schedule for it.
RABIQA
Karachi
Bottled water
Quality of drinking water is no longer a secret and every renowned bottled company do affix a label on bottles for customer satisfaction. Lately, I read details on labels. The information provided by company is inadequate and unsatisfactory because standard concentration of minerals was not mentioned.
National drinking water quality standard (NDWQS) does provide guideline for hardness of safe drinking water i.e. 500 ppm. Hardness in water is due to presence of calcium and magnesium ions. Aquafina drinking water bottle label neither provides information about hardness nor calcium ions. In addition to that, concentration of sodium is very important for hypertension patient. If sodium is at level or above 20 ppm, this water is not fit for those people who follow sodium-restricted diet. Specification of sodium ion, as per limit of label is 5-48 ppm. Such wide range of sodium is beyond comprehension! This concentration may have adverse impact on the health of hypertension patient. Concerned authorities must take some concrete measures and increase awareness of water related quality standards at any suitable platform. There is dire need of this action, because people purchase bottled water in the hope of safe drinking water, however in reality they do not get what they deserve -even after buying bottled water.
ENGR KOUSER
Karachi
Destined to dystopia
With demography having more loyalty to their cultural region than to the state, and decades of dictatorship, inconsistency, incompetency and instability at their height, Pakistan seems to crawl to utopia while it is destined to dystopia. What lets systematic irregularities prevail is the gravitational pull of rhetoric, bargain, a utopian society dream, and carrot-and-stick modus operandi.
Pakistan, no doubt, is an ungovernable space with the above salt elite mastering on robbing public needs, wants, expectations and imaginations and forcefully altering vox populi of impoverished, volatile and splintering masses. Missing civilian supremacy, dysfunctional democracy and no room for the public taking part in framing policies that may later serve good are missing elements why calling Pakistan a functional democracy is a farcical.
An unstable political landscape with a feudalistic touch has perfectly played a role in worsening public plight. Pakistan, along with political instability, and intermittent military coups, has also suffered under the heel of feudalism. Basically, it has been a quid pro quo for feudal lords and political elements to travel together, especially for the vote bank. Perhaps, it is one of the few reasons why EVMs are still out of the election procedure.
One of the many elite-sponsored agonies is that the marginalized masses are limited to mud huts, let alone the baked bricks building luxury. Seen through the prism of seven decades, this country seems of the elite for the elite. If one of the elements the elite class enjoy i.e. power, protocol, perks privilege, position, facilities, fuels and foreign trips is escaped, that is of a great substitution for the underprivileged portion.
INSAF ALI BANGWAR
Kandhkot
Enforced disappearance
The issue of missing persons in Baluchistan remains a pressing concern for human rights advocates and the families of the disappeared. The province has been grappling with the issue of enforced disappearance for years.
The families of the missing persons have been protesting for years, demanding justice and the safe return of their loved ones. Unfortunately, their pleas have largely fallen on deaf ears, with the authorities failing to take concrete steps to address the issue.
The Pakistani government has a responsibility to investigate the case of missing persons and ensure that those responsible for their disappearance are held accountable. The government must take steps to prevent further cases of enforced disappearance and ensure that the rule of law prevails in Balochistan.
ZAHEER AHMED
Islamabad
