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.
Women power
The role of women in society has come a long way in recent decades, with women making significant strides in areas such as politics, business and education. Despite this progress, however, there are still many challenges that women face, including gender discrimination and unequal pay.
One way to celebrate women’s achievements and promote equality is to highlight the successes of women in various fields, including science, sports and arts. By showcasing accomplishments of women, we can inspire future generations of girls and women to pursue their dreams and break down barriers. Another way to promote women’s empowerment is to advocate for policies that support women’s rights and address issues such as pay inequality and gender discrimination. By working together to create a more equitable society, we can help ensure that all women have the opportunity to achieve their full potential.
HASAAN ZAFAR
Karachi
Abduction
of children
Every day, children’s are kidnapped. This trend has become more serious with each passing day. Child abduction is an extremely serious social problem. The kidnapper does it just for the sake of money. They threaten parents to harm kids if the ransom is not delivered or they can sell the kids into labour or prostitution. They lure children by giving them intoxicated sweets. Therefore, parents and adults must take good care of their children. There are many ways to prevent child kidnapping such as do not let children play alone outside the house or playground, always hold child’s hand when walking out of the house and always hire maid from trusted agents. Also, do not allow children to play alone outside the house.
Bilawal Langah
Karachi
Street crimes
This is to draw attention to a report on national pages of your newspaper carrying crime- news in the city. The rate at which crime is increasing is quite alarming. Abductions and rapes seem to have become order of the day. It is quite baffling that in spite of security measures taken up by present government, there appears to be no respite. What is more shocking is the fact that these crimes are being committed in broad daylights, particularly robberies. Moreover dowry deaths, which seemed to have come down a year back, are again showing an upward trend.
It is difficult to say who is to be blamed, but definitely police cannot always be at the receiving end. It is high time that like responsible citizens we should try to fight crimes with the help of police. Through column of your newspaper, I would like to appeal to citizens to stand up to this menace and fight it unitedly, rather than become a victim of it.
EMAAN BALOUCH
Karachi
Food insecurity
Last year, owing to terrible monsoon, over 9.4 million acres of cropland was devastated in the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh that are already among the most food insecure regions in the country, reported Samaa TV. According to World Bank, six million people are alarmingly experiencing acute food insecurity due to the devastating floods.
Although, 33 million people have been experiencing food crises due to flood of last year, half of population still waste 36 million tonnes of food every year, according to Pakistan institute of Development Economics (PIDE). We are depreciating the value of food so that there is no blessing in sustenance.
LUCKY SATTAR
Via email,
TV dramas
I want to highlight this topic that affects minds of common people, through which common people learn cultural and moral values. Our Pakistani drama industry is going to decline so much, Indian stories are being shown in our dramas that are against our culture and our society. What our new generation will learn from these plays is that in every other play, the male character is shown as toxic and the female character is shown as oppressed one who silently tolerates it. Why the bitter reality and truth of the society are not shown in our plays. Adnan Siddiqui (Pakistani Actor) once said in an interview that “Of course we can’t make films like India, but they can’t make dramas like ours” and I used to agree on this, but now our dramas show Indian-like stories.
I hope this letter of mine will reach some of the writers who will think about this topic and try to improve Pakistani drama industry and once again show similar stories in Pakistan, which will provide entertainment for the people as well as something good.
FIZA SIKANDAR
Karachi
Decay in moral values
Lack of morality in our country has created lot of chaos and disorders. This is leading to corruption, unemployment, favouritism, poverty, inflation and other social evils. People are willing to do anything to get ahead. Without any moral compass, people have no issue to step on other’s rights and get what they want. Decay in morality is the root of ignorance, deceit, lying, bitterness, hatred and anger. Destruction of our country is on the card if we think we can survive without moral values.
ANNA RAFAQAT
Lahore.
Poor health infrastructure
Pakistan is facing a lot of economic and political challenges. Poor health infrastructure is one of the major contributing reasons for downfall of Pakistan. Every government hospital lacks an average team of doctors, nurses and helpers. There is shortage of educated and professional individuals though number of students graduate every year. The main reason is less availability of medical seats in public sectors. As a result number of students go abroad for education and start working there. There are only 1021 hospitals for population of 235m people in Pakistan. Since these hospitals serve a huge population so they always remain overcrowded. Due to corruption, hospitals lack basic facilities such as beds, water and ambulances. It is time to implement better health facilities to ensure healthy life for every individual.
AIMAN CHAUHDARY
Lahore
Box letter
Malaria outbreak
Sixty percent population of Pakistan lives in malaria-endemic regions where disease of malaria is most often
caused by Plasmodium parasite which result in severe and life-threatening conditions. In Pakistan Plasmodium vivax contributes 81.3% to malaria while P. falciparum adds 14.7% and mixed-species contributes 4% in the malaria. A rise of 3.4 million suspected cases of malaria were noted from January to August 2022 whereas the cases in 2021 were 2.6 million. As a result of malaria, one can feel symptoms such as fever, shaking chills, headache, muscle aches, nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and tiredness. Since there is no specified vaccine for malaria yet still one can prevent malaria by preventing mosquito bites and by taking prescriptive medicine. Government can also help to prevent malaria by providing awareness to malaria through different campaigns and by providing nets to people.
ZAINAB ALI AHMED
Turbat, Balochistan
