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.
A salute to farmers
Agriculture sector employees nearly half of the workforce of the country contributing 18.5% to the GDP. Due to COVID-19 lockdown, the farm sector has begun facing the lockdown heat. Although, government has assured enough availability of food supply especially for millions of families who will be affected more with this nationwide lockdown. But what will happen to those farmers who are depending on returns from Rabi crops that loom ahead? Farmers start harvesting and marketing Rabi crops which are wheat, mustard and pulses. Coronavirus led lockdown has come in as a double blow to farmers as farmers were already dealing with the crop loss due to recent unseasonal rains and hailstorms. Farmers now don’t want to delay harvesting anymore as they want to retain whatever could be saved after extreme weather conditions these days. Although the government has come out with certain advisories and exemptions to help out farmers but the shortage of workers is a big issue. Storage is another big problem being faced by farmers who have already harvested perishable crops as markets are closed. Moreover, any delay in procurement will be problematic as rain can reduce the quality of grains. Farmers had asked the government for compensation but they are yet to receive anything. The need of the hour is to clear the ambiguity first. The government must provide storage facilities to the farmers to save the perishable harvest from getting spoiled. The government could look at procurement the harvest and also extend incentives on staggered procurement. Now on top of that, safety is a priority in the times of coronavirus. The government must treat these farmers who have to harvest to save crops as front line. SAAD UR REHMAN MALIK Bahwalpur
Thalassaemia patients
Through the column of your esteemed newspaper, I want to draw the attention of concerned authorities towards an important issue. Sindh province is under lockdown due to the quick spread of Coronavirus and focus has been on the victims of the virus. On the other hand, this lockdown has impacted thalassaemia patients adversely. Due to this lockdown thalassemia patients have become deprived of routine transfusions due to shortage of blood. A dangerous situation is developing in thalassaemia centres. New blood donors are required immediately as centres are running out of stock. Another reason includes health experts have said that a strong immune system can prevent Coronavirus and people think that donating blood will make them weaker. I appeal to the people to donate blood. It is assured by the centres that blood donations will be taken with proper precaution under these circumstances and ambulance will also be sent to the donor’s residence to collect blood. The government is also requested to take notice of the problem promptly. SAEED ANWAR Sargodha
Covid-19 and Imran Khan
The way PM Imran Khan is coping with Coronavirus is worth noting. COVID-19 is a threat to humanity, (worst pandemic since 1918, when the Spanish flu killed 5 million people) and should have been seen as such, but some countries and leaders placed the wellbeing of their economy and other concerns above their citizens’ health — with disastrous results. If their thinking had been different towards their societies- saving human lives instead of their economies the situation would have been quite different. The global death toll has crossed the 100,000 mark. Till mid-April, Pakistan faced 61,400 tests 4,970 Corona cases with a little over 100 deaths. These figures could rise (God F0rbid) to 70,000 cases and 700 deaths by end-April, if precautionary measures announced by IK Government are not enforced. We are facing a severe shortage of medical facilities for Corona cases in hospitals, both public and private. Balochistan is the worst hit where doctors and medical staff face shortage of PPEs. PM’s Special Assistant on Health, Dr. Zafar Mirza and NDMA are doing a commendable job in fighting the Corona monster. Containment had to come through lockdowns and similar measures as was evident in China’s success (3,300 deaths after 8 weeks lock-down). Pakistan can learn from the Chinese experience and the general public should cooperate with the Sindh and Federal governments if they want to defeat this virus. Imran Khan took a sensible decision by partial lockdown and also helping the millions of daily-wagers and people living below the povertyline through Ehsas Programme. SAAD BHATTY Islamabad
Constructive criticism
The rise of criticism culture in the past few years is showing that awareness in society regarding their rights and liabilities is increasing. With the advent of information technology, one can search any kind of information in no time but that doesn’t make anyone fully equipped with related knowledge in each aspect to criticize, until it was researched comprehensively and systematically coupled with cultural contextualization. We should learn to welcome contrasting opinions from different sources instead of mudslinging on individuals having contradictory opinions. It will lead to constructive criticism. For this purpose, we must follow some facts; you can either approve or disapprove a phenomenon. On which of the provided ideas do you agree or up to which extent you disagree on an argument. Give reasons for agreement and disagreement to an idea. What will you suggest for the improvement of the criticized points? Recommend alternative ways for achieving objectives of a phenomenon. If the people who pursue an agenda do not give up, then what should be done by the rest of community of pursuing the same phenomenon at correct way? What should we do before criticizing a specific group for wrong doings? Such criticism would help improve knowledge instead of personalities. Every phenomenon can be multidimensional but we are supposed to give strong evidence in the support of our arguments. Winston Churchill said, “Criticism may not be agreeable, but it is necessary. It fulfils the same function as pain in the human body; it calls attention to the development of an unhealthy state of things. If it is heeded in time, danger may be averted; if it is suppressed, a fatal distemper may develop.” RABEEA IJAZ Faisalabad
Together as a nation
As a nation we fight Coronavirus and we are determined to fight it till its end. We should take precautionary measures to safeguard ourselves/others from this menace. Corona virus has overwhelmed the entire world and done an enormous damage {people+property), but in Pakistan the attack is comparatively low. Government has remarkably handled this enemy of human beings, but it is pointed out with regret that the people are not taking it seriously, as they should. One individual cannot change the situation, the whole nation has to work together to overcome any challenge. Armed forces also play an important role in this situation and are fully at the back of the civilian government under the dynamic leadership of PM Khan. Good initiative taken by the PTI government to make a tiger force and the purpose of this tiger force is to find out the poor families from every corner and provide them necessary items of daily use. Through Ehsaas Program the money is also being provided to poor families in this hard time, and this is very excellent initiative of the PTI government. In lockdown situation, people should stay indoors and spend time with their families. Students should utilize these days in productive work and build a healthy environment in home like reading novels, books and write articles etc. On the other hand, make sure we should take care of our health and our beloved ones’ health as well. No need to create any sort of panic publicly because any panic at this stage can create fear in minds of the people. ABDUL WADOOD Lahore
