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.
Kartarpur Corridor
Pakistan is set to complete the work on Kartarpur corridor before November in time for the 550th birth anniversary of Sikhism founder Baba Guru Nanak .This should be quite clear that on November 28 last year PM Imran Khan had performed the ground-breaking ceremony of Kartarpur Corridor in order to allow the Sikhs for visiting the shrine in Pakistan. Hence, Pakistan is working quickly on the corridor, especially for upcoming birth anniversary of Baba Guru Nanak.
However, the purpose of opening Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur is to tell the world that Pakistan stands on the side of peace, no matter in what condition it itself is. Moreover, Pakistan will take all possible efforts for providing the Indian pilgrims an easy access to the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib Kartarpur where Baba Guru had spent 18 years. Finally, Pakistan welcomes the Sikhs to visit the shrine of Gurdwara Darbar and Pakistani nation really appreciates PM Imran Khan who is working hard to present Pakistan a peace loving country as he did at the 74th session of UN General Assembly.
GM BALOCH
Absor, Turbat
Expert guidance
The current state of career counselling in our educational institutions in the light of global trends – academic and economic – and in terms of our local history and current economic climate in Naya Pakistan is dismal. All enlightened individuals lament over this discouraging state of affairs. After passing Metric or Intermediate, more or less all students often get confused to take a right decision about their career because a wide majority of parents have neither proper information nor adequate exposure to the emerging trends, scope and utility of a degree.
So far, I have come across several students even in the degree of medical science (MBBS) and engineering, among other disciplines whose first choice was not that very subject, but their parents and social pressures forced them to get admission in that field. So much so many professionals who are working with various organizations, they feel like a fish out of water because they are not comfortable in that very field. It is noticed that a wrong decision sometimes on the part of the parents and sometimes by students themselves, ruins their whole life as we see in our society nowadays.
It is also a commonplace observation that despite having degrees – graduate and postgraduate – many degree holders and in some cases even PhDs don’t know an ABC of that very subject. Most of our youths are receiving education without any aim or clear target in their mind and our varsities are producing an army of ‘misfits’ or “just degree holders.”
Education is a process in which and by which the knowledge, character and behaviour of the human beings are shaped and moulded. Aristotle once said, “Education is process of creation of sound mind in a sound body” whereas Pestalozzi said, “Education is a natural, progressive and systematic development of all the forces.”
HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad
Namrata’s death
It has been nearly more than a week since Namrata, a final year student at Bibi Aseefa Dental College, Larkana was found dead in her hostel room. Virtually, it seemed suicide case but later on the deceased’s brother termed it a murder. The news of her death soon took the social media by storm, where netizens, from all walks of life, began to pour in their sympathies with the bereaved family and demanded justice for Namrata. In addition, people also held protests in Sindh’s various cities namely Larkana, Ghotki, Shikarpur and Karachi in order to demand arrest of those allegedly involved in the killing of the innocent girl.
The death of Nimrita has created a fresh wave of unrest in the minority community which, just a few days ago, experienced Ghotki incident. The members of the Hindu Community regard the incident as a targeted act against them. Regrettably, despite so much hue and cry, no major headway in Namrata’s death case seems to have taken place. The family of the deceased awaits justice. Therefore, the Sindh Government is requested to expedite its efforts to provide justice to the bereaved family and allay concerns of the minority community(ies).
ALI ASGHAR KHUHAWAR
Qambar-Shahdadkot, Sindh
RIP Viju Khote
Viju Khote who died in his sleep on September 30, 2019 due to old age, was a veteran Indian theatre and film actor. He was best known for his roles of Kalia in ‘Sholay’ and Robert in ‘Andaz Apna Apna’. He appeared in over 400 Hindi and Marathi films, and also numerous television shows like ‘Zabaan Sambhalke’ and plays. He made his screen debut with the 1964 Marathi film ‘Ya Malak’ and went on to do the most iconic characters in Bollywood. He was the younger brother of actress Shubha Khote.
His father Nandu Khote was a noted stage actor and actress Durga Khote was his aunt. He was last seen in the 2018 Bollywood movie ‘Jaane Kyun De Yaaron’. He will be remembered by the Bollywood film industry for the sweet roles he played in films. May God rest his soul in peace and take him into his kingdom.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
IMF impressions
For a number of days, a senior delegation from the International Monetary Fund, consisting of a Director and the mission chief, made the rounds in Islamabad and Karachi, gathering impressions of how the implementation of the IMF programme has been going thus far. They met government leaders and opposition politicians as well as the State Bank leadership, business stakeholders and the media. After their round of meetings, Mr Jihad Azour, the Director of the Middle East Department of the IMF, told media persons that the programme is “off to a good start”. This assurance alone is important because it should allay speculation that the visit was some sort of an emergency went due to slippages in meeting the targets.
The team was clear that a formal review is scheduled for the end of October or early November with the exact dates yet to be finalised, and that is far too soon to start evaluating the programme’s success or failure. The most fundamental message of the team was for authorities in Pakistan to stay the course; meanwhile, it was conveyed to the business elite and larger populace that without going through a difficult process of adjustment, the economy would not improve. This much is fine. But the team also made some observations that merit further comment.
In their assessment, there is a strong commitment to the programme and the reforms targets envisaged in it at the topmost levels of the government. Mr Azour even said that the PM Khan himself, whom he has met three times already, is very committed to the programme. We hope this is true, since sticking to a path of reform and not making further about-turns is important. Besides, Pakistan has little choice at this point in time but to continue and earn the Fund’s seal approval after the review, because meeting the Fund’s targets depends — crucially — on unlocking a large quantity of other financial assistance.
SIKANDAR SAJJAD
Larkana
