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.
Highlighting the issue of child labor
Through the column of your esteemed newspaper, I would like to bring into the notice of concerned authorities to the child labour that has become one of the main social issues in our country, especially in populated areas as in Lahore.
As the poverty, unemployment, overpopulation and illiteracy rates are increasing in our country, most of the children from rural areas and slums are sent out of their houses to earn for their families. Many industries in our country require children as employees. How devastating this is for our country that the children who are the future of our country, are struggling for their survival in this society instead of going to school for education.
The government should take action against those industries and workplaces where children are hired as employees, and to eliminate the worst forms of child labour in the rural economy. Moreover, proper and better education facilities should be provided for poor kids, as, Nelson Mandela, said, ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world’.
HAFSA ZOHA
Lahore
Not ‘sanskari’
Sometimes, I get disturbed by the so-called ‘sanskari’ people who have issues with Valentine’s Day celebrations without even understanding what it stands for. One of those so-called sanskari persons, who tried to create ill-feelings about this day, is actually in jail now on charges of rape.
True love does not require extreme levels of Public Display of Affection (PDA) which sometimes go over the top now-a-days (and are often faked). But Valentine’s Day actually honours a true ‘sanskari’; it honours a man who stood by his validity of marriage during times when casual sex was often happening in the Roman Empire.
It was during the time of the Roman Empire that a certain Caesar (common name for the dynasty) felt that men who got married became effeminate and did not want to fight. He felt that those feelings made men mushy headed and incapable of being warriors. He commanded that none of his soldiers should get married during service. He also said that you ‘need not get married to have sex’. Every soldier was given legal rights to choose any woman he desired and he could have sex with her. There were no restrictions on the number of women the men wanted.
Valentine was a Christian priest who did not approve of this. He quietly allowed the soldiers to get married and blessed their marriages. The Emperor heard about this and had Valentine executed for treason. Valentine’s Day thus honours the sacredness of marriage and the place for true love is in marriage. In honour of his heroic death, the Pope declared that February 14th would thenceforth commemorate the soft-hearted St. Valentine. Today, Valentine’s Day has become an iconic day for celebrating love and spending a lot of money on various gifts for our loved ones.
JUBEL D’CRUZ
Mumbai, India
Great decision to join UNHRC
It takes at least two hands to clap as a gesture of appreciation. But those two hands are not good enough to praise the Biden Administration in the USA. As of today, American President Joe Biden and his team have been on the action spree, taking serious steps to reverse all those ill-conceived strategies from the previous Trump regime.
No doubt such good deeds need the media attention apart from deserving appreciation, the decision to re-engage with the United Nations Human Rights Council being the latest. Here the Biden team’s penchant for a string of multilateral activities deserves special attention.
Globally, the good deeds and decisions should be met with welcome gestures. There is no need painting them all differently. Also, the teams concerned like the one led by Biden should always tread cautiously trying to use those good deeds to send strong yet positive messages at the world stage. In the process of envisioning good strategies, the Biden team should not be taken for granted.
In fact, the human rights abuses have been omni-present, crying for serious attention. A good number of years down the road, I have been able to still see the homeless people around in open areas in my various workstations like Hyderabad, Bangalore, Coimbatore and Mumbai. Yet again, those people are all highly skilled to showcase their art of handicrafts. I have been seeing those people selling their hand-made stuff as employment in my native areas like Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu. I am sure they, if migrated and settled down properly, will attain their social status.
Similarly, the Biden team’s attention to the social factors like equality, humanity and, above all, democracy is something worthy of appreciation and emulation by others. Way to go forward indeed!
To conclude, the so-called charges of lackadaisical attitude and other accusations rampant on the Geneva-based Council should be looked into sincerely. Starting now, much more good things will emerge from the UNHRC with the presence of mature and sincere regimes like the Biden Administration.
P SENTHIL S DURAI
Mumbai
Fatal accidents
The Quetta-Karachi highway is the deadliest route which causes more fatalities than terrorism in Balochistan. Approximately, 4000 people lost their life on this route, compared to 2,238 people killed in terrorist attacks in the province during the last decade. It is an enormous supply route which connects Pakistan’s largest city Karachi to Chaman bordering Afghanistan. Because of being commercial route, it is a busy road that goes through 10 major cities of the province and is also known locally as a killer road.
Additionally, Balochistan is a key route of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project which was signed in 2014 between the two countries and it includes train-lines and road infrastructure. Political leadership is requested to please widen the Quetta-Karachi highway. If this single road is doubled, it might bring the number of casualties a bit down apart from prosperity to the province
MEER AFZAL
Hub, Balochistan
Future of
US-Taliban peace deal
It’s been almost twenty years since the invasion of Afghanistan and the toppling of the Taliban regime by the United States and its allies. A peace agreement, now popularly known as the US-Taliban Peace Deal, was signed by the US government and the Taliban on February 29, 2020, after more than a year of direct negotiations to end the war in Afghanistan which has turned out to be the longest war in the history of the United States.
The deal is basically a timeline for the withdrawal of the US forces from Afghanistan. Under the deal, the US will draw down its forces to approximately 8,500 troops within 135 days and complete a full withdrawal within fourteen months. In return, the Taliban pledged to prevent territory under their control from being used by terrorist groups and enter into negotiations with the Afghan government in March 2020.” Interestingly, it’s been seen as one of the most significant events of Donald Trump’s presidency; it definitely yielded him a lot of talking points during his presidential debates and electioneering.
Not lagging behind the suit was soon followed by his prime contender and, in one of his pre-election campaign essays, “Why America Must Lead Again: Rescuing U.S. Foreign Policy After Trump” published in March/April 2020 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Democratic presidential candidate, Joseph R. Biden, Jr. popularly known as Joe Biden – who has recently won one of the most controversial elections of American history against Donald Trump – had also alluded towards ending [America’s] unending wars in Afghanistan and the Middle East, which have, according to him, cost the United States “untold blood and treasure”.
The US forces have suffered more than 2,300 deaths and around 20,660 soldiers have been injured in action. Not to mention the conflict has cost the US nearly $778bn since 2001.
TARIQUE AHMED ABRO
Hyderabad, Sindh
