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.
Two-nation theory
The verdict of Ayodhya case by the Indian Supreme Court in favour of Hindus and against Muslims, who are already living as minorities in India, and imposition of restrictions across country, especially on Muslim dominated areas time and again, proves the two-nation theory of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah as legitimate. The atrocities and the denial of fundamental rights to Indian Muslims by their own constitution is beyond constitutionalism.
The self-claimed largest democracy and constitution is for single Brahmanic class which think themselves superior over others. The vision of Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah to demand the separate nation for Muslims to protect life, property and religious beliefs is commendable. We should be grateful to Allah and then to Quaid-i-Azam that we are free to do our religious obligations and we are not under the rule of extremist fascist Hindus.
MOHAMMAD UMAR BHAT
Islamabad
Digitizing life
Although Pakistan is still lagging behind in using technology and digitization but now Pakistan is also moving forward. I am a student doing graduation in Islamabad but basically from Gujrat. Spending five days a week in Islamabad and going hometown over the weekends requires extreme commuting especially through motorbike. Fuel refilling specially on GT road, and handling cash accordingly has always been a hassle for me since there are no ATM machines or card swiping facilities at most of the fuel stations and where they are available, at times those ATMs are out of cash.
Recently, I went to a PSO filling station and it was quite disturbing when I came to know that I could pick cash from hostel while leaving for Gujrat. However I managed by asking one of my friends who came to me with cash late hours but it took almost 2 hours to me come out of the situation. During this annoying time, one of the employees on fuel pump came to me and said, sir why don’t you use a prepaid card DIGI cash so you will not be in trouble like this. First I thought that how it is possible in Pakistan for fuel refilling that I never heard before. But it was really good to know especially after that incident. It has made my life much easier.
PSO has done a great job by introducing DIGI cash along with a mobile phone application to manage my fuel consumption easily. This is such a relief. But I would suggest that not only other fuel stations, but all public sector companies should also introduce such facilities for people that bring convenience. Such digital advancements offer endless possibilities but lack of awareness can be a hurdle and government should come up with a better strategy to help people understand the importance of digitized life.
SHERAN AHMED
Islamabad
How to
reduce locust population?
A swarm of locust is attacking Sindh in Pakistan. The local farmers are having a hard time killing them or stopping them. Government of Pakistan can help them by sending in teams that can use bright LED lights with batteries at night to attract the locust to an area where sprays or poison can be used to kill the locust. Or the Government can bring in birds, frogs, spiders and other animals that feed on the locust to the area.
Locust is considered a delicacy food in many countries including Saudi Arabia. They are packed full of minerals, zinc and iron, therefore, Pakistan can also use this opportunity to export the locust. They can teach local people how to lure the locust by strong LED lights, capture, store and sell the locust to TDAP for fixed rates. TDAP can help export the locust around the world.
ENGR SHAHRYAR KHAN
Peshawar
Slavery is a horrible system where a part of society would use its position of power to treat other human beings as nothing more than property. Unfortunately, the business of taking advantage of disadvantaged people is still very much a reality in parts of the world.
Although 90% of countries have some form of legislation that directly defends the most basic human rights of each individual, many of these nations still do not have either the mechanisms to protect this liberty or laws defining what constitute human trafficking up to the United Nations’ standards. There are many manifestations of modern slavery: forced labour including labour trafficking, sex trafficking including child sex trafficking, bonded labour and debt bondage, domestic servitude (in the form of domestic work), forced child labour (including begging), unlawful recruitment and child soldiers, and state imposed forced labour.
Nearly one-quarter of the victims had either their wages withheld or were unable to leave because of threats of non-payment of due wages. Other significant means of coercion included threats of violence, actual physical violence and threats against family. These are alarming statistics. Last year, the Global Slavery Index 2016 estimated the number of modern slavery victims in Pakistan as 2.134m (1.13pc of the total population). In terms of absolute numbers, Pakistan ranked three (out of 167 countries) in this index after India (18.354m).
HUDA ABID
Rawalpindi
Hurdles of female journalists
In Pakistan, fewer than 5% of journalists are female, and those in the profession face significant risks and hurdles. Gender-based violence attacks, bullying, negative social attitude, stifled career progress, and a substantial gender pay gap are just some of the additional challenges that measure the strength of Pakistan’s growing but thriving female journalistic community.
These five per cent women raise serious questions about how the media can reflect and inform public opinion when the sector is so unrepresentative of the society it serves. Female journalists in Pakistan have encountered gender-based violence in their work and only 24% have not confirmed being subjected to any form of harassment. In the midst of the international # MeToo movement, this issue at least seems to draw some public attention in the country.
Social pressure was another key issue that was highlighted among reporters almost universally. Because of their career choice, some female journalists felt stigmatized as “bad women.” Some had openly challenged their integrity, while others believed they were dissatisfied with their families for entering a traditionally male-dominated world. Men primarily run the media industry in South Asia and in particular Pakistan, but in recent years, more and more women are entering the field.
Through reporting difficult and daunting subjects to entertainment and sports reports, women are rising to the occasion and taking risks by being behind microphones and in front of cameras. Pakistan is one of the deadliest countries to practice journalism, as proved by annual indexes of freedom of the press and security in recent years, but women in the media face additional challenges, ranging from colleagues ‘ harassment to social and cultural constraints.
MISBAH IMTIAZ
Islamabad
