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.
Started with Kidney Hill Scam
Land once allocated as amenity park becomes the exclusive public property and there is no law on statute books which allows an irregularity and illegality to be regularized, even through an out-of-court settlement or a compromise.
This land grab started in Karachi during the tenure of Musharraf junta, when Altaf Hussain’s goons went on a rampage, making kidnapping for ransom a business, whilst his target killers silenced anybody who dared to criticize.
A state that allows such abuse to go on unchallenged, is a country doomed to become a Banana Republic like Somalia ruled by warlords.
Unfortunately, in 2005-2006 over 62 acres of land, near Karsaz, became a subject of dispute, and Overseas Housing Society, headed by a controversial lawyer of Karachi and his son employed as a pilot in state owned national airline, residing on Shaheed-e-Millat Road, were involved in Kidney Hill Scam.
As usual what has been happening in Pakistan, where crime pays dividends, an out-of- court settlement was made with patronage of corruption infected elements within the city and provincial government and over 20 acres of land belonging to the public was surrendered to the land mafia.
The individual involved in Kidney Hill Scam was appointed as MD of national airline and under him fake degree holders were recruited, losses and pilferage in procurement deals escalated and the airline today has become technically insolvent.
After 2002, illegalities escalated and today neither private land, nor state land and forests etc are safe.
Thousands of acres of land belonging to railways, including that on which Karachi Circular Railway was built, was taken over by the mafia and till to-date people suffer.
Recently during Ramadan thousands of acres of land belonging to poor Harris of Sindh was forcibly occupied.
MALIK TARIQ ALI
Lahore
Parliament or a battlefield
The government and opposition got into a physical fight in Parliament while the whole country was entertained by our seniors through social media and TV Channels, which is enough to seek from them how to grow up with morality, forbearance or how to assert a good behaviour as being a sophisticated person.
Moreover, these are the people who want to teach us to be humanitarian, patriotic, pacifist, scholars etc, while their own self is engaged with such worst activities, they threw on papers and books in and used abusive language in parliament.
Additionally, the books that enlighten our future were dismantled or shattered under shoes, what a shameful moment that was when the kids were keeping an eye on the seniors on televisions, what will they seek?
KHUDA DAD BALOCH
Malir, Karachi
Preventing cancer disease
It is painful to learn that Pakistan is included in the list of developing countries where cancer is becoming a serious issue among children.
Its incidence is increasing by the day. However, cancer in children is fully curable in children and also in adults.
Due to poor cancer awareness, inability to afford treatment and a dearth of trained physicians, many children are losing their life due to cancer and other dangerous but curable diseases.
Nearly 70 million children under the age of 15 are reported to be suffering from cancer. Humanitarian organisations claim that 6,000 children are being diagnosed every year.
Unfortunately, a large majority of these patients never get either proper diagnosis or treatment.
Forty-seven per cent of diagnosis has been reported to occur in Karachi, with remaining cases occuring across the country.
The consumption of chhalia gutka (betel nut mixed with tobacco), paan, cigarettes and the use of sheesha are some of the major causes of the spread of cancer.
The government should ban the consumption of these harmful products and increase number of hospitals and trained medics who can help cancer patients.
BAKHTIYAR PHULLAN
Kech
Notorious tribal leaders
Like Shikarpur and Kashmor-Kandkot districts in Sindh, ruthless killing of innocent tribal people continues in Sibi, Bolan, Bhag Nari and other cities of Balochistan at the behest of the so-called tribal chieftains-turned-politicians, now in the corridors of power.
The bloodsucker tribal leaders like to pit their own tribal men against other tribal men who do not vote them during elections or those pacifist and humanity–caring community leaders and social activists do not toe their line.
As a result, fratricidal killing continues.
The district administration machinery also dances to the tunes of these notorious tribal leaders. They harass the political rivals.
They misguide the law enforcers to raid their houses. They illegally occupy both agrarian and commercial land of political opponents.
This merciless attitude of district administration together with tribal leaders has created an unspeakable horror in the said areas.
However, the Prime Minister is requested to take notice of this inhuman behaviour of a few Sardars affiliated with his party from Balochistan who do nothing but persecution of political opponents.
HASHIM ABRO
Islamabad
