Friendship Day
Sir,
The celebration of Friendship Day started in 1935 when the US congress decided to dedicate a day in honour of friends. Nevertheless, the reason behind making this day was not exactly known. Today, Friendship Day is celebrated around the globe. The festivity include an exchange of gifts and meeting with friends, to makes them feel special. This day is important to celebrate as it encourages us to move beyond other groups having different social and cultural values. Moreover, this is the perfect occasion to tell your friends how important they are and how they make moments in life special.
Furthermore, it is also important to comprehend that friendship is not only related to humans, in fact, animals can also be good friends too. They always provide their support and make you feel special. True friends are difficult to find, so if you are lucky enough to find them, make sure that you should let them know how much they mean to you on this occasion. At the end I would like to wish a very happy friendship day to all my friends: I love you all.
Hadia Aziz,
Islamabad.
The Hajj
Sir,
Pilgrimage is an important pillar of the five in Islam. A pilgrim’s orders continue from the 8th to the 12th of the holy month according to the Islamic calendar. Pilgrimage is obligatory for all Muslims once in a life. It is considered a good opportunity to refine and renew your faith and seek forgiveness for your sins.
Why is the Holy Kabah most important to Muslims? Every year millions of Muslims come here to worship. It is an integral part of the faith. Why do pilgrims cover themselves in a ihram? The ihram is the first step in a pilgrimage. It signals entering a state of spiritual purification. Next is the Tawaf or walking around the Holy Kabah. This entire act symbolises the unity of Muslims.
Rehman N,
Via email.
Misdeclaration crime
Sir,
The constitutionally elected prime minister, holding the highest public office, stands disqualified for misdeclaration of assets because he failed to declare the UAE Iqama and service in Capital FZE. Perjury is a crime according to the law, apart from being considered immoral. This precedent should be followed by holding all public office occupants and statutory bodies, including private registered companies, accountable for making false declarations, defrauding the public of their lifetime savings or causing financial loss to the national exchequer.
It is on record that accountability watchdog NAB chairman, a former retired state employee, submitted a fake affidavit to claim his pension emoluments, even though he was gainfully employed in a state-controlled agency. Such irregularities are widespread in Pakistan and beneficiaries include salaried or elected public office holders, who have formed a nexus to defiantly violate the law.
Thousands of state employees, having benefitted from allotted subsidized plots, submit falsified affidavits, stating that they are not beneficiaries of such allotments so they are eligible for another plot. So rampant is this institutionalized corruption that statutory housing societies formed for the welfare of salaried employees seek applications with down payments for allotment of plots, even though they do not physically possess enough land for all successful applicants. Instead of clamping down on such criminally fraudulent practices, the powerful land mafia within the bureaucracy has invented scam files in which instead of titular deeds for real estate plots physically in existence, files are sold to promise a buyer that they will be given a plot when land comes in their possession.
In August 2008, DHA Valley Islamabad, a statutory housing society, collected down payments from members of the general public declared successful in the general balloting of applicants who had applied after DHA Islamabad advertised this scheme nationwide. Periodic letters were sent every three months for installments which informed the public that development work was in progress and possession would be handed over in time. In August 2011, payment of the final 12 installments was postponed and even after six years have passed there is no news from DHA Valley Islamabad.
Similarly in April 1989, CDA Islamabad, another statutory housing society sought applications from the general public for balloting plots in Sector E12/4. It collected installments but 28 years have passed and no plots have been given. Thousands of people live in elite housing societies, drive around in expensive cars, hold membership of elite clubs but have never filed tax returns.
Ali Malik Tariq,
Lahore.
Moen jo Daro uni
Sir,
In Pakistan, the Indus Valley Civilization is valued as a part of history. It is a thousand years old and part of Sindhi culture that is famous all over the world. Sindhi poetry, the Ajrak, Sindhi topi are just some symbols of this culture. The Sindh Cultural Department has been working on events such as the Sindh Festival, Moen Jo Daro International conference, the fair in Thar. Every year we celebrate Sindhi cultural day. The Sindh government has been run by the Pakistan Peoples Party for the last 10 years but I’m amazed to see no concrete steps have been taken except to give schools on public-private partnerships and adding biometric system attendance for teachers.
The culture minister is loyal to his ministry and its my request to him and the Education department that they also open a cultural university and name it Moen jo Daro Cultural University where bachelors, masters and PhD programmes in all languages should be offered. Degrees in Social Science, PhDs on Sindhi poets and our heritage should also be offered. We need to produce more cultural icons, poets and philosophers.
Mir Taqi Abbas,
Talpur.
Smart voters
Sir,
The discussion of holding a UAE resident card (Iqama), the interpretation of a salary received or receivable under ITO 2001 with dictionary definitions are immaterial. Imran Khan deserves appreciation for relentlessly pursuing corrupt politicians. But is everyone in his clique justified in doing the same thing? This exposes the moral character of our so-called political leadership; they laugh as if they have done nothing ever themselves!
The former wife of PTI chairman, Jemima Goldsmith, rightly tweeted “Good riddance to the man who tried to get me jailed when I was pregnant with my second child on trumped-up (non-bailable) charges of smuggling”. And there should not be the slightest doubt about the intention of these businessman-turned-politicians who she described as dacoits and miscreants. Other so-called politicians such as Fazal-ur-Rehman do not tire of labeling Imran Khan a Jewish agent. Goldsmith express the hope that the next prime minister from the 2018 election would be honest and, “Inshallah the next one will” complete his or her tenure.
The development plans of the former PM speak volumes of the work done by different departments and institutions. They should be continued regardless of who is in the PM’s office. Pakistan can achieve its goals if these organs and organizations of state work independently and judiciously sans political influence. The country cannot be held hostage to the whims and caprices of a few individuals.
If there is any lesson to be learnt, it is that he wished to become the amir-ul mumineen (vicegerent) and wanted to destroy many of the good works done by others. Or he took credit for someone else’s work and put his name on it.
Pakistanis have become pessimistic because no solution has appeared on the horizon. But we are harvesting what we sowed. Why should we blame others? The only solution lies in non-stop fair accountability across the board for all tiers of society. Also, voters should sensibly use their power of franchise to elect someone on merit in the 2018 elections.
Uzma Razzaq,
Rawalpindi.
Karachi choke points
Sir,
Travelling on roads with a lot of traffic is not an easy job. People always try to avoid the rush and even prefer longer routes to avoid getting stuck.
In Karachi, getting from one place to another is not easy. If one is travelling from Tariq Road/Bahadurabad to Johar Chowrangi one encounters many choke points daily routine from 6pm to 10pm.
The first rush point is at the Time Medico signal (which could benefit from an underpass). Cars are slowing down at Aga Khan Hospital. The second rush point is at Dalmia where double-parked cars and carts (up to fifteen) narrow the lane, forcing cars to slow down and leading to frequent traffic jams. This could easily be avoided if these carts and double parking were managed better.
The third point for traffic jams is at Millennium Mall. A flyover was constructed near this Mall but it didn’t help.
The next point is Johar Morr, with traffic beginning to pile up from Johar Chowrangi and moving at a snail’s speed. The culprit is wrong parking and wrong-way driving. Posting a few traffic policemen might help.
I request the authorities and DIG Traffic to look into this. We are getting stuck for up to an hour daily at these choke points.
Mubashir Mahmood,
Karachi.
A correction
Sir
In our tradition students of Music and Dance are known by taking the name of the Ustad or Guru who taught them, and to whose ‘gharana/bani’ or style they belong. I make haste to correct the only ‘factual’ inaccuracy in Rehana Hyder’s loving article on me, in TFT August 18-24.
Going to Madras/Chennai only during one summer vacation, I was never a student of Rukmini Deviji directly or in her institution ‘Kala Kshetra - Adyar’. But, on her advice, I became a private pupil taking one-on one lessons twice a day with Ms S. V. Lalita, a diploma holder from her own first batch of students.
Later, ‘my Lalitaji’ came to teach Bharata Natyam at the Sangeet Bharati School New Delhi, as the first authentic teacher of ‘K. K. Bani’ in Northern India, and she was better known by her married name ‘Smti Lalita Shastri’, with many illustrious stars to her credit, including Sonal Mansingh and my own niece Rasika Khanna.
Indu Mitha,
Islamabad.
Nawaz Sharif
Sir,
Pakistan’s former prime minister Nawaz Sharif was disqualified by the Supreme Court. He has done his work honestly. He is the most honest PM in the region who offers people his sympathies and gives them their fundamental rights. If today the poor are getting treatment in hospitals, it is due to his support. According to the Institute of Development Economic, 42 percent of people believe that Nawaz was an honest politician and 60 percent thought that he was capable of leading the country. What will happen now? I think no one can be honest like Nawaz Sharif.
Shazia Inayatullah,
Khairabad.
Govt decisions
Sir,
Recently I learnt of two major decisions that were taken by the Sindh government and the Karachi city government. They signed deals with a private party and a major international agency to pick up Karachi’s garbage and to rehabilitate three neighbourhoods. I am against both of these projects as there was no transparency in the process. These decisions were made by my governments without going through a process that would make it possible for the public to object or even learn about them. I pay taxes and expect my government to be held accountable by the people. They are public servants, not rulers. These two projects are going to be a disaster for Karachi because of corruption and because they are not well designed. You cannot have a private entity care for Karachi’s garbage and sanitation services. This is neoliberalism at its worst. The city government needs to fix its financial situation and stop looking to farm its responsibilities to the private sector. We had the Chinese come in to pick up garbage. This was never a long term fix. Our systems are clearly broken when we seek quick fixes to big problems.
I only have the ombudsman’s office to turn to. The local government is out of reach and I certain cannot go up against the powerful international agency that has signed this deal with the GoS. I have never felt so helpless in my life. I have never been so angry at my government for not doing it the right way.
Zeybunissa Shaikh,
Karachi.
Selfie craze
Sir,
Taking selfies has become a popular obsession that is time consuming and as experts have pointed out, can lead to mental problems. Psychologists have noticed a rise in narcissistic personality traits, insecurity, self-objectification, addiction, damaged friendships and depression with the increase in the selfie-taking culture. Selfies may seems innocent in moderation but overindulgence may lead to social media narcissism and other mental health issues. People take selfies because they genuinely want to express themselves, to build their own self-image, to get attention from as many people as possible, boredom or because social media is fun. Recently, the American Psychiatric Association actually confirmed that taking selfies is a mental disorder, going as far as to term the condition “selfitis”.
Society places emphasis on people being perfect, beautiful and fitting a perceived societal image of “ideal”. Because the ideal is in the eye of the beholder, and the concept of appealing to everyone’s ideal is unrealistic, those who are obsessed with selfies are not able to achieve the sense of satisfaction they hope for, and are constantly looking at and judging themselves based solely on their looks. The craze for clicking all kinds of selfies has been creating havoc across the globe, and in some cases, a madness.
The selfie fever can further isolate our generation and those to come. Selfie culture can deprive youth of social stimulation, and we can see them becoming more and more engulfed in the virtual and technological world of the media.
Instead of simply restricting or prohibiting the use of selfies, it is necessary for both parents and teachers to educate young people about Selfie culture and the various factors associated with such social learning. Making children and adolescents media literate is a necessity today in order to ensure a more balanced approached towards the use of social media.
Kiran Fatima,
Islamabad.
PM Abbasi
Sir,
Our PM, Mr. Shahid Khaqan Abbasi, had vowed in his very first speech on the floor of the National Assembly just after the vote favored him to become the next PM of Pakistan that, “If I am here for 45 days, I will try to complete the amount of the work that requires 45 months.” I do not know how it will be possible for him to comply with this when no one has done it before. But one thing that we must all appreciate in him is that he is always seen in our national dress at official meetings or while representing Pakistan. Our leadership prior to him and our state officials and national players have generally avoided this practice. I suggest the PM ensure this practice at all levels as this is our identity and must be promoted within Pakistan and outside Pakistan.
Khalid Mustafa,
Islamabad.