Royal Tour
Madam,
The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge Prince William and Kate Middleton arrived in Pakistan for a whirlwind five-day tour where they visited the federal capital, Lahore and our beautiful northern areas.
The royal couple was welcomed by Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi at the Noor Khan Airbase. Bouquets were presented by two children wearing traditional dress. The excursion of our royal guests holds global significance for Pakistan as it gave us centre stage in the world politics.
The UK and Pakistan seek to build strong and lasting relationships with each other. This visit is highly important as it has improved prospects of our country’s tourism sector, logistic and security considerations and boosted the image of Pakistan on the international level. This historic visit of the royals will go a long way to improve Pakistan’s perception on the global stage.
Myra Ejaz,
Lahore.
Press in chains
Madam,
The Asia coordinator of the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) Steven Butler was denied entry at Lahore airport and deported back to Washington. He was invited to attend the Asma Jahangir Conference on ‘Roadmap for Human Rights in Pakistan.’
Many human rights organisations have deplored this action as it has painted a darker image of our government all over the world.
Amnesty International described this act as “an alarming sign that freedom of expression continues to be under attack in Pakistan.” Our government condemns India for not letting journalists and international media enter Jammu and Kashmir, and at the same time refuses entry to a foreign journalist to enter Pakistan to attend a conference.
This government is also in the process of establishing media tribunals and placing curbs on the press, which is against the constitution. This attack against the people’s freedom must be challenged in court.
Osama Khawaja,
Lahore.
Sexual harassment
Madam,
Students of the University of Balochistan and some other universities in Balochistan province have been protesting for a week over allegations of sexual harassment of female students by the university administration, including the vice chancellor. The VC has been forced to resign but the issue is far from over. What is infuriating about this is the fact that the harrowing experiences of sexual harassment do not register as any issue worthy of public attention or political activism, while lives of women are destroyed and their prospects of a career or further education are damaged forever. To further silence and repress their voices, the fact of social location of geography and of being at the periphery of the nation, there has been no coverage of the news.
This is not some small news item to be ignored. First: students have shown the courage to come out against the perpetrators despite the social pressure and risk to their education. Second: it brings to fore the reality of sexual harassment which we pretend that doesn’t exist because of our ‘values.’ Third: it also exposes how unsafe the relatively safe spaces of universities are and it takes no imagination to think how unsafe other public spaces (and yes, private spaces as well) are. This will affect the education of girls in Balochistan where there are reports that parents have brought back their daughters from universities.
Who will be responsible for this destruction? Will we pretend that there exists no sexual harassment?
Umar Khan,
Multan.
India’s aggression
Madam,
Recently, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi once again threatened to stop Pakistan’s water. He was addressing a rally in Haryana. Earlier, New Delhi had threatened to stop the water flowing into Pakistan after the Pulwama incident.
Under the Indus Waters Treaty signed in 1960, the waters of the western rivers, the Indus, Jhelum and Chenab were given to Pakistan and those of the eastern rivers Ravi, Sutlej and Beas to India.
In the light of this treaty, an Indian leader making such statements is clearly showing his country’s aggression. It reveals India’s aggressive intentions and that it has no regard for international treaties.
New Delhi has been cornered and isolated because of the fascist Bharataya Janata Party government’s atrocities and gross human rights violations being committed in occupied Jammu and Kashmir.
India has never reconciled to the creation of Pakistan and has always tried to create difficulties for it and exploit our vulnerabilities. New Delhi has always waged war against our economy and the water dispute is a major weapon employed by it.
India is working towards making Pakistan totally barren by building dams on the three major rivers flowing into Pakistan from the Indian side.
Ambreen Ahmed,
Lahore.
Balochistan’s roads
Madam,
I was very downcast to hear of the sudden death of the commissioner of Makran division, Tariq Zehri, and several others. We, the people of Makran, feel dejected since we have not just lost an educated human being, but also a good person.
According to reports, four persons, including the late commissioner, were hit by a truck carrying smuggled petrol in Bencha area of Kalat district.
Keeping in mind the casualties, many questions arise: who is responsible? Is it the government, or the driver of the truck who should be held accountable?
There is also outrage on social media that Zamyad vehicles should be banned across the province.
Zamyad cars are designed by Zamyad Company in Tehran. These are non-custom paid vehicles. These vehicles are mostly used to smuggle oil via the Iranian border to Pakistan. Balochistan is full of Zamyads. While travelling on the roads, one will witness thousands of blue pickups with blue barrels loaded on them.
To me, banning these cars won’t yield any benefits because with a population of 12 million, 60 percent of poor people in the province are dependent on the smuggled oil.
The responsibility of the incident falls on the government because of the dilapidated roads. There are bumpy and single-lane roads stretched across the province. These are the main cause of deaths and injuries.
The RCD road, which runs from Taftan to Quetta and then from Karachi does not have any divider to separate the two lanes.
If one believes that Zamyad vehicles are the reason behind the accidents in the province, then in Sindh, where there are no such cars, why do such accidents remain a daily challenge? The single carriageway that runs from Jamshuru to Sewan Sharif speaks volumes about the gravity of the problem.
As usual, it seems the Balochistan government does not care about the problem.
Zeeshan Nasir,
Via e-mail.
The Friday Times, Plot No 52-53, N-Block, Main Guru Mangat Road, Gulberg II, Lahore, Pakistan. 042.35779186; Fax: 042.35779186, email: tft@thefridaytimes.com
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