Elections in India
Madam,
General elections in India – which will be held in seven phases - start next month. The first phase will begin on April 11 and seventh phase will begin on May 19. Vote counts starts on May 23 and results will be declared the same day.
Prime Minister Narendera Modi made many promises during his 2014 election campaign, many of which were never honoured. Five years later, he faces an angry electorate and could be sent home.
Millions of farmers, particularly small ones, continue to suffer owing to a steep fall in the cost of staples like chickpeas, onions and oilseeds. This can sink the chances of Modi’s party forming government in a nation where 70 per cent of its citizens directly or indirectly make their living from agriculture. Indian farmers from various provinces have marched on New Delhi many times last year.
Local and international economists criticise Modi’s handling of the economy, saying his policies have increased inflation and slowed foreign investment coming to India. Failing to deliver on promises is dangerous in Indian politics. Loyalists are known to turn into harsh critics overnight, power and money being the only constants.
This is why the extremist Bharatiya Janata Party was interested in stirring up trouble with Pakistan. With the elections in April, no wonder Modi decided to bolster his dwindling popularity at Pakistan’s expense. The attack in Pulwama and other provocations only make sense in this context.
Modi has a history of using violence to achieve political goals but he would do well to remember that these fascist tactics may bring him immense grief soon.
Maryam Iftikhar,
Lahore.
Basic facilities
Madam,
The education system in the tribal areas of Pakistan badly needs reforms. There are 2,000 schools in tribal areas which lack basic facilities such as safe drinking water, toilets, electricity and boundary walls. In the absence of such facilities, most female students do not join schools. The number of girls dropping out of schools in the region is rising day by day. The government is focusing on improving infrastructure and has sanctioned Rs10 million but we are still waiting for basic facilities.
Muzammil Khan,
Turbat.
Traffic in Lahore
Madam,
Ever since the new government took office, it seems no one is interested in the everyday functioning of Lahore. This is obvious from the day-to-day management of traffic on the roads. Traffic jams are at their peak during the wedding season. Former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar took notice of this and asked authorities to extend closing time of wedding halls. This did nothing to address the problem.
It is not the closing time of weddings halls, but lack of parking facilities in the city that is contributing to our traffic woes. The Lahore Development Authority (LDA) is not executing its prime responsibilities. Numerous buildings, including wedding halls and shopping malls, have been constructed without parking lots in highly populated areas.
At Sue Wala Road near Daroghawala, dozens of wedding halls have been constructed without any parking facilities. As a result, roads are used for parking and a paper issued for each car. This is an illegal practice.
Because are cars often parked on roads, traffic is blocked and chaos ensues when families leave wedding halls to go home.
Al-Rehman Centre near Chah Miran Bazaar had a parking lot which was later used as a superstore. A fire broke out a few months ago and the entire building was burned within a few hours.
The LDA should take necessary measures and allow the construction of only those commercial buildings which have proper parking lots in their plans.
Sanam Amjad,
Lahore.
Divorced and happy
Madam,
After Aurat March on March 8, some placards went viral on social media. These placards spoke of particular forms of discrimination which hold women down. One of these placards was about divorce. The specific scorn that this placard received shows the disgust Pakistani society feels towards a woman daring to live a happy life after divorce. Divorce is considered failure of a woman at “womanhood”. If a woman is divorced, she is expected to take on the garb of damsel in distress for the rest of her life. Daring to live life any another way is seen as violating the norm of a good woman.
Imagine a woman saying, “divorced and happy.” That, to men and to the society as a whole, appears as taboo. We must re-imagine what it means to seek a divorce. Women should have the right, as full human beings, to walk out of their marriages, for whatever reason, and as exercise their agencies. The predominant majority of women are harassed, often violently, by their husbands and in-laws and seeking a divorce is the only option to live a life. Just like there are healthy marriages, there are healthy divorces too. The husband and wife may grow in different directions and they may find after sometime or a lot of time that they are not for each other. So, what is wrong with ending marriage with mutual happiness?
The scorn thrown at “divorced and happy” only represents patriarchal anxieties and should not deter people from finding their true happiness.
Rabia Arshad,
Karachi.
War journalism
Madam,
In the age of internet, where information flows faster than human thought, Indian media has been spewing the venom against Pakistan and dragging the whole nation into war hysteria. In its frenzied approach, Indian media is shying away from its prime duty to disseminate correct information and knowledge to the masses. Indian journalists have always turned a blind eye to the atrocities faced by the Kashmiri people. A smear campaign to paint a negative image of Pakistan was a new low for many journalists.
While India is set to go for general elections, its media is doing war journalism. It is hoped that good sense will prevail after the general elections and that the country moves towards normalisation of relations with Pakistan to ensure peace and prosperity in the entire region. Backdoor diplomacy, Kartarpur corridor, exchanging cultural ties, engaging in sporting events along with resuming SAARC summit are some measures that could pave the way for resolution of the Kashmir issue.
Amanullah Khan,
Larkana.