ZHOB: Right after the tragic attack on the mosques in Malakand, the new chief minister-designate of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) has responded to it by stating that no enmity exists between the new provincial government (which will soon take office) and the Taliban.

People from Kurram Agency to the Tirah Valley have been compelled to move from their towns and villages due to the fear of the Taliban. The enthusiastic people of K-P voted for the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf with the hope to bring change to the province but following this statement, it seems uncertain if they really wanted the kind of change that the chief minister-elect is talking about.

AD Babar

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2013.

KARACHI: As the population of Karachi is increasing by the day and population-wise, it is ranked as the sixth largest city in the world, and with 90 per cent of its population using public transport, it is unfortunate that the city still faces huge problems in this regard. What Karachi needs is a mass transit transport system. A mass transit system will reduce the number of privately-owned and generally recklessly-driven buses and rickshaws that put further pressure on the city’s already congested roads.

Many foreign companies have shown interest in investing in such a project in the city but due to the lack of political will, a mass transit system in Karachi is still pending. Therefore, I request the newly-elected government to start a mass transit system in Karachi to facilitate the city’s residents.

Naseer Hashmi

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: The electronic voting machine has now replaced the traditional mechanism of voting in several countries of the world due to several advantages it provides, like security and automatic counting. It can also make the voting process in Pakistan free and fair.

After the election results, the current scenario of the country tells us that almost all political parties have reservations about some of the results. If the electronic voting system is introduced in the future, it will be easier for all political parties to accept election results, as the chances of rigging and other mistakes occurring will be highly minimised. This system will also satisfy the voters.

After the general elections of 2013, some evidence has emerged that indicates that some level of rigging did take place in some polling stations, which puts a question mark on the claim that these elections were completely free and fair. Different countries have adopted the electronic voting system, with Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Finland, India, Italy and Kazakhstan being some of the examples. It is time that Pakistan also took serious steps towards the adoption of this system.

Naushaba Abid

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2013.

CANBERRA: This is with reference to Hina Bayat Khan’s article “Democracy protests” (May 18). I believe that elections are just a process and democracy is an attitude that needs to be learnt and adopted. The problem is that we are looking at social media and thinking that the number of followers of any political party on Twitter and Facebook should equal the number of votes cast for its candidates and the number of seats it wins in parliament.

Unfortunately, social media merely provides an illusion. Protesting is a right but this does not mean that the protestor is always right.

Tahmina Saeed

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2013.

SUN CITY, CALIFORNIA, USA: This is with reference to your story “Over 27 million children out of school” (May 18). Basic education of every one of the 27 million out-of-school children and the adult literacy of the 25 million illiterate adults could be the key to Pakistan’s progress. In 2002, the first public-private partnership mass education programme, the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD), was formed to meet the Millennium Development Goal that aims at Pakistan achieving a minimum literacy rate of 86 per cent by 2015.

From 2002 till 2007, over 10 million out-of-school children and illiterate adults started receiving the required education. I am one of the 25 private sector founding directors of the NCHD. During this time, the literacy rate increased by 10 per cent. This came to a halt with the government change that took place in 2008 and till today, due to major cuts in promised education funds, hardly any progress has been made. In the last five years, the government tried to shut the NCHD down twice. In October 2011, the Supreme Court headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry ruled that the NCHD cannot be shut down. The NCHD is the only organisation established in every province and district of Pakistan but its work has only been limited because of lack of funds. The education budget has to increase by four to eight times for Pakistan to progress in the future. However, it is too late for the country to achieve the Millennium Development Goal regarding education by 2015.

Pervaiz Lodhie

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2013.

JUBAIL, SAUDI ARABIA: When Mohammed Bouazizi put himself on fire in December 2010, no one ever thought that death of a street vendor in Tunisia would change the Middle East for decades to come. Since then, one after the other brutal dictators fell from grace and were replaced by some form of democracy. But the vacuum created by dictators through the banning of political activities and strangling the media during their tenures has exposed these newly-born democracies to the danger of being hijacked by religious extremists. We have seen this happening in several countries wherein religious forces, which got strengthened while working underground during the rule of the dictators, were able to attain power, leaving the general public and liberals to wonder about their state of affairs.

Sadly, the Arab Spring is turning into a “cold winter” wherein choices are getting limited — ruling secular dictators versus the awaiting religious dictators.

A brutal act caught on camera exposed the elements which are benefitting from the struggle of the common people. This video clip shows a Syrian rebel commander biting the heart of a dead Syrian soldier. Obviously, the Syrian opposition has vowed to take action against this person; however, we all know it will be an eye-wash to silence the media and human rights activists.

Don’t we need to see the long-term impact of today’s policies? The American withdrawal from Afghanistan in 2014 is perhaps the last round of the vicious cycle they started in the 1980s by aligning with Afghans against the USSR.

No one wishes to support dictators glued to their thrones for decades, but is there any other solution, other than providing space to al Qaeda and its off-shoot sectarian groups? We need to stop disfiguring the Middle East by blindly supporting the Arab Spring. A policy blunder made today is going to haunt us for decades to come — Afghanistan, Pakistan, Somalia, Yemen and Iraq of today are a few shining examples of the myopic policies of the past.

Masood Khan

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2013.

ISLAMABAD: This is with reference to the letter “The brave people of K-P” written by Muhammad Asif.

The writer does not seem to have enough information regarding the political parties of Pakistan. He has blindly called the ANP a Pashtun nationalist party. I counter this allegation by quoting from the ANP’s manifesto: “The party represents and fights for all those ethnicities in Pakistan, which have been subjected to cruelty and exploitation.” Bashir Ahmed Bilour was an ethnic Hindko-speaker, but enjoyed a prominent position in the party. Indeed, the bulk of the ANP’s members are Pashtun and it represents the Pashtun community. Nonetheless, no one can deny the fact that it is a party that represents other ethnicities, too.

Salmeen Mandokhail

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2013.

JAMSHEDPUR, INDIA: This is with reference to Farrukh Khan Pitafi’s article “Is India-Pakistan peace possible?” (May 18). I believe that nothing is impossible. The road to peace will come with trade when interest of the trade and industrial sectors of both countries stands embedded with each other. This will prevent escalation of tension between the neighbours and through dialogue, the solution of the Kashmir issue, too, is possible. Another two decades may be required for all this though, along with sincere intentions and the gradual strengthening of democracy in Pakistan.

PR Sharma

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2013.

RAWALPINDI: This is with reference to Kamran Shafi’s article “No tsunami, thank heavens” (May 17).

First of all, the PTI leadership has denied handing over the education ministry to the Jamaat-e-Islami in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa as claimed by the writer. The PTI will keep this ministry with itself. Most probably, this news had not reached Mr Shafi until after the publication of his piece.

I am afraid his column seems more like PTI bashing than anything else. I believe that Imran Khan should be given credit for what he has been able to achieve. It is because of his efforts that a high voter turnout was witnessed. It was because of Imran’s fiery speeches, ability to reach out to all segments of society, and the brave challenge he posed to established political leaders, as well as his call to the youth that resulted in such a historic election taking place. He has given me, as well as millions of disappointed youth, a sense of hope for staying in this country, not because I did not have any other choice, but because he instilled a sense of responsibility in me towards the country and its people.

As far as the criticism regarding the kind of language Imran used in his rallies, sometimes, during fired-up election rallies, such speeches are the need of the hour and manners often depend on how the other side treats and respects your ideology.

Areeba Atif

Published in The Express Tribune, May 19^th, 2013.

KARACHI: A couple of months ago, three religious scholars of the Jamia Binoria were killed in broad daylight on main Sharae Faisal, near the nursery area. To make funeral arrangements of the deceased and to accommodate the visiting mourners, the road opposite the Binoria Town Mosque was closed for three days initially. Several weeks have passed now but the road still remains blocked, thus creating traffic jams and hurdles for shopkeepers while they try to conduct their businesses smoothly.

As I write this letter, the road opposite the Binori Town Mosque is still closed for vehicles and pedestrians and it appears that it will now remain permanently closed. There is no doubt that the Binori Town Mosque has produced religious scholars of very high stature but I would like to question the learned scholars of the Jamia Binoria if it is legal and permissible by religion to block or encroach upon a road in the name of security for their own safety, thus putting the lives of other people in danger. If not, then I expect the mosque administration to remove all the barricades placed outside the Binori Town Mosque immediately and pave the way for free movement of traffic and pedestrians. One person’s pain can never be other person’s gain — at least not in our religion.

M Rafique Zakaria

Published in The Express Tribune, May 18^th, 2013.