Just take a look next door in India where gulf between the rich and poor is not as wide, glaring as it is in Pakistan.
LAHORE: This refers to the letter of Salma Tahir “Can deer be served for lunch” published in your paper on August 27. The writer wrote in response to an article of the same title as the letter and written by Uzma Khan. Ms Tahir tried to stir the conscience of the ruling elites of this poor country who have no heart for their fellow citizens.
We have read in our history books of the lavish feasts that the subcontintent’s Mughal rulers would give for their guests but this perhaps dwarfs in comparison when one thinks of the menu for the lunch that the prime minister gave for former president Asif Ali Zardari. I wonder how one can even think of eating a deer. The chief minister of Punjab introduced an excellent law restricting the food served at weddings to one dish, and this has proven to be popular among ordinary people. Our five-star hotels, expensive restaurants and prestigious clubs are filled with connoisseurs of food and drink and at a stone’s throw from these establishments we often find people virtually starving, and small children begging for a piece of bread.
We don’t have to go very far to see how things are elsewhere. Just take a look the next door in India where the gulf between the rich and the poor is not as wide and glaring as it is in Pakistan.
Aamir Aqil
Published in The Express Tribune, August 29th, 2014.
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