Another Girls School Burned down in Afghanistan, Several Qurans burned

Education is the right of every girl and everyone on this Earth. The right however has been long denied by several societies in time to girls as females have been victim to injustice, inequality and discrimination since ages. The trend still lives on and the reflection of the miseries of women reflected nowadays with not just violence towards women but also denying education to them. Parents in many cultures and societies fail to understand the value of education and it's dire importance for a girl and hence, ignore and are unwilling towards sending them to schools. Those who do however have got reluctant with yet another of bombing of girls school especially in Afghanistan.


Several girls schools has met the same fate of being blown off and depriving it's student from the gift of knowledge. The frequency of such incidents is also heart breaking. The strong resistance by the Taliban towards female rights and threat to education is an injustice that largely affects the world. The Taliban claim highly for orthodox Islamic rule however, Islam gives immense respect to women, high importance towards education and strict discipline towards justice in society.


Taliban are far from knowing and practicing Islam. They breed a battle ground and promote hatred. It is a huge injustice to impose self-opinion and create fear in the minds of these young girls who have a heart and great hopes towards attending school and getting education. Its their right! These claims towards Islam made by Taliban are a disgrace now as they have created and promoted an extremely negative image in the world of Islam, a religion that preaches peace and brotherhood. The burning down of several copies of the Holy Quran present in the libraries of these Afghan schools is yet another sin arousing agony among the people.


May Almighty Allah free the world from the plague of Taliban and protect us all from their ill intentions!

Lasbela Land sold to Arabs for hunting: A state attack on Pakistan’s sovereignty

It is known that Arabs come each year to Pakistan for hunting purposes. This interest of theirs is not much publicized to be known to all or the timings of the visit or duration known but it has been going on since long now. The practice has no doubt issues to it as going to another country for hunting down its birds and animals, a cruel practice indeed just for fun is surely unethical and infuriating. It has however been allowed to remain and flourish just because of the revenue the government earns out of it.

Attacks on Pakistan’s sovereignty have been immense but this is also a concern arousing issue. The sale of land and assets of Pakistan and its people so easily to foreign nationals is an unappreciated action and a huge issue. When Pakistan’s assets should be its power and Pakistani efforts should be towards progress and development through building upon its resources, our government has made an extremely wrong measure towards damaging Pakistani sovereignty and hurting its people’s sentiments. 

This time about 70,000 hectares of land in the coastal district of Lasbela is sold to Arab princes for hunting. Earlier Gwadar Port was given to Singapore Port Authority and Reko Diq gold and copper project to foreign companies. This is a huge injustice to the people of Balochistan and largely an adverse decision towards Pakistan. The government may lack funds and technology to develop the country resources but selling it to foreigners for their pleasure or to exploit and benefit from the resources of our country is a decision that isn't in anyway in the interest of Pakistan. When the province of Balochistan is largely ignored for a long time, efforts should be concentrated towards means to curb such feelings and unite Pakistan towards progress and development rather than take such decisions and add to the misery.

US panel calls for Pakistan membership of G20…Really?

A US panel led by Richard Armitage and Samuel Berger has suggested Pakistan’s membership to the Group of Twenty of at least granting of an observer status stating it would enable “to connect with new power structures and familiarize it with emerging norms and responsible international behavior”. The headline published in DAWN newspaper on Saturday, November 13, 2010 caught my attention to go through thinking of it as a positive call. However, it had little to do so with my intentions.

The idea was more about the increased pressure on the call of ‘Do more’ on the war on terrorism. The panel has surely focused on threats to US from terrorism networks in Pakistan and had idolized ‘two realistic scenarios’ which could force change in US policy and strategy towards Pakistan. The focus was more of bringing attention to the ‘what if tomorrow US is attacked’ and then it would be too late and so that Pakistan should be dealt with fiercely or completely isolated and closer ties could be made with India at the expense of Pakistan. The heavy risks and costs to both Pakistani and Americans of these actions were though also termed.

Pakistani sovereignty is already under discussion of being invaded due to the drone attacks which may be targeted at the militants but kills other innocent people too. This is bound to cause a reaction in the long run. When President Obama talked about why Pakistan isn’t termed a terrorist state as an answer to a school girl during his visit to India, it had some ray of hope in it for Pakistan. But this news was a severe blow. Pakistani society which faces high inflation, insecurity, economic burden increased due to the floods and foreign debt is already struggling with internal domestic issues. The menace of terrorism has affected it more than anything else. Several innocent people fall victim to these attacks in Pakistan who have increased in frequency and more than anything else make life extremely insecure for the common man in Pakistan. The interest in terrorism is vested with few hands; the whole nation is already suffering from it and in a tragic state because of it. In this state, such news coming from the US is a tremendous blow to the surviving hopes within the nation.

There surely is a huge need for efforts to fight terrorism but the military expenditure is something Pakistan just can’t afford currently. It not like that terrorism is an admired thing in Pakistan, it surely is not, it is one of the most hated things but replying to it with fire would only increase the reaction. The already done actions of curbing the menace have brought drastic increase in the attacks already because of which the Pakistanis have suffered losing precious human lives, their homes and loved ones. When the fight on terrorism is for everyone’s benefit towards a better world and so many concerns are aired over it than the Pakistani sentiments, conditions and sovereignty should also be taken in to considerations.  Statements of strategy and pressure would only demotivate the efforts towards the war on terrorism. Pakistan may have its differences with India but I personally think that with sincere political will on both sides they can bring peace and harmony in the region. The war on terrorism can be better fought with united efforts and strategies against terrorism. The blame game, pressure tactics and such statements would only extend matters to an adverse end. A change in the policies and strategies is surely essential against terrorism and towards peace building however, it should be free from biasness to do the trick.

Terror visits Karachi: Blast at CID Building rocks metropolis

Karachi was rocked with a huge explosion at about 8.30pm when a truck full of explosives hit the Crime Investigation Department (CID) building. The terrifying sound that was heard at a radius of 15 kilometers was also heard at my home at boat basin when the windows of my home opened and closed making a terrifying sound due to the heavy wind pressure caused by the powerful blast. At that very instant, I knew it was a bomb blast. I rushed to watch updates on the television after getting SMS from a few friends with “Blast near PIDC” in it, the scenes of television were heart breaking. My beloved country was yet victim to another act of terrorism that has plagued its economy.

The blast was so intense that people in Nazimabad and Mazar-e-Quaid also heard it and the earthquake recording authorities claim to have recorded it at a magnitude of 1.3. Surely was huge as nearby building were damaged, about 12 houses succumbed to rubbles, the complete front portion of the head office of the CID building was flattened, 2 huge craters were made in the ground, several cars in the busy area were moved from their positions in the traffic jams to hit other cars on the side, 21 people killed and about 115 injured. The bomb disposal experts say around 1,000 kg explosives were used in the blast.

The blast was said to be a reaction to the arrest of 6 people of the banned Lashkar-e-Jhangvi that were present at that time in the CID office for interrogation and after the blast, witnesses say that some terrorists may have escaped. Similar to the previous attacks such as the Marriot blast in Islamabad, this attack too involved heavy firing before the blast. However, this time the area of blast was a very crucial one. The Red zone is location to the Chief Ministers house, Governor’s House, Qasr-e-Naz, three luxury hotels, the US consulate and governments, etc. 

Blasts have become a common thing is Pakistan as the frequency of their occurrence has increased steadily over time. However, the losses of innocent lives is an irreparable loss and a pain their families have to live with for long. The frequency of such attacks has made lives of the common man highly insecure.Strict measures are needed to curb this menace of terrorism from society and value human lives as providing security to it's citizens is the duty of the state and the measures for this on part of the state yet needs serious attention.

Childhood Abuse Linked to Diabetes Risk in Adult Women

New findings suggest that women who were victims of childhood abuse may be at increased risk of developing diabetes in adulthood.


Lead author Janet Rich-Edwards, director of developmental epidemiology at Connors Center for Women's Health and Gender Biology, Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, said in a Center for Advancing Health news release that "Much, although not all, of this association is explained by the greater weight gain of girls with a history of abuse. The weight gain seems to start in teenage years and continues into adulthood, increasing the risk of diabetes". 


As child abuse leaves an enduring imprint on the health in adulthood careful measures need to be taken against child abuse to protect them in the long-run, as the experience of the abuse gets incorporated in the body in some way or the other. 


"One theory is that abused women develop disordered eating habits as a compensatory stress behavior, leading to excess weight gain," Rich-Edwards said. "Another theory suggests that child abuse may increase levels of stress hormones that later cause weight gain and insulin resistance, characteristic of diabetes."


In either way, the risk remains of long-term health burden. Such issues existing in society need urgent attention to address the needs of the people and make lives easier for everyone. For child abuse the best ways to learn to prevent them involve helping families to be careful regarding the occurrence and alerting clinicians the possible role of abuse in pre-diabetics and diabetics patients.

Youth of Kashmir play their role and remind Obama of Kashmir

It was wonderful reading about the work of Kashmir Children Assembly (KCA) just before President Barrack Obama’s visit to India. Hundreds of young children paraded with banners and placards and addressed the press to raise voice and concerns against repression in Indian held Kashmir. Calling on the President to intervene in Kashmir to bring an end to reign of terror as the reason of 10,000 people missing expected to be killed by the Indian troops and 2,700 unmarked graves in three towns was enough a reason for intervention and the need to secure the future of the Kashmiri Children. The children who started their parade from a graveyard laid floral wreaths at the mausoleums of the freedom movement pioneers and flowers petals on the graves of the martyrs.

It was great to see children of Kashmir aware and worried over the plight of their state and actually making an effort to voice themselves. The power of youth was relived in the efforts made by KCA as they proved that the state of affairs is a matter of grave concern as youth being the future of the state is bound to get affected by these circumstances. I really hope their efforts bear fruits and their goals strengthened to securing a safer and better future for themselves, which is their right.

Visa biasness towards Pakistanis: The image of Pakistan in the international society

Pakistanis has faced a severe blow to their image in face of the recent threats of terrorism that have adversely affected the way Pakistanis are portrayed in the international society.  Pakistani visiting foreign countries are subjected to humiliation in terms prolonged waiting, checking, etc as they are eyed upon with suspicion and fear of possibility of a threat to peace and security. This generally negative image of Pakistani has been frowned upon by many Pakistanis who had to go through discrimination and pain-staking measures just because of the created image although it certainly isn’t true for all individuals residing in Pakistan.

One of the discrimination faced by Pakistani nowadays is in terms of difficulties in getting visas. The procedures made complicated stating security reasons; visa rejection has also become a common fiasco. Pakistani were denied visas during the common wealth games in India and it has also been learnt now through independent inspector John Vine that the UK Border Agency may also be illegally discriminating against Pakistani for visas to UK. Pakistan is the fourth largest source of applications to enter UK and higher evidential requirements are put up for Pakistanis which isn’t clear. They give the reason of the process being designed to target visa fraud and made ‘worryingly inconsistent visa decisions’.

In is tragic to see many suffer because of the actions of few. The finger at the Pakistanis is the finger at everyone living in Pakistan and when we collectively suffer, we need to forego the divides among us to guard our honour and dignity, correcting our image to be able to live with pride.