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New thoughts on dowry
Tragedy of Ambassador Zaeef ONE does not have to be pro-Taliban if human feelings surge for them. The above piece was a good one on Abdul Salam Zaeef, the former Taliban Ambassador in Pakistan. During his regime, he enjoyed diplomatic immunity. But as his government was ousted, he applied for asylum in Pakistan. But sadly, he was forced to return to his country, which he feared, because of the growing hostility there. Anybody else would have done the same in his capacity. Yet, he linked Afghanistan with the outer world and there was nothing wrong with it. According to newspaper reports, Taliban POWs have been taken out of Afghanistan for questioning. It is feared that they may not get fair trials according to the provisions of the Geneva Convention. Who is there to defend them miles away from home? Osama bin Laden, the most-wanted Arab dissident and Mullah Umar are still at large. Osama’s only sin is that he is being suspected of hatching the WTC and Pentagon attacks of Sept 11, and Mullah Umar harboured him and defended his country on being attacked by a super-power under the pretext of harbouring terrorists and their network. One wonders, if they would also get a trial according to the war prisoners for what they are supposed to have done. M. SHAFIQUE AHMED Karachi Being true to ourselves THIS is with reference to Syed Hassan Aftab’s article Being true to ourselves. I really liked it as it presents a true picture of our society. In fact, the writer has revealed the hypocrisy of our society in an impressive manner. In this materialistic society, there is no importance of emotions such as love, sincerity and purity. Only status, bank balance and degrees matter. Due to these social harms, that are difficult to realize, we have become arrogant, rude, proud and selfish. If all people are born equal, then why is a B.A. degree holder degraded or humiliated? He just might be more talented, learned and sensible than a Ph.D. degree holder. One should look for internal beauty and perfection first then search for external perfection! IFRAH KHALID GHANI Lahore It’s the Wild West again THE article It’s the Wild West again by Aslam Minhas in the Dawn magazine issue of Jan 6, was hair-raising for a person like me, although it seemed to be somewhat hyperbole. The article is really an eye-opener for those millions (if not billions) of native youth who have developed a craze for America and the Green Card is their final and most-cherished dream. According to the article, it seems that all the cultural traits and social norms are in their moribund state in the US and the ‘the land of double standards’ will literally turn into the proverbial Wild West. Uncle Sam is playing the role of Halaku Khan in Afghanistan, wreaking death and destruction on the innocent Afghans for no fault of theirs. The lives of Afghans and Palestinians are cheap for the Americans who bear the standard of human rights and rush to any spot in the world where they smell the rat of human rights’ violations. Given the symptoms of the American society, as described in the article, the physical, moral and cultural demise of the present unquestioned and unchallenged master of the world is imminent in the near future. ZAHIRUDDIN Chitral | ||
THIS refers to the article New thoughts on dowry by Sadia Hassan (Dawn Magazine, Dec 16). The writer says that men in Balochistan and the NWFP go by the Islamic practice of paying the Mehr amount in advance and bearing almost the entire expense of the wedding. Further, she says: “One great advantage of the Islamic system (in the Frontier) is that a man of average means can’t afford to ill-treat his wife, what to say of divorcing her.”|
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