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Turkish conquest
Working women THIS refers to Mr Umair Mohsin’s article, The dilemma of working women, published on October 20. Females constitute almost 51 per cent of our total population. However, our predominantly patriarchal system does not let them get a fair share of educational and professional opportunities. However, when a woman feels hard-pressed to work, to meet the financial needs of her family, we are not reluctant to cast aspersions on her character. In a male-dominated job environment, she is subjected to all manifestations of indecent behaviour. To top it all, her services are hardly considered on par with those of men. This underrating of her labour is a glaring evidence of the double standards in our society. It is a fact that with respect to ability, man and woman have no difference whatever. To bring women into the mainstream with honour and dignity, there is no other way out than dispensing with the curse of gender discrimination. The following steps could help us achieve this goal: (a) Women must be provided with complete judicial safeguard against excesses committed against them. Those involved in crimes against women must never be spared; (b) Special stress must be laid on education of our rural youth with regard to women’s rights, and the promotion of literacy among rural women; (c) Special grants should be sanctioned to government and non-government organizations concerned with the socio-economic uplift of our women; (d) School and college syllabi should be provided with texts underscoring the role women could play in the economic growth of our nation; (e) Women must be afforded adequate representation in the national and provincial assemblies to ensure their active involvement in the decision-making process at national and regional levels. These steps, if followed in letter and in spirit, would go a long way in changing our social attitude towards women. SHAHID SARWAR QAZI Lahore Indian propagada I READ with interest the article, Indian propaganda, in the Magazine section of October 20. I live in the US and I can be safely considered to be the reader of unbiased news reports about the subcontinent in the media here. I have only seen more reporting about Pakistan than about India, Sri Lanka, Nepal and Bangladesh, combined. General Musharraf has to utter a word and it gets reported here. I guess it is because of 9/11 and Al Qaeda/Afghanistan factors. Does the writer believe that like the Nazis, Indians are involved in a propaganda designed to mislead the world? The world believed the Nazis all right! But for how long? More than 50 years? MURTHY DASIKA, New Jersey, USA Conflicting versions THIS is with reference to Rabia Alavi’s article, Conflicting version, published on September 29, 2002. I agree with the writer that Islam, which is known for its simplicity, has been interpreted by people wrongly just to suit their own ideas and lifestyle. Due to some extremists, the image of Islam and our Holy Prophet has been presented to the world in a wrong manner. However, some of us let them do this to our religion just because we think that they are scholars and can interpret Islam correctly. People offer more reverence to physical piety rather than spiritual one. They believe wearing a hijab or offering prayers five times a day is all that makes one a complete Muslim. They should be made to realize that one’s intentions and the resulting deeds are also important. By being a good human being can one become a good Muslim too. We, the Muslims, need to take a much closer look at Islam by ourselves rather than blindly believing in other peoples’ views and interpretation of our religion. SAMEAH ZAIGHAM, Karachi | ||
THIS refers to the article Turkish conquest of northern India by Mubarak Ali, on October 27. He has justified the Turkish conquest on the basis of bringing about the change in the otherwise stagnant and cast-ridden society of India, which was, according to the writer, not able to change itself.|
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