IQBAL’S VISION: This is with reference to the article ‘A reformed Taliban?’ (Aug 28). While it has pointed out an apparent contradiction with regard to the issue of turning down Afghan refugees in spite of Iqbal’s vision of all ethnicities of the subcontinent being Muslims, the conclusion arrived at seemed rather myopic. Pakistan has been facing the refugee problem since decades, and there are valid concerns regarding terrorism from across the border in Afghanistan because of which border fencing was started and completed amid regular attacks and casualties on the Pakistani side. Moreover, Iqbal’s pan-Islamism was more universal than subcontinental.

Nizar Diamond Ali
Karachi

UMER SHARIF: Umer Sharif has left behind millions of fans whom he had entertained his whole professional life. He was able to make a depressed society laugh. His contribution to the media scene is immeasurable. He may have left us for his final abode, but he has left indelible impression on the minds of his fans across the world.

Mujeeb Ali
Larkana

THE LEGEND: Umer Sharif was a writer, actor, director and producer par excellence. I was once suffering from seasonal asthma and watching one of his stand-up comedy shows when his one-liners almost took my life, as I started laughing so intensely that I nearly choked after being breathless. People had to come to my aid. Such was his hold on audience. He was one of his kind.

Malik ul Quddoos
Karachi

FORSAKEN KARACHI: It appears that the people of Karachi are deliberately being humiliated by not being provided with basic civic facilities. It is no more a matter of negligence or corruption; there is something more at work, it appears. The people of Karachi are compelled to think that they are being deliberately ignored by the provincial and federal governments as well as by other state institutions.

M. Zahid Rajput
Karachi

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2021