ILLOGICAL DEMAND: The demand by the West for the formation of an ‘inclusive’ government in Afghanistan seems hilarious. Did the American revolutionaries keep the British loyalists as part of their new republic? Did the French revolutionaries retain those close to Louis XVI? Did Imam Khomeini keep those loyal to Reza Shah Pehlavi in the new setup? Has Saudi Arabia ever given due representation to its Shia population? The answer to all these question is in the negative, and yet the West keeps trying to take the moral high ground. Amazing.

Cdre (retd) Sajjad Ali Shah Bokhari
Islamabad

COLONIAL POLICIES: This is with reference to the editorial ‘Unjust allotment’ (Sept 15) on the subject of distribution of valuable land to retired civil servants free of cost. The scheme deserves to be characterised as ‘daylight robbery’ or ‘sanctioned corruption’ rather than ‘unjust allotment’. How long will we continue the policy pursued by the British colonial masters of dishing out land to its loyal servants? They were loyal to the masters, not to the common man. Are our civil servants also working for a sovereign and need to be rewarded for their loyalty?

Verdah Ateeq
Rawalpindi

QUORUM ISSUE: This is apropos to ‘Quorum syndrome continues to haunt National Assembly’ (Sept 21). No one in parliament seems interested in discussing issues of national importance, and the speaker simply adjourns the sessions citing incomplete quorum. The only solution is to ban the entry into parliament of ministers who miss two consecutive sessions.

Muhammad Jawahir ul Kalam
Lahore

SHORTAGE OF BOOKS: The students are back in schools after a prolonged Covid-led period that was marked by lockdowns, social distancing and online teaching. However, the students do not have the relevant textbooks as the same are not available. One hopes the books will be made available before the fifth Covid wave sets in, disrupting the studies.

Arshad Ali
Hyderabad

Published in Dawn, October 10th, 2021