OPPORTUNITIES FOR LOCALS: Hub is a major industrial area in Balochistan having more than a thousand industries. However, the people of Hub remain deprived of employment opportunities in the factories situated in their own backyard. When they go to such factories and seek employment, they are rejected without being heard. Almost the entire workforce in Hub is composed of non-locals when the first right is that of the local people so that they may have a chance to feed their children instead of having to go to other places to find work.

Ameer Sajidi
Khuzdar

DUAL NATIONAL BUREAUCRATS: Quite a few Pakistanis with dual nationalities are holding posts in bureaucracy and politics. Other nations, like China, India and Saudi Arabia, do not allow dual citizenship. China and Saudi Arabia consider it a criminal offence if a person does not renounce the first one. Violation of this rule is a common practice here in Pakistan and it should not be allowed to go unchecked.

Syed M. Ali
Multan

CAR SAFETY FEATURES: There are safety issues with cars manufactured in Pakistan. Recently, I was out driving a 2017 model car on the highway and met an accident when the car’s speed was over 120kmph. The airbags did not open, and it was sheer luck that we escaped unharmed. That was scary, to say the least. The local car manufacturers must work to improve the safety features in the vehicles.

Shah Zaman Shah
Matiari

ACID ATTACKs: One of the most horrifying forms of gender-based violence in Pakistan is throwing acid on women with the aim of taking revenge for something as trivial as turning down marriage proposal. Nearly 150 such incidents take place every year in Pakistan; about one-third in Balochistan alone. The relevant authorities need to do everything they can and even beyond to try to eliminate the menace from society.

Minahil Noor
Lahore

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2022