EQUAL REWARDS: This is with reference to the report ‘PM Shehbaz announces massive incentives for overseas Pakistanis with job quotas, civil awards’ (Dawn.com. April 15). Like overseas Pakistanis, the salaried class within

the country has demonstrated extra- ordinary fiscal responsibility, contributing billions in income tax. However, there seems to be no intention to acknowledge their contributions. The salaried class deserves equal acknowledgment and incentives. True national progress demands that recognition and rewards align with merit, performance as well as sacrifice; not with privilege and political convenience.

Ashfak Siayl
Karachi

WATER MAFIA: During the recent ‘water crisis’ in Karachi, the water tanker mafia had a field day. I live in Phase VIII of the Defence Housing Authority (DHA) and was in urgent need of water. My regular contact refused to deliver water, citing water unavailability at various hydrants. I had to rush to Qayyumabad, where a water tanker charged nearly double the routine rate. On top of that, the water supplied was brackish. The DHA administration and the city mayor must stop this exploitation of hapless people.

Umar M. Makhdumi
Karachi

LEARNING FROM JAPAN: This is with reference to the letter ‘Rally on footpaths’ (April 5), which suggested that political parties in Pakistan should learn a lesson from the Indian state of Gujarat, where political parties are not allowed to block the roads. Indeed, on paper, political parties in Gujarat are not supposed to block the roads, but they do that frequently. And the police force remains a bystander on all such occasions. Instead of ‘learning from India’, our political parties should learn from other countries like Japan where peaceful protests with prior permission are allowed as long as they do not disrupt public life or traffic. Japan is better than India in this context. This is the kind of system we truly need.

Shahque
Hub

Published in Dawn, April 27th, 2025