THE Supreme Court has resumed hearing of the fake degrees case pertaining to lawmakers of Pakistan. According to news reports, the Chief Justice said the degrees of 54 parliamentarians were declared as fake whereas 189 lawmakers had failed to submit their matriculation and intermediate certificates for the past two-and-a-half years.

It is also reported that 69 cases of fake degrees held by lawmakers had been forwarded to criminal courts for proceedings and FIRs had been lodged against 21 lawmakers who held fake degrees.

It is a very serious matter and I am amazed to notice the slow process of our courts. Though our national and provincial assemblies have completed their five-year life, yet the case is pending before the Supreme Court.

These assemblies had a majority of fake degree holders, who were actually law-breakers. They introduced and passed a lot of laws which have been implemented in our country.

I wonder what the legal position of such laws is and whether they will continue to be enforced and the Supreme Court would validate them as law of the land or eradicate them all.

SADYA MOHSIN Karachi MQM’s manifesto

WHILE as a humble observer of Pakistan’s contemporary political scene, I very much appreciate the MQM’s manifesto recently released by party leader Dr Farooq Sattar, I still question the wisdom of delay.

The MQM had been in power for the last five years as a partner of the coalition government at the centre. Why did it not implement or at least try to implement these ideas during this long period?

S.H. Brossard, Quebec

Drama turns into melodrama

ONE feels sorry for Sakina Mengal, a leader of the women’s wing of PML-N’s Balochistan chapter, who was denied a party ticket for the coming elections.

What is worse is that when as a sign of protest she wanted to put an end to her life, spoilsports that the cops are didn’t let her commit suicide in peace. Instead they took her into custody and drove her to a police station. What happened after that is nobody’s guess.

The cops should have realised that she was a novice at attempting suicide simply because after sprinkling kerosene all over her body she didn’t light a matchstick immediately. Perhaps she forgot to bring a match box with her.

Before she could have borrowed it from someone, the cops surfaced a little too soon. They normally appear on the scene well after suicides or murders are committed. I feel like wishing Ms Mengal better luck next time but I won’t do that fearing that I would be accused of abetting in a crime.I want to thank Ms Mengal for reminding me of a young boy who was denied a box of candies. Out of sheer desperation he decided to say goodbye to this cruel world. So, he jumped into what turned out to be a shallow part of the river. Instead of going ahead with his plans, he waded back to the river bank.

The reason was simple: the water was much too cold to his liking. Another novice, he should have waited for summer to set in.

ASIF NOORANI Karachi

‘Sadistic pleasure’

THIS is apropos of your editorial ‘Sadistic pleasure’ (April 5). As a Pakistani-Canadian, living far away from Pakistan, I am happy that elections are finally taking place on May 11. However, I was quite frustrated to watch on television the witch-hunting sessions going on in the case of some election candidates, in the name of Articles 62 and 63 of the constitution.

The legacy and religious narrow-mindedness seems to be clearly reflected in some questions. It is tantamount to taking religious tokenism to the extreme ends!

The only criterion for a suitable candidate should be his or her capability to represent faithfully his or her constituents’ problems. JALALUDDIN S. HUSSAIN Canada

Media ethics

I BELONG to a village, ignored by every government since the birth of Pakistan. Problems like health, sanitary, potable water and food have made people accustomed and hence the order of the day.

But the sheer lack of education has been a crucial problem. A broken school infrastructure, with absentee teachers, has been used as an ‘autaq’ of waderas.

While seeing the election day approaching, our people are convinced that a person from among us should be our representative and should contest.

But he has to face questions on Islam, Pakistan Studies, general knowledge, etc., asked by returning officers. Now imagine, how could a man who has lived all his life in ignorance in the absence of any effort by any government to provide him any education answer questions from the returning officers?

ALI RAZA SHOAIB    Khairpur Mirs’

THE Supreme Court has resumed hearing of the fake degrees case pertaining to lawmakers of Pakistan. According to news reports, the Chief Justice said the degrees of 54 parliamentarians were declared as fake whereas 189 lawmakers had failed to submit their matriculation and intermediate certificates for the past two-and-a-half years. It is also reported that 69 cases of fake degrees held by lawmakers had been forwarded to criminal courts for proceedings and FIRs had been lodged against 21 lawmakers who held fake degrees. It is a very serious matter and I am amazed to notice the slow process of our courts. Though our national and provincial assemblies have completed their five-year life, yet the case is pending before the Supreme Court. These assemblies had a majority of fake degree holders, who were actually law-breakers. They introduced and passed a lot of laws which have been implemented in our country. I wonder what the legal position of such laws is and whether they will continue to be enforced and the Supreme Court would validate them as law of the land or eradicate them all. SADYA MOHSIN Karachi MQM’s manifesto

WHILE as a humble observer of Pakistan’s contemporary political scene, I very much appreciate the MQM’s manifesto recently released by party leader Dr Farooq Sattar, I still question the wisdom of delay. The MQM had been in power for the last five years as a partner of the coalition government at the centre. Why did it not implement or at least try to implement these ideas during this long period? S.H. Brossard, Quebec

Drama turns into melodrama ONE feels sorry for Sakina Mengal, a leader of the women’s wing of PML-N’s Balochistan chapter, who was denied a party ticket for the coming elections. What is worse is that when as a sign of protest she wanted to put an end to her life, spoilsports that the cops are didn’t let her commit suicide in peace. Instead they took her into custody and drove her to a police station. What happened after that is nobody’s guess. The cops should have realised that she was a novice at attempting suicide simply because after sprinkling kerosene all over her body she didn’t light a matchstick immediately. Perhaps she forgot to bring a match box with her. Before she could have borrowed it from someone, the cops surfaced a little too soon. They normally appear on the scene well after suicides or murders are committed. I feel like wishing Ms Mengal better luck next time but I won’t do that fearing that I would be accused of abetting in a crime.I want to thank Ms Mengal for reminding me of a young boy who was denied a box of candies. Out of sheer desperation he decided to say goodbye to this cruel world. So, he jumped into what turned out to be a shallow part of the river. Instead of going ahead with his plans, he waded back to the river bank. The reason was simple: the water was much too cold to his liking. Another novice, he should have waited for summer to set in. ASIF NOORANI Karachi

‘Sadistic pleasure’ THIS is apropos of your editorial ‘Sadistic pleasure’ (April 5). As a Pakistani-Canadian, living far away from Pakistan, I am happy that elections are finally taking place on May 11. However, I was quite frustrated to watch on television the witch-hunting sessions going on in the case of some election candidates, in the name of Articles 62 and 63 of the constitution. The legacy and religious narrow-mindedness seems to be clearly reflected in some questions. It is tantamount to taking religious tokenism to the extreme ends! The only criterion for a suitable candidate should be his or her capability to represent faithfully his or her constituents’ problems. JALALUDDIN S. HUSSAIN Canada

Media ethics I BELONG to a village, ignored by every government since the birth of Pakistan. Problems like health, sanitary, potable water and food have made people accustomed and hence the order of the day. But the sheer lack of education has been a crucial problem. A broken school infrastructure, with absentee teachers, has been used as an ‘autaq’ of waderas. While seeing the election day approaching, our people are convinced that a person from among us should be our representative and should contest. But he has to face questions on Islam, Pakistan Studies, general knowledge, etc., asked by returning officers. Now imagine, how could a man who has lived all his life in ignorance in the absence of any effort by any government to provide him any education answer questions from the returning officers? ALI RAZA SHOAIB    Khairpur Mirs’