Letters To The Editor


“You can almost measure where you are in life by the degree to which you have begun looking back rather than ahead.” – Ted Koppel



Gender imbalance in law enforcement fields

Although opportunities for women in policing have expanded over time, the overall numbers remain relatively low. Research suggests that women make up only two percent of Pakistan’s police force. The gender imbalances in police forces can significantly affect individuals’ experiences when interacting with police. It is due to this reason that whenever the police raid the house of an accused, and do not have female officials accompanying them, the male officials are viewed to be violating the sanctity of female residents which leads to the investigation process being compromised and the accused is often not prosecuted. In essence, there are two main barriers to increasing the numbers of women in policing: elements of sexism and discrimination that result from the male-dominated culture in police forces and the nature of the job itself. One potential solution is a bigger focus on flexible working arrangements and part-time policing arrangements to help improve the work-life balance for officers. But we are yet to see if these steps will make a difference.

Momina Rehman,
Islamabad

Religious intolerance in Pakistan

The history of sectarian conflict in Pakistan is as old as the existence of this country. Yet, the intensification of sectarian divide in Pakistan was observed during late 1970s and early 1980s because of domestic political changes. Sectarian divide between Sunnis and Shias a major destabilising factor in the country’s political, social, religious and security order. While causing unrest, disorder and violence in society, the sectarian conflict in Pakistan for the past many years resulted into thousands of deaths from suicide attacks, bomb blasts, assassinations and other terrorist acts. The lessons which one learns from years of sectarian violence in the country is the level of tolerance which has gone down. For the management and resolution of any conflict, it is vital that the parties who are engaged in that conflict must express flexibility, maturity and tolerance with each other.

Saad Amin,
Karachi

Energy crisis in Pakistan

Energy crisis is a burning issue in Pakistan today. With increasing population, growing demographic pressures and intense industrialisation, the demand for energy has increased but the generation of more power remains neglected. 99% of the population has electricity access but there is load shedding on an average of eight hours in cities and 10-12 hours in villages. The current stats show that energy production has stopped due to dependence on hydro power, imported oil and natural gas for generating electricity. At last I would like to add that our policy makers should work on different policies for our country to cope with the problem of energy crisis. Everyone should take part in conserving or either innovating new measures for power generation. Different strategies should be put forward to solve this situation. Measures should be taken as early as possible since time is of the essence.

Abeer Anwer,
Karachi

Misuse of #metoo movement

Recently, a lecturer Mohammad Afzalat of English at the Government MAO College in Lahore committed suicide after the institute's administration failed to issue him a letter absolving him of sexual harassment allegations by a female student. It’s a sad reality that some women have started taking personal vendetta under the pretext of the #MeToo movement. This is why innocent men are paying the price for a crime they did not commit. We live in a society where labels are not detached even after a person is proven innocent. And that’s what happened in Mohammad Afzalat’s case. His innocence was not being acknowledged by the university’s administration which forced him to take his life. Publicity and exposure of the movement are helping change the culture, but I strongly believe that the power of this seismic shift must be harnessed with care.

Mariam Zehra,
Lahore


RELATED POST

COMMENTS