You have done an interesting story on the role of Cynthia Ritchie in Pakistan’s politics and various other women who have impacted the world’s political history in the past decades. The role of Cynthia Ritchie is rather mysterious so far and it is not clear what exactly has she been doing in Pakistan for the past ten years or so.

Raheela Rasheed
Rawalpindi

It is amazing how political stances of countries change. There was a time when there was nothing as horrific as the “Israeli Boycott” in the UAE. Under this boycott, anything that had the slightest modicum of relations with the Jewish state was totally banned from the Arab states. The UAE, a federation of seven Persian Gulf Arab emirates, always claimed to stand for Palestine’s liberation from the clutches of Israel. This was always a lost cause, though, and liberating Palestine was well-nigh impossible. Subsequently, Arab countries began falling into line to recognize Israel, obviously under U.S. prompting. The first was Egypt, followed by Jordan and now it’s the UAE and Bahrain. It is said that Oman and Kuwait are also in line but there is nothing clear about Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
In all this, what happens to the sentiments of the Palestinians?

Muhammad Zahoor Raja
Mansehra

Your Comment section in September titled ‘Chullu Bhar Pani’ really hits the nail right on the head. It is really unfortunate that a mega city like Karachi has been driven down to a point that its infrastructure has collapsed just because the monsoon season this year was more severe than in previous years. The whole city, from the poorest to the poshest, has been turned into a cesspool.

It is fortunate that the federal government has been awakened from its slumber and has asked for the assistance of the Pakistan Army to help restore the city to some normalcy.

Suleman Shah
Mirpur Sakro

Writing on Pakistan’s Sicilian mafias, your writer Imran Jan is right when he says that the mafias have been the cause of much damage to Pakistan.

As Imran Jan writes, the quest for profits of the mafias will never stop and they will always resort to what they have been doing until now – fraud, manipulation, controlling legislation, influencing the executive – and all sorts of crimes their minds can cook up.

Dan Havershom
London

When President Recep Tayyip Erdogan talks of exercising his ‘sovereign right’ in turning the Hagia Sophia from a museum into a mosque, he is simply tackling an internal matter of Turkey. No other nation has any right to criticize him or demand an explanation for his actions. After all, the Turkish president doesn’t go around criticizing other nations for their actions of omission or commission.

Muhammad Hafeez
Karachi

Despite the dwindling revenues and a multitude of economic challenges, it is admirable that the ICI Light Soda Ash Plant in Khewra is being expanded. This speaks volumes for the dedication of ICI.

It is hoped that the company will continue to achieve further progress in future.

Salman Ali