Slew of Reforms
This is with reference to the cover story titled ‘Arab World - Shifting Gears,’ which appeared in the February 2022 issue of SouthAsia. The articles covering the matter were interesting and well-informative. However, the write-up ‘Baseless Controversies’ by Dr. Farah Naz was quite slanted, as the writer pulled out all the stops to hide the flip side of the coin, which is not a positive sign. One must try to examine issues only on merit by showing both the negative and positive aspects of the subject being discussed. In my opinion, the slew of ongoing reforms in the Arab world will soon backfire, and no one could suffer more than the people of the Arab world.
Shazia Haroon,
Peshawar, Pakistan.
Dealing with Damages
The coastal villages of Taluka Jati in District Sujawal, Sindh, are deprived of basic amenities of life. Particularly for the past two decades, the prevailing circumstances have forced a large number of fishermen to quit their ancestral occupation and resort to some other work to earn their livelihoods. Though a considerable number of coastal populations have adopted other occupations, many people still rely on fishing to make ends meet. It is quite a pitiless approach on the part of the provincial as well as the federal government that no corrective measures have taken so far for the amelioration of fishing communities, together with the local population of the coastal region, comprising the districts of Thatta, Sujawal, Badin and some areas of Tharparkar district.
Kamran Khamiso Khowaja,
District Sujawal, Pakistan.
Struggling SMEs
Despite producing a globally-proven quality, small enterprises are struggling to sell their products to other countries through numerous ecommerce applications and leading B2B portals, which are largely ruled by copycat manufacturers and state-supported counterfeiters, selling their pirated products at the cost of quality manufacturers hailed from the wrong side of the tracks. There is even more of the same in the offing, leaving a question mark on the future of small and medium enterprises that are already grappling with uncertain market conditions, flawed economic policies and vulnerable political climate of the country, which is further marred by the absolute disregard of the governments towards the ailing business sectors, let alone SMEs.
Abdul Hameed,
Bengaluru, India.
End of the Gentleman’s Game
Despite gaining more popularity because of T20 leagues organised all over the world, is cricket the same gentleman’s game, it was once known for its competitiveness, fair play and the ethos of sport? Hailed as the father of modern cricket, Kerry Packer, who was primarily a business tycoon, invested in cricket in the early 80s to turn a lacklustre sport into a cabaret-like performance, which is now left incomplete without bringing a bunch of cheerleaders on the ground. As it seems, the real cricket, i.e. Test cricket has been left behind and what we see today is a commercialised form of the game being played in the name of cricket mainly for the benefit of money-oriented players, corporate sponsors and business firms, who have hijacked cricket to serve their commercial motives.
Pardev Sami,
Dhaka, Bangladesh.
Remembering Yawar Mehdi
Yawar Mehdi, who recently died in Karachi, was a well-known broadcaster, literary programmer and a humanitarian to the core. In fact, he was truly a beloved radio Icon. With an ear for music and an eye for talent, Yawar Mehdi was not only a radio producer by his profession, but he was one of the few people in the entire history of Radio Pakistan who produced scores of prominent personalities and well-known celebrities who later excelled in their respective professions and fields. Yawar Mehdi, a multi-talented radio broadcaster, had a stack of impressive but innumerable accomplishments up his sleeves in the field of broadcasting, the promotion of academic cultural activities and as the silent social crusader of great zeal and piety. Rest in peace, Yawar Mehdi!
Bushra Ali,
Lahore, Pakistan.
A New Superpower
After the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1989, the world was left with a single superpower country, the United States of America. At that time, the rise of the ‘American Century’ was the most popular buzzword in the international community. The eventful advent of the 21st century was overwhelmed by the U.S. aggression consistently unleashed in the form of its hegemonic moves in different parts of the world. At that moment, however, a paradigm shift was slowly but steadily taking place with China moving to the centre stage in the world order. Many nations lingered almost a decade to perceive China a force to be reckoned with and some countries, including India and the United States, are still in a denial mode over China’s accelerating rise to the world’s superpower status. Hence, the Chinese century is well under way.
Pirzada Faizan,
Karachi, Pakistan.
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