Recent media reports that FBR is hiring more then 80 consultants at
very high rates was very shocking. If FBR requires +80 consultants
to do their jobs this means that the department is not capable of
doing its job on its own. I think the government should take strict
notice of this and of any other government departments that hire
consultants for their own work. All organizations should be capable
of running their affairs, solve their problems and also improve
their working. If an organization requires more then 10-20
consultants a year for their work, then that organization is not
capable of working on its own and the organization should take
proper steps to improve its capabilities or close down. I would like
to request the government to please pass a law that only permits 10
consultants for any government department per year. —Peshawar
Mesmerised leaders
Dr Inayatullah Faizi
I want to draw the attention of your readers towards the successful
tour of President Zardari and President Karzai to America. Both the
leaders have come out from the White House totally mesmerised and
hypnotised. People sent them to the White House to tell the enemy
the truth that we can no longer afford to fight your proxy war on
our soil. Astonishingly both the leaders announced that “the US war
for terror was our own war”. In mesmerism the subject is made to
believe that “I face no danger from my enemy, the only danger I face
is from my own brother. This is exactly what happened to President
Zardari and President Karzai on 7th May in White House. —Chitral
Unidentified gender
Asma Khoja
The delight of the birth of a healthy baby is incredible. Imagine a
young man waiting anxiously outside the operation theatre to hear
the amazing news about the birth of his first baby. After an hour of
immense waiting, the doctor comes out and congratulates him for a
healthy baby. The anxious father asks about the sex of the baby.
Doctor reveals that the baby has ambiguous genitalia (having both
male and female sex organs), so called hermaphrodite or hijra. In an
instance the parental joy of having a healthy baby vanishes and
various questions arise in his mind, such as why this happened to
him? What sins has he committed for which God gave him the curse of
a baby hijra? What will he tell his wife, family and friends? What
will his neighbors think about them? Instead of feeling love and
passion for his baby, all of a sudden he felt hatred, although the
baby was part of his flesh and blood. Why does the father feel like
this? Why is he frightened to face the society? I believe that all
these feelings of disgust and despair are due to stigmatization for
Hijras.
Being a hijra did not always carry the extreme social and cultural
stigma as it does today. Hijras were considered capable and valuable
advisors during the Mughal era. In Middle Ages hijras were also
employed to teach the recitation of the Holy Quran to young princes
and princesses. On the contrary, now they are victims of extreme
social isolation in our society. They are not only rejected by the
society but also discarded by their own families. They wander on the
roads, especially on traffic signals, with layers of makeup passing
humorous and sometimes vulgar comments. However, underneath the
laughter and makeup lie dreams, ambitions and the desire to live a
normal life. Today in Pakistan, hijras, whose population exceeds one
million, are still fighting for their basic rights.
As a sensible human being we all need to understand that hijras are
not curse of nature but human beings just like us. They do not have
any other defaults other than only one. If a blind, deaf or any
other physically disabled person has the privilege to enjoy the
rights of citizenship, then why not them? We should not consider
them as handicapped. In fact, those who are born with the sexual
ambiguity should be registered on district level. Moreover they
should be given share in employment to restrain them from falling in
socially unacceptable activities and enable them to lead normal
life. —Karachi
Parenthood dream
Laila Aziz Ali
Twenty five years old Nirmala with 3 years of marriage having a
stable marital relationship but is having a difficulty in conceiving
the child.
Disappointment with the outcome, her husband married with another
woman for the sake of child. She felt hatred towards life and the
joy of life was dispersed. After the second marriage of her husband,
series of questions were revolving in her mind. Why this happened to
her?
What will she say to the society? Instead of having feelings of
sympathy towards her, the society stigmatized her for infertility
and subsequently she committed suicide. I believe that this is not
the story of one woman but number of women has similar story all
over the world. Becoming a parent is one of the blessings of God in
one’s life, but unfortunately some of the couples are deprived of
this blessing. The expression which deprived the women from this
blessing is infertility.
Infertility is mainly a couple’s problem, and is commonly due to
deficiency in both the male and female partners. According to
Advance Fertility Institute, in females there can be absence of
ovaries, blocked fallopian tubes, physical and psychological stress,
use of alcohol and cigarette, infections of the cervix with common
sexually transmitted diseases, cancer of the uterus (place where
baby lives in mother womb), abnormal shape of uterus and women with
older age.
The percentage of infertility is high in women who use
contraceptives for a long period. In males, there is anatomical and
functional changes of sperms, low sperm concentration due to problem
with sexual intercourse or correct technique of sex practice,
emotional stress, infection of the reproductive system, excessive
use of alcohol, smoking and other drugs like marijuana, exposure to
hazardous toxins, chemicals, or radiation and chronic medical
illness like diabetes and hypertension lead to infertility among
couple.
We all need to understand that infertility is not curse of nature
but it is the ordeal from God which human being should accept it as
a decision of fate. General population including males, female’s
especially infertile couples should be provided with appropriate
information regarding the causes and effects of infertility. This
will contribute in solving the psychological and emotional problems
of infertility. Making them aware that either of the partners could
be responsible and it is important to investigate both the partners.
The husbands should also be counseled for the fact that the men play
important role in infertility. Human being is a great creation of
God and it is important that we give respect, honor and right to
every member of society to live with dignity especially infertile
females. At last, an infertile couple can help each other by sharing
feelings and concerns in order to struggle side by side on their
journey towards parenthood. —Karachi
Unscheduled loadshedding
Bashir Hussain Azad
Peshawar Electric Supply Company ( PESCO) is still living in 2007
when there was 8 hours scheduled load shedding and 6 hours more
unscheduled load shedding in the market area of Chitral town.
There are six thousand (6000) commercial consumers of PESCO who
watch Raja Pervez Ashraf Minister for Power announcing that there
will no more load shedding, but practically there is daily 9-10
hours load shedding in Chitral Bazar without any schedule. I request
Raja Pervez Ashraf to correct himself and announce that except for
Chitral there will be no load shedding. For Chitral, the minister
should announce that this unfortunate district has the potential of
producing 42000 MW electricity, but there will be 9 hours daily load
shedding in Chitral Bazar. —Chitral
