One step ahead, two steps back…

Our country is in a stagnance and decline…Even though the achievements made by our country are remarkable and spectacular, but the problems faced by it’s citizens are comparatively high.          

  Let’s consider women. Where are they? Many are mounting to great heights. They are beginning their own societies, organizations and industries. 40-50% of small and medium enterprises are owned by women. They excel in almost all the fields; the livestock sector cannot prosper without women’s participation. Ismat Chagtai was part of the Progressive Writers Association and was considered a very feminist writer. Rahila Narejo is an author, columnist, a human resource consultant and a CEO NHR. Sophia Hasnain is a technology analyst. Nafis Sadik was the first and one of the highest ranking women in UN to serve as an executive head of UN’s major voluntary funding programs, after which she worked as a civilian doctor in the military hospitals of Pakistan. Benazir Bhutto was the most important personality as she became the first female Prime Minister of Pakistan and brought about a change in the country for its well-being.

  But they still don’t have the same privileges as men do. A greater proportion of women are not subjected to even a bit of honor, especially in rural areas where honor killing has taken its toll. Family members themselves take the lives of their wives, sisters and daughters and no action was taken against them. A law was passed on this cruelty but it wasn’t of much importance because the family members themselves were culprits so they did not involve the police if they did, they closed the case as quickly as possible.

  Women in Pakistan are trapped in a web of dependency and subordination due to their low social, political and economic status in the society.

  An 18-year-old girl, Irum Saeed was burned in the face by acid by a boy whom she rejected for marriage. Similar cases happened with teenagers namely Kanwal Kayyum and Munira Asef.

  Najaf Sultana was burned by acid by her father at the age of five as he did not want another girl in the family. In a recent case, three teenagers were buried alive, two women were shot dead because they apparently helped the girls who chose their own grooms.     

   The literacy rate of women is generally stated as 24% as compared to 49% of men. Their need is apparent in many economic activities but their welfare is not taken into consideration, their contributions are always under reported which is partly the reason our country is still in the stage of development…

Teenage Depression

Today, I am going to take you down the roller-coaster ride Linda’s life, an ordinary teenager misunderstood by her family and labeled as a troublesome teen, ready to fight even in the slightest provocation.

  Linda, being an unexpectedly bright student slackened in her studies due to the way she was treated at home.

  Watching other teenagers drink made her envious. She belonged to a very conservative family where boy-girl relationships were not considered signs of an honorable person. She tried to make her mother understand, understand the way she was feeling, but when she started off, her mother shooed her away talking about some work she had to do and even if she listened, she just laughed it off. Same was the case with her elder sister…It made her jealous when her elder sister told everything to their mother so she began to withdraw from her family and friends. She started hanging out with the wrong crowd without realizing what she had gotten herself into...She started taking drugs and even started smoking. Nowadays, drinking sheesha is in vogue, so she started drinking sheesha as well.

  For sometime, she felt very happy by the twist her life had taken but after a couple of years, she started suffering from violent coughing. Her parents had already given up on her to change but when the coughs worsened; her mother took her to the doctor. There, she came to know that she had lung cancer and that it had reached the last stage. Any chances of recovery were gone…This came as a big shock to her. She was devastated! All this seemed like a very bad dream, but she couldn't do anything now. She didn't want to die a painful death so she committed suicide, leaving behind a note for her mother saying: If only you tried to understand…”

  Dear Readers, the fate of Linda is the fate of hundreds and thousands of teenagers round the globe and has already been. If it is not treated at once, it might be too late…

  Drinking sheesha only once is equal to about a 100 cigarettes, when 20 cigarettes a day takes away 3 years and 10 months of our lives, then you can do the math yourself and see that how much you are keeping at stake just by drinking it once. Besides, although it seems quite cool and lavish, we don’t look cool at all after drinking it…Life is too short to waste away by doing things which do not give but only take…take our lives…

Poverty making Pakistan a failing nation

"Alas! A morning to another fruitless day! I'm feeling very suicidal just by the prospect of the day ahead and these sleepless nights are making me weary day by day!", said Ammara.

This is the story of every other teenager in the poor and middle class, joblessness and the absence of the daily necessities is forcing them to believe in total strangers whose offers of taking away these troubles seem promising and this is what Ammara did...

      As she completed all the household chores in the morning, she reluctantly went out in the scorching heat to buy herself a newspaper and check out the job opportunities. As she did not have many qualifications, so she was not very hopeful. On her way to the newspaper stand, she met a motorist ant the signal, he told her that he had something in store for her and as she felt some weight in his promises, so she got in…

  Who was she to know that this man lured teenagers towards him by such promises and then traded their organs for money and that he also had a reputable doctor working for him.. 

This is how teenagers are being treated in our country. Money has been given so much importance that now, hundreds of thousands of innocent lives are at stake. There is no concern of their welfare and this is one of the mains reasons of the downfall of Pakistan. These law-breakers should be apprehended immediately our country's name is being reduced to smithereens because of them.. The 9/11 incident is a remarkable example and this labeled Pakistan as a terrorist country.. If we don't put a full stop to this, then who knows, Pakistan might lose it's freedom forever....