Letters To The Editor

In reference to the railway article, I have to say that the elite really have no idea what it is like to be forced to travel by train or earn a meagre amount. How can we expect them to improve our situation? 60% of the country is in the clutches of making an earning and spend an entirety for it simply because they are left in a cycle of never-ending struggle. This is only aggravated with the nonchalance towards the railway. At least have the thefts taken care of or the pension process facilitated!
Zainab Naveed
It makes me wonder why U Trade, like the rest of the world, craves for democracy. It is a marvel that populism survives as a result of the pressure of the elite class – the academic and economic elite. This support for mob rule has to stop with immediate effect. Why should our life revolve around democracy, freedom and justice? Are we that limited? How many of us know what autocracy, oligarchy and bureaucracy really is? The article on human development index starts by saying that in Pakistan, facts can justify anything and everything. Where is our intellectual honesty? The second article seemed so ironic to me: how can we expect people to save money when they don't have a social and economic life that demands such a saving? This just indicates one of the vicious circles we are trapped in. I also strongly disagree with enumerating human development. The reduction of a vista to just a numerical figure is astonishing, to say the least, let alone the fact that its calculation is based on testimonies often false, statistics often unverifiable and rules often controversial. I also don't see why all of your writers are eager to compare our statistics with India. This bromide is not of a true spirit and is rather cultivated by hatred. A true Muslim never hates a human. Even the tones of the articles reek with distaste. Bah!
Ashar Ali
As usual, U Trade comes up with very shocking figures. On page 11, the presentation of facts just above Kofi Annan’s quote make them stand out even more. It provided a good understanding of where we stand and what the ideals are. We, too, have a part to play. On the other hand, if a loss of Rs. 1 billion per day of the textile industry is not enough to give the policy makers a shudder, I don't know what will. The equilibrium that has been established with such pressing conditions is highly entangled and needs a professional rewinding to unweb the mess. This equilibrium is the tree that hinders the complete view of the forest; how can we expect the problem to be curbed if all that we’re troubled by is that changes in one figure will invariable lead to modifications in another? With 54% already on the verge of penury and a further 11% following suite, the government must pay pressing attention to development and growth, in which domain we seriously lack. Only 18% of the already fragile locomotives are in use. The 8th largest exporter of textile products is dying and raw material price makes for almost 90% of the total cost of the product – hello?
Sonia Shah
I was aboard the train that crashed on December 19, 2007. I came all the way from Islamabad to attend a wedding only to be left stranded for two days at a place with no hope of safety. Yet, 86 bridges are on the verge of destruction and more than half of the tracks, I repeat for emphasis, more than half of the railway tracks are insubstantial. The uncertainty and its horror I faced being a girl alone with my sister was unimaginable. Can the government even try to alleviate our pain? And then Karachi after Benazir Bhutto’s assassination! It’s a reason why articles like 15 Reasons Why I Prefer Being Pakistani exist. Can we be humans just for once? 
Asma  Tajammal
The disaster the national railway is headed for reminds me of the national airlines. Both were once thriving and remarkable in Asia. Transportation, the backbone of any country, is under peril. Will they suffer the same fate as Pakistan Steel Mills and WAPDA? 
Huma Khan
I do believe that we are mostly being drilled for education, not edified with it. Teachers must be trained to understand how and why children behave and misbehave. A surprising number of teachers cannot even tell what mind frame a pupil is in. No wonder we're not producing a generation of empathetic souls. This should be addressed with urgency, given the fact that 50% of the country's population comprises of people who need to be nurtured. We must stop treating our institutes like businesses!
Shahid Hussain
I think U Trade is doing a marvellous job in keeping us up-to-date with the current facts and figures. However, U Trade is reminded that it has to accept responsibility for its actions. What it delivers to us must be unbiased and honest. It must be written in a way that allows reader to infer for themselves.
Wajiha Munir
All the factors that encourage  population explosion are medicine, knowledge, sanitation, food, a clean supply of water, services, peace, safety and security. These are antithetical to the ideas that reduce population like war, genocide, increase in accidents, malnourishment and malpractice. What is to be done if birth control, the only way out, is in the cradle of controversies?
Nasir Ishfaq
It is no less than a wonder that even in a recession, banks find it easy to make money. If, on the other hand, an actual recession was rumoured, people would have taken out their deposits, creating a vacuum, giving rise to the recession itself. This causes the bankruptcy of the banks, themselves. It is a wonder how economics works. 
Tooba Akhtar
The recent price hike in fuel will only decrease our supply of electricity because it is going to be increasingly difficult for WAPDA to foot their bills. That’s a tightening of the noose on the industry and playing with the people, who already won’t care for the property of WAPDA when they protest. It is no surprise that the price hike will inevitably increase the price of goods. This is going to give many goose-bumps!
Saira Ikhlaq