A STRONG MESSAGE: The prime minister’s address to the 79th United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) was a powerful call to action, shedding light on long-ignored global concerns. His bold condemnation of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza and India’s settler-colonial project in Kashmir sent a strong message. Besides, on climate change, the prime minister highlighted the disproportionate impact on countries like Pakistan, which contri-bute minimally to global carbon emissions but suffer greatly from climate-related disasters. He also warned of the growing debt crisis facing the developing nations, advocating for financial architecture reforms to promote equity as well as development. His address emphasised values of global unity, justice and equality.

Riaz Ali Panhwar
Hyderabad

NON-FUNCTIONAL SCHOOLS: According to a recent report, out of 15,096 schools in Balochistan, 3,694 remain dysfunctional. These dysfunctional schools are not only in rural areas, but also in urban areas like Quetta. Unfortunately, the shortage of 16,000 teachers in the province is the major reason for the closure of schools. Similarly, the shabby and old infrastructure, lack of modern as well as scientific equipment, incom-petent teaching staff, inadequate funds and destruction of merit have together contributed to the closure of educational institutions across the province. It is high time the authorities concerned immediately addressed the vital issue.

F.A. Baloch
Peshawar

ACCOUNTABILITY: The recent state-ments by the incarcerated former prime minister about the state of democracy in the country are alarming, particularly the fact that in his own words he finds the democratic setup worse than martial law. The man must not forget that during his time in power, he was involved in everything that he finds wrong today. He used to talk big in the past about accountability. Now is the perfect oppor-tunity for him to voluntarily present himself for accountability and justice.

Sajjad Khattak
Attock

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2024