All posts by Raza Jaffri

Education and unemployment

Economy, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

ACCORDING to the Labour Force Survey for 2003-04 nearly 3.48 million people are without a job in Pakistan. This is said to be over eight per cent. While this is bad enough, a more serious cause of concern is that of those unemployed, 59.2 per cent are educated — and their ratio has been growing. In 2001-02 the educated comprised 55.1 per cent of the jobless.

This report reflects adversely on the economic planning of the government and its education policy. Most importantly such a high rate of unemployment has grave implications for social stability. If those without a job are educated, the frustration is even greater. Besides, it robs education of the incentive it should provide to the people generally: they can no longer be assured of a good job if they learn the literacy and numeracy skills.
Continue reading Education and unemployment →

Tackling domestic violence

Terrorism and Violence, Women

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

THE same day when Mukhtar Mai filed an appeal in the Supreme Court against the acquittal of her alleged rapists by the Multan bench of the Lahore High Court, this paper carried a report of the Progressive Women’s Association (PWA), an Islamabad-based NGO, that 7,000 burn cases involving women were brought to only four hospitals in Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The report didn’t specify the period in which these incidents of violence took place. Mukhtar Mai’s anguish is too recent for it to have been erased from people’s collective memory. She is the woman who was gangraped in 2002 in Meerwala village on the orders of a jirga.

And as long as men and women of conscience are alive, Mukhtar Mai will not find herself alone. Only recently an American woman, Benita Lubic, wrote to me, “I want you to know that we do care! I was most distressed reading an article in the Washington Post about Mukhtar Mai and the terrible problems she has had to face and the fight she has against her alleged rapists. My heart goes out to her and others who experience similar situations. I pray for her.”
Continue reading Tackling domestic violence →

Do consumers have rights in Pakistan?

Economy, Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

The World Consumer Rights’ Day was observed internationally on March 15. As a token observance, the Helpline Trust made a single-handed bid to remind the government and the people of Pakistan about the importance of consumer rights.

The day has been observed the world over since 1983 with the idea of making consumers — which in effect means everyone who buys goods or services — aware of their rights so that they can demand protection for them.
Continue reading Do consumers have rights in Pakistan? →

Importance of protest

Social Issues

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

March 19, was the second anniversary of the Anglo-American invasion of Iraq. Although several rallies and demonstrations were held in Europe protesting against the war and calling for the withdrawal of American troops from the war ravaged country, the voices were relatively muted.

In Pakistan it was hardly remembered that it was on this day two year ago when terror rained down on Baghdad. Apart from a handful of demonstrators, who described themselves as the citizens of Pakistan and observed a token show of protest before the Karachi Press Club by holding placards with anti-American slogans inscribed on them, the day went largely unnoticed.
Continue reading Importance of protest →

The flip side of information

Information

By Zubeida Mustafa
Source: Dawn

IT was some time in the early nineties when the high commissioner for New Zealand in Islamabad said, while launching a book his mission had funded, that the coming decade would be the age of information.

Those were days when information technology had barely picked up in this country, cell phones were a rarity and a status symbol of the elite, only the CNN had started its round the clock worldwide channel and not many knew about the wonders of the Internet. But the high commissioner’s words were prophetic.

Today, it takes no time at all for news and information to travel from one end of the globe to the other. E-mails, satellite television, modern phone services equipped with cameras and the worldwide web have made the world a global village. Communication has enabled people to cross boundaries with ease and has broken down cultural and language barriers. This has brought people closer and promoted greater interaction between them than has ever happened before in human history.

Technology has also changed the shape of the media. It is now more interactive. Viewers can ring in to ask questions on talk shows and the Internet allows people to send in their feedback instantaneously, without much of a hassle. Anyone can, making a small payment, set up a website which can be accessed by anyone. These are positive developments because they have stimulated human interest in information.
Continue reading The flip side of information →