UNending GOVERNANCE ISSUES: From education to healthcare and from agriculture to infrastructure, things have been on a slide in Sindh. This downward journey is not without a reason. In Johi town, for example, around 90 per cent of about 400 regular employees of the local municipal committee happen to be sympathisers of the ruling party who carry out hardly any official duty. Heaps of garbage remain scattered across the town, and several streets mostly remain inundated with sewage. Water is supplied in excess to a privileged few, while the rest of the local population is forced to buy tanker water. With some variations, the same situation can be seen across the province. People do not need political slogans. They need accountable institutions that serve citizens rather than political patrons.
Gulsher Panhwer
Johi
ISRAELI TERRORISM: If 9/11 was an act of terrorism because it deliberately targeted civilians, what should we call the killing, displacement and deprivation of Palestinian civilians? The moral principle should remain consistent. Civilian life does not become less valuable because the victims are Palestinian and Muslim. International law prohibits intentionally targeting civilians, collective punishment, hostage-taking, indiscriminate attacks, and using starvation as a method of warfare. If the world mourns the killing of innocent Americans while treating Palestinian deaths as background noise, that is selective humanity, and history will remember the difference.
Siraj Ahmed Khatian
Shahdadkot
HISTORY’S LESSON: When the ruling class pushes the poor into a corner, human patience eventually runs out and turns into some sort of rebellion. History is not something we should read just to pass exams. It gives us a real-life lesson on how to avoid past mistakes. If our leaders continue to ignore these warnings, we risk repeating the mistakes of the past. To build a peaceful and fair society, we must use history as a guide for our present and future, not just a story about the past.
Mansoor Iqbal
Buner
Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2026
