People are talking about—

-- how the New Zealand cricket team backed out of its tour of Pakistan over ‘security concerns’ minutes before the first match was scheduled to start, disappointing hundreds of fans and sending a negative image of Pakistan to the world. People say the reason given was vague - that they had been alerted to "some security alert" but with no proof so the matter could be investigated and it’s surprising that though they had already been here a few days the ‘threat’ only came at the last minute.

-- the cantonment board elections, with all parties claiming a victory and suggesting others were defeated disgracefully. People say in a sensible world, each party would celebrate where they won and concede to the winner where they lost and the victory of a large number of independent candidates reflects that many voters are not happy with any mainstream party, while the worrisome aspect is that it will now open a bidding war for these independents with the main parties vying for their support.

-- the leaked letter written by the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) to the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA) over internet voting which has sparked a new controversy and blame game between the two institutions. People say in these days of modern technology if information needs to be kept confidential then extra measures should be taken security wise to keep it so, with as few persons involved as possible so the culprit can be ‘nabbed.’

-- how the Pakka Qila in Hyderabad, Kot Digi Fort near Khairpur and other valuable archaeological sites of Sindh have been destroyed and encroached by influential groups, while a majority have been occupied by mafias. People say countries around the world preserve heritage and archaeological sites to honour their histories, cultures, and traditions as they are a reminder of our past while serving as a means for tourism, so the provincial government should make a serious effort to recover and restore them.

-- the dress code for male and female teachers issued by the Federal Directorate of Education and how absurd it sounds even to those who are not affected by it. People say the issue isn’t the dress code or the significance of following some dress protocol but it’s the implicit sense of taking free will from individuals that alarms them and the FDE should concentrate more on the ability of teachers to teach than give them advice on their dress and hygiene.

-- the Single National Curriculum (SNC) and the emphasis upon making Arabic a compulsory subject, which will not serve to bring a radical change in the moral values of children. People say children should be taught moral and ethical science as a subject because over the past few decades there has been a visible decline in moral values and ethics in our country, which need to be addressed in a manner which children can understand rather than learn a language by rote.

-- the metal frames installed on the greenbelt in sector 1/8 Islamabad to ‘beautify’ the city and how it boggles the mind that anyone can think these metal frames are the only thing that the CDA could think of to make the surroundings pleasing to the eye. People say there is a vast variety of flowers and greenery which could have been used in an aesthetic colourful display, so there must be some strange reason/thinking behind erecting iron frames. – I.H.