”Keep away from people who try to belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” – Mark Twain

Democracy in Sindh: A disputed topic
It is an uncontested fact that Sindh province has sacrificed a lot for bringing democracy back during Movement for Restoration of Democracy (MRD) in Pakistan. Social activists, political leaders, educationists and laymen all played a key role in the movement. The province has a huge record of sacrifices for democracy. But, unfortunately, democracy still remains an unfulfilled dream of ours. Sindh has a variety of problems, ranging from social, political, economical to educational. The problems give a setback to democracy. Thus, it is not wrong to say that democracy in Sindh is a disputed topic. The current position of democracy in Sindh is a succumbing one. Laymen are forced mentally and socially to cast vote to a particular party. Is this democracy? It is unquestionably true that democracy in Sindh is a disputed topic. Similarly, the province is in the grip of illiteracy. The policies for literacy rate growth are a nightmare. It is a death trap to keep the natives out of school pre-planning; because, it is easy to catch an unskilled lion in trap than that of a skilled and aware one. Moreover, social, political and economic problems are also some hindrances in the way of a proper democratic setup. The natives of Sindh are socially surrounded by problems: poverty, illiteracy, child labour, violence, to name a few. Politically, the natives are forced, tortured and victimised through Kangaroo-courts. Similarly, socio-economic issues too deprive them of their good livelihood. To sum up, it is indeed a need of hour to strengthen the democracy in Pakistan, particularly in Sindh by empowering media, judiciary and bureaucracy, to make education free and accessible at doorsteps to all indiscriminately, to ensure meritocracy in jobs-recruitment procedure, to step forward for literacy-rate betterment and to give people inalienable fundamental and constitutional rights.
Imtiaz Essa Halepoto,
Jamshoro.

High price for education
Many private universities all over Pakistan have begun to charge humongous amount of fees for many degree courses, in the name of improving quality of education. The surge in these fees structures is greatly impacting students and their parents, who are in pursuit of better education. In a few years, it will be close to impossible for many commoners to attain decent education because of unfathomable fee structures. And it is also disheartening that most of these universities rarely have any scholarship or discount programmes for hardworking students. It is requested that the government takes notice of this and monitors the fee structure of private institutions.
Sohail Akram,
Islamabad

Complete tech-over
We live in a world of constant evolution where technology has positive changes as well as negative impacts. We are constantly engrossed in our phones, laptops and social media that we merely have time for our loved ones. We are missing out on live communications and have turned ourselves into digital zombies. As a result, the younger generation is more into a habit of haring their feelings through social media rather than sharing with their loved ones that leads to loneliness and depression. Technology has created an emotional distance between people. To maintain healthy relationships with each other we need to minimize the use of technology in our lives. We need to give ourselves room to breathe without all these gadgets and start spending time with people.
Surraiya Ahmed,
Islamabad.