Presumptuous and unnecessary comments
I have been perplexed with the comments by Anees Lokhande for the past two days covering issues related to faith and religion which sounded as edicts or fatwas. With due respect to his comments and my humble admission of not having expert knowledge of Islam, I believe it was not necessary to draw the attention of the world to issues which do not really matter much.
Firstly, there is no compulsion or imposition upon nations to send women teams or individuals to participate in athletics or other events at Olympics or other international games and hence no justifications were required. In fact, they sounded to me presumptuous and unnecessary and he has dealt with several irrelevant issues in an authoritarian manner.
Secondly, the issue of the presence of miniscule traces of alcohol in aerated drinks (Pepsi and Cola) that Lokhande has covered in his letter today. First of all, the research was done by a French scientist and has not been validated by any independent research agency. The media try to sensationalize such issues as it knows it will find a ready audience. I am certain that the Saudi Standards Organization (SASO) would not have allowed importation or production of such drinks if it were to involve adding alcohol in it or in any manner or if it were to be violating the Shariah. — Safi H. Jannaty, Dammam
UFO sightings
This is with reference to your video of July 5 entitled "Meteor or UFO crashes in Alberta, Canada — streaks across the night sky." In a manner of speaking, we would aver that the phenomenon seen in Alberta was both a meteor and a "UFO." Analyses of meteorite debris show what are clearly fossilized bacteria within them. This gives great fillip to the theory that life is cosmic in its extent rather than something terrestrially confined.
Unless highly advanced civilizations in the galaxy have found ways to travel by some extraordinary means such as by the bending of space and time, it is extremely unlikely that this and other such phenomena are UFOs in the conventional understanding of the term due to the massive distances between the stars. — Francis A. Andrew & Gihan Weerasekara, by e-mail
Pakistani media
A leaked video, which is widely circulating on several Pakistani news channels and the social media, shows the dark realities of the Pakistani media. The Pakistani media and the famous talk shows received a serious blow and also lost their credibility after the leaked video showed shocking off-the-camera conversation between two famous talk show hosts and a controversial construction tycoon. Rumors are also circulating on media that some top TV anchors and top media personalities received huge amount of money, property and other benefits from the construction tycoon who is involved in legal battle with Chief Justice’s son Arsalan Iftikhar.
Media organizations are trying hard to restore their prestige. Now media ethics, codes of conduct and media accountability are being widely discussed in the country. During the program two hosts received several calls on their mobile phones from top people including the then Prime Minster Yousaf Raza Gilani’s son and the TV channel owner. After this episode it appears that some elements are using this businessman against the judiciary which is very unfortunate. — Khawaja Umer Farooq, Jeddah
Women empowerment
This refers to the report, “Bride’s toilet: A gloomy symbol of women’s empowerment in India. After going through the title as well as the whole report I was shocked and very much pleased too. A ray of hope and joy rushed through my veins all over. I want to praise Priyanka Bharti on her extraordinary determination, strength and struggle for women rights including hygiene and privacy. She has definitely set a very exquisite example for all the women facing similar situations all across the globe. I must say ''well done to Priyanka” and also to those who supported her.
But how can we forget Bindeshwar Pathak, founder of Sulabh, hats off to you sir. These shining symbols of human rights and their efforts toward betterment of the women’s conditions will be encouraging to others also. — Dr. Areej Rana, Jeddah
Letters - Presumptuous and unnecessary comments
