There is no time
Living in a fast world with time ticking by at a seemingly faster pace, our generation is surely opting for packaged food versus healthy food (‘Focus: Nutritional poverty’, Gulf News, December 19). I myself am relying on packaged food because I don’t find any other way to include meals in my daily routine on weekdays.
There is a visible difference in the pricing of packaged food versus healthy food. Packaged food is more expensive than healthy food in my country, but despite this I find it worth it because it ensures that my stomach is full and less time is lost. With projects, classes, studies and work, I don’t think many university students who are living independently get enough time to cook a healthy meal.
It’s not that I don’t enjoy or lack cooking skills, but it’s more about the time management fact that outnumbers packaged food meals than healthy meals. Who doesn’t love their family recipes of freshly ground pulses, haleem or yummy biryani made from scratch. Truly time defies everything.
From Ms Khadija Zulfikar
UAE
Get them out
The Indian consulate and the Indian commission should look into these criminal cases on a regular basis and solve them, but unfortunately I don’t believe that this is done (‘6,000 workers from Telangana in Gulf jails,’ Gulf News, December 20). Due to people working abroad, India is getting a huge foreign exchange reserve into the country, whereas other small countries like the Philippines and Indonesia try to do something for their citizens even for the people held for murder. They try to convince the local authorities to withdraw the case. I have personally never seen or heard of anything of the sort from India in my past 21 years of living in the GCC.
From Mr M. A. K.
Al Khobar
Saudi Arabia
Website comment
Being held accountable
I don’t agree with M. A. K. because if they withdraw the murder cases, then it will be very common for someone to commit a crime and then have their respective embassies ask for a pardon. It doesn’t make any sense to me. Instead they should be punished for their actions, whether in the GCC or in their respective home countries.
From Mr Jack
Dubai
Website comment
Fight for the people
Now it has become too late for all the countries to become united and take stern action by setting aside all differences between them to wipe out the extremists (‘Pakistan to get military courts for terror trials,’ Gulf News, December 20). These militants especially are cowards who kill innocent people and children. The recent butchering of 141 innocents in Peshawar, Pakistan, is an eye opener for all of us and the superpowers, like America and Russia. They should come forward to uproot these militants forever so that it doesn’t happen in the future.
The Taliban extremists are using the religion and say that they are fighting a holy war, which should be thwarted by all means. Their bases in Pakistan and Afghanistan should be eliminated and not one of them must survive. Then only can we stop any kind of atrocities like this from ever happening again. Everybody likes and wants peace across the globe, so barring these kinds of people who wage war against the common people is necessary.
From Mr Aboobacker Parappurath
Dubai
A bloody time
The Taliban retaliatory attack on the school where military personnel send their children is a dastardly one that will further worsen the already tense situation in Pakistan. With alerts already sounding in neighbouring India because they are preparing for a state visit by the US President, the region’s security is at a high stress level.
This tit-for-tat, which started a few years ago with the bus attack claiming the lives of schoolchildren and nearly killing Nobel Peace Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, is more than just an attack on the regime. The Taliban has already stated their intent to rid schools of mainly female students.
This round of terror, on top of the Daesh battles raging in Syria, is a stark reminder that global terror, whether isolated ones, like a lone gunman’s siege in Sydney or Boko Haram’s Kenyan massacre, will polarise a vastly peaceful Muslim populace with those seeking to destabilise a world tired of the cat and mouse battles that have waged since September 11, 2001.
A war on terror meant to stifle militancy has now claimed more lives in the post-9/11 period than at any other period since World War ll.
From Mr A. R. Modak
Johannesburg, South Africa
How do we stop it?
It is horrendous to watch the images on the television throughout last week after innocent lives were put to an end in the cruellest possible manner. And for what? Revenge? Where is humanity? My heart bleeds at the very thought of what has happened!
Soon after the Second World War, the United Nations was formed to prevent a third world war and to maintain world peace. Where is this organisation? We have reached a stage that one has to live in fear every moment because we don’t know what will explode where. How many are going to be killed when the problem is no fault of their own? We need to figure out how we can put an end to this.
From Ms Mohana Iyer
UAE
Stand united
It is really sad and disheartening to read such drastic news of the innocent lives that have been massacred. Children are not the culprits to the issues of the Taliban people. Whatever the country or region they may belong to, it is such a unbelievable incident to think and read. I worry about the fact that this too was a military school and what does it say for the security?
Who will repay the families who have lost their kin and children? When will there be justice and an end to such happenings in any part of the world? Let us all pray and keep ourselves united with the world. We need to stand together as brothers and help the needy. We need to prevent any such happenings in any part of the world.
If we stay united among us all, surely we will lead a peaceful and happy life on this globe where everyone is a visitor for our short human lifespans.
From Mr Prasad Warrier
Sharjah
Hard to imagine
Never in the recent history has the world had to witness such a horrendous terror attack targeting young children in a school that resulted in the death of 141 innocent children. What have the perpetrators achieved? Parents who saw their children off to school in the morning would have never dreamt in their wildest dreams that a tragedy of this magnitude awaited them in the later part of the day. No amount of condolences would console the parents. It still has not sunk in with me whether human beings can commit such a heinous crime of this proportion. It is time the entire world united and fought against this menace, which is spreading its tentacles across the globe. If this incident cannot bring all the countries together, no other in future will ever unite them in this fight.
My deepest condolences to the parents, whose children were mercilessly shot dead. I pray to God to give them all the strength to withstand this untold misery.
From Mr Ganeshan Srinivasan
UAE
A good decision
This is the right decision by the Pakistani government to quicken the process of executing 55 convicted criminals, eight of which are convicted terrorists (‘Pakistan to hasten execution of 55 convicts,’ Gulf News, December 19). This should have been done a long time ago. The government put them in jail and then these criminals walk and come back harder. There should be a quick trial to deal with them immediately. Some of these people deserve harsh punishment for the crimes they commit. I hope this is done also for the ones quilty of the attack on the school children. They are not human.
From Mr Mohammad
Dubai
Website comment
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