Iran as a Nuclear Power

A prosperous country,faced with powerful enemies,naturally tries to defend itself in the best ways.Now the best defense in the modern world is nuclear weapons.Iran has the money to start and kind of nuclear weapons program.What it does not have,unluckily,is the technical know-how and knowledge to do so readily.

Israel and the West do not want Iran to become a nuclear power.They do not want it to be in control of the oil routes,mainly in the Strait(narrow passage of water joining two larger bodies of water) of Hormuz and the Arabian Sea.

In 2005, the International Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) found Iran to be using atomic energy for warlike purposes.In 2006,the UN Security Council asked Iran to suspend its nuclear preparations with sanctions in case of non-compliance.Iran did not comply.In fact,Iran's nuclear program,started in the Shah's time,came to a halt with the Iranian Revolution and the Iran-Iraq war(1978-1988). Iran renewed it efforts to develop nuclear energy after the war saying that it needed it to produce electricity.But the western powers argued that,with its huge oil and gas reserves and limitless income,it did not need atomic energy for power production.

Iran has finally told the western powers that it is its right to use nuclear energy as it likes though it is not engaged in making an atomic bomb.The fact is that Iran is trying to become powerful by producing and possessing nuclear weapons.Noe Iran is engaged in "uranium enrichment that can be used for both peaceful and military uses". Its use of "centrifuge enrichment technology" makes the detection of secret enrichment very difficult.Already it has prepared and tested long-distance missiles that can carry nuclear warheads.

It is true that,like India and Pakistan,Iran wants to prepare atomic bombs,which appears to be its right.But the fact also stands that once Iran or another underdeveloped country has prepared them,other countries will also do the same,and the danger of world destruction will get closer.The proper solution to this lies in the destruction of all atomic weapons under the UN and a universal agreement not to produce any,which Iran also has stressed.If Israel and the West attack Iran to destroy its nuclear installations,Russia and,possibly,China may intervene, and the war may escalate.Secondly,Iran will block the Persian Gulf, and with it the oil supplies to the West.The Middle East will be a major war theater with unending killing and destruction.The prices of oil will shoot up uncontrollably and commerce and development will be at a standstill.Yet,after the holocaust,Iran may at some time produce an atomic bomb.The solution to the problem,then,lies in negotiations in which Iran has the upper hand.

The wisest course that the West can adopt for a ready solution is to change its policies towards Israel in favor of the Islamic countries.It should help create the Palestinian state as the Arabs desire.Then in a broad-based conference,it can persuade Iran not to use atomic energy for warlike purposes.

Child Labor

Child labor at the cost of the child's future is now common in the developing and poor countries.50 million children are engaged in manual work in these countries.

Firstly,the children in the developing countries from poor families cannot study.Their parents cannot afford their school and study expenditures.The poor families are normally very large, and the bread earner is a single male head.The children,of the ages ranging from eight to fifteen,get employed in car workshops,filling stations,restaurants,bakeries,shops of different kinds,offices of firms and companies,student hostels,private homes,etc.

Secondly,most of the parents of the working children are illiterate and ignorant.They think that school education would only be decorative and impractical.The children are either not sent to school,or they are taken out of it to be assigned to mechanics in workshops or foremen in factories to be trained for a "practical" future.

Thirdly,the successive governments of most of the developing countries have failed to utilize state funds and resources for the uplift,education and training of the masses.

Fourthly,the advanced countries do not care to spend even some of their resources and knowledge for the betterment of the poor.They provide aid and funds to the rich of these countries for the so-called "development purposes."The funds are misused or stolen by the leaders and no kind of social reconstruction is possible.

Child labor can be brought to an end when large-scale social and economic reforms take effect in the developing countries.In the first place,education should be made common and the literacy rate should be raised at all costs.Professional schools for workshop training,tractor and car repairing,welding,computer operations and industrial and agricultural activities should be set up.

In the second place,the feudal system in the developing countries should be brought to an end.If it happens,the big landowners will not be able to keep the laborers and farmers uneducated and backward.The need for child labor will evaporate.

In the third place,the uneducated city people should be provided suitable job opportunities and facilities of education for their children.

Honor Killing

Our newspapers report every now and then the killing of unfaithful women by their brothers,fathers and , on top of all, their husbands.This killing is called "kar-kari" in Sindh and has deep social roots.From time immemorial the problem of woman's unfaithfulness to man has plagued family life.The advanced countries have worked out some practical solutions to this great problem,while we, in the so-called developing societies, are in its clutches.

We may,at the start,examine the causes of the development of the disease of unfaithfulness of women.Firstly,it is said,rather wrongly,that most fair young women are naturally inclined to have "affairs" with men.The difference lies in the historical and traditional treatment of women as men's property,to be controlled as they like.So the concept of "honor killing" is one-sided,applicable only to our womenfolk.

Secondly,the educational,social and economic conditions in countries like ours do not permit many a woman to advance suitably.Especially is the rural areas and in the smaller towns,the people in general are mostly uneducated and ill-informed.When they discover immorality on the part of women,they use force against them.

Thirdly,the influence of religion on the minds and behavior of the people has been in decline for several years.In the olden times,women,especially,considered honor as their greatest defense and ornament.Now,with the growth of materialism,sex is on display.Those who do not stop their immoral sexual activities are attacked or killed in the name of honor.

We should educate the people universally to make them conscious of the new demands of society and the law.Education should be allowed to spread everywhere like sunlight brightening every corner of the earth and moonlight beautifying nature and society.Then people will like to act legally and solve their problems reasonably.

The country should be developed economically at a fast pace.Rapid industrialization and agricultural development will bring prosperity to the people.It will,then, not be possible for rich people to exploit poor and helpless women sexually.In any case,educated women should be able to work with honor and dignity side by side with men.

Suicide Bombing,Its Causes and Cures

Suicide bombing in our country is an extension of this most tragic activity from Palestine and the Arab world.Earlier on,it was practiced on a regular basis during the Second World War.Then Japanese commandos carried bombs with their bodies on planes and jumped into the chimneys of enemy ships and factories and military installations to blow them up.The same is now happening here,as we hear about and witness suicide bombing across the country multiplying our grief and hopelessness.

The causes of suicide bombing are clear like daylight.Firstly,the groups of people,opposed to government policies and social trends,decide to create massive confusion and restlessness to cause administrative and governmental collapse.They try to lead to situations when they can replace the existing government or prepare groups for its ultimate failure.Secondly,these groups get huge funds,arms and facilities from foreign unseen and undisclosed sources to maintain their control over land,resources and people.They ready batches of suicide bombers in different ways to send them for attacks.Thirdly,millions of the youth are hopeless about their present condition and future.Their families are mostly poor and backward.When the terrorist groups offer them handsome money and material resources for their families they agree to join them as suicide bombers.

The camps and training grounds for the suicide bombers,recruited by the terrorist groups, are well-organized and militarily maintained.They offer rigid physical,religious and spiritual training to the inmates to keep them physically and mentally satisfied.They brainwash them with speeches and sermons against religious or political groups opposed to them.They also arouse their thoughts and passions against foreign governments and their friends or helpers in the country.They tell the inmates that their mission is heavenly to spread Islam or any other religion and to bring evil to an end.The inmates are prepared to kill,bomb or destroy all those who,in their opinion,are opposing their religion or their efforts and ways.It is, in other words, termed as "jehad."The suicide bombers are told clearly that they would be martyrs winning heaven as they sacrifice their lives.To them it is not suicide,but martyrdom.

We are opposed to suicide bombing as it is religiously and socially illegal.We have to take urgent steps to change the political,social,moral and religious situation.Firstly,we should have a more dependable and powerful political system.As suggested by us,it is a strong federal system, a combination of the presidential,Chinese and Islamic socialistic systems.Secondly, with the destruction of feudalism, the country's resources should be shared and used by all the citizens according to their ability.Thirdly,universal education,first in English and then in the sciences and arts should be provided to all in all parts of the country.Complete justice should be effectively available.All areas should be equally developed as soon as possible.Then,believe us,never will terrorism nor suicide bombing appear anywhere.All will live happily in peace and hope of a glorious future life.