Drugs & Their Dangers

More and more people have begun using drugs like heroine,opium and marijuana all over the world.The United Nations and the world organizations are actively trying to control the growth,supply,sale and use of drugs in different countries.

These drugs are mostly produced in two areas of Asia.One is called "Golden Triangle" and it covers huge tracts of land in Thailand,Laos and Burma.The other area is called the "Golden Crescent" which covers Pakistan,Afghanistan and Iran.In Thailand,for example,marijuana is grown on quite a big scale and is exported to Australia,Canada and the United States.In our country the production of opium and heroine has reduced no doubt,but still it is quite high.These are illegally taken out to other countries by various agencies.In 1987,our government destroyed poppy crops over vast areas by aerial spray in the Kyber-Pakhtunkwa.

Young men and women,students and workers of all kinds in different have started using drugs.Those who start their use soon get into the habit of taking them regularly.The drugs affect their body and mind so badly that they cannot work properly.They need money to buy more drugs.And when they cannot earn much they either begin selling their things and property or become criminals.They can join gangs of thieves or robbers or terrorists.As drug taking becomes common,the society begins moving towards destruction.

The enemy can defeat the people of a country without firing a shot by making them fail into drug-taking habits.Something of this kind had happened in China where the western people had cleverly made the Chinese opium addicts.The Chinese Revolution brought all opium taking to an end.It is said that terrorists are sending drugs to Thailand and Malaysia from the "Golden Triangle."While the terrorists gain money from drug smuggling,they also plan to destroy the societies of the countries finally to overpower them.Thus,drug traffic is connected with international politics.

Almost all countries are trying to check the use of drugs.We are also trying to stop the smuggling of drugs from Afghanistan and their dispatch to other countries from here.There are heavy punishments for dealers in drugs.Thailand,Malaysia,the Philippines,Indonesia etc. are co-operating to stop the movement of drugs.

It is high time the UN arranged a total prohibition of drugs with the co-operation of all countries.At least in the field of drugs,there is international agreement.

The Uses & Value of Games

Games and sports have always been taken as a necessary part of a nation's life.Games were played in olden times as much as they are played today.

Outdoor games include football,hockey,cricket,baseball,etc.Indoor games include cards,carom,chess,table tennis,etc.Some games like badminton can be played inside a building as well as outside.

Games improve our health and make us active.Outdoor games give a lot of exercise to the body and make us healthy if we play them regularly.A person playing a game like hockey,football or tennis every day hardly ever falls ill.

Games teach us well how to compete with others in life.They make us brave.We do not lose heart or get discouraged when we fail to win.We do not become sad or angry because we know defeat is a necessary part of playing.

Games and sports, in fact build our characters.They make us bold and hopeful.They make us honest as we accept the just decisions of an umpire and do not mind our defeat.

Yet there are some abuses of games as well.Firstly,it is harmful for students to play games when they should study their books or prepare for their examinations.

Playing indoor games like cards and chess very often and over long hours is harmful to the health.A player has to keep sitting for hours while playing them and doe snot have physical exercise at all.Gambling in nay game is its worst abuse.A person who gambles can lose all his wealth.It is quite common in games like cards,chess and horse racing.

We do not play a game like true sportsmen if we are not prepared to accept defeat.we should not be proud of our skill in nay game even if we happen to be the best players.

Games are very useful if they are rightly played.We should try to play the games suited to us in a regular way.However,we should not play at the cost of our studies or duties in society.

Tourism in Pakistan

Pakistan is blessed with excellent tourist spots nearly all over the country.Historical places merge into natural sights in a most appealing manner.We have historical sights worth at Banbhor,east of Karachi,with its famous museum.Makli in Sindh has the largest necropolis.Thatta is famous because of Makli.Moenjo-daro in the Indus river valley,Taxila in the north coast of Rawalpindi,Harappa near Sahiwal,the Lahore Fort,the Badshahi Mosque,Jehangir's and Nur Jehan's tombs and the Shalimar Garden sin Lahore are famous historical sights.The Khyber Pass in the Khyber-Pakhtunkwa,through which conquerors from Afghanistan and Iran entered India,is a natural sight that reflects history.Murree,Ayubia,Swat,Kaghan and Naran in the north and Ziarat in Balochistan are fresh and cool like open nature.Kalam and its famous Mahudan lake in the north are paradisiacal in natural beauty.

The Saiful-Maluk Lake is close to Naran.It is the highest lake on earth whose depth is still unknown.The beautiful mountains around it dwarf us in our human existence.

Natural beauty,in all its forms,is offered by the mountainous Khyber-Pakhtukwa,its valleys,lakes and streams.Historical and cultural sites are found in plenty in Sindh and the Punjab.

Tourists,from within the country and abroad,like to visit the northern areas most of all.Their scenic beauty and charm are comparable to the best in the world,say,in Switzerland.The Hunza valley in the north is close to the famous K-2 and Rakaposhi mountains,among the highest peaks.Tourists stay in motels and go on long walks,also attempting mountain climbing.The historical sites and cultural centers like tombs of famous saints and museums also attract a great number.We find Harappa,Moenjo-dara and Taxila,with their meuseums,are crowded most of the visiting time.Tourists also like to listen to the "qawalli" at shrines and tombs, and many take part in the Sufi rock music and singing.

Tourism in the country is managed by the Pakistan Tourism Development Corporation.It has its offices in Karachi,Lahore,Islamabad and Abbotabad.It publishes tourism books,pamphlets and pictures of tourist sites.It offers useful advise and guidance to tourists in different languages.It also provides guides to visiting tourists who take them around tourist spots and explain their features.

The terrorist attacks on foreigners,especially from the western countries,has affected the tourism industry very badly.Now Pakistan ranks 103 in 124 countries offering facilities of tourism.The travel and hotel facilities at tourist sites are not very encouraging.Then the general social,political and economic conditions have not been favorable even to the citizens.Sightseeing and tourism in Swat have been seriously affected by the war-like situation.

The people should join the government in its efforts to crush terrorism.The government should improve the law and order situation in all possible ways.Then all sorts of facilities should be provided by the government in hotels and tourist homes.Traveling should be comfortably easy.With all this,there will be an upsurge in tourism.We should have the best international standards of tourism in the country.With this Pakistan will be a first-rate tourism-friendly country.

Global Integration

It is said the the world has become a global village.Fast transportation,telecommunications,radio,TV and the computer have brought the most distanced countries and nations close to each other.Globalization is this coming together of countries in all fields of commercial,industrial and cultural activity.

The developed or advanced countries are getting closer in their own ways.The developing or still underdeveloped countries have not found ways of co-operating fruitfully.

The concept of globalization became popular after the collapse of Communism in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe.It is, in effect,the victory of capitalism and means trade without restrictions,free movement of capital and technology and the operation oa a completely free market economy.Strangely,and understandably,it does not sanction free movement of labor,from one country into another.

Globalization aims at opening up new markets and expanding investment.In fact,capital does not flow easily from the developed countries like the US,UK,France,Germany and Japan into our developing countries.Rather,our capital flows to the multinational companies of the developed world in our countries.The multinational companies buy cheap raw material from us at low prices and send it to the developed countries.The developed countries then send back highly expensive finished goods to us.Our labor classes are so illiterate that they cannot work on modern machines to add to production with foreign capital even if it is available.

Globalization can succeed if our working classes are educated and trained with foreign capital.In addition,the money of our feudal lords and capitalists should be used to educate the working classes.

Globalization also means free trade or the lifting of restrictions of duties and taxes on imports and exports.We do not stand to gain much when our goods cannot compete with those of the developed countries.When the good sof the developed countries are allowed free entry here,our people will buy them in preference to our goods.Our goods will not even be exported.This kind of free trade will result in closure of our factories and unemployment of the labor classes.

In fact,the time is not ripe for making free trade internationally operative.This can happen,of course, when the developed countries have spent their capital and efforts on the education and training of the workforce of the undeveloped part of the world.

Pak-Indian Relations

Pakistan and India fought four wars over Kashmir in 1948,1965,1972 and 1999 without any positive results.The Kashmir issue continues to embitter their relations.There can be no true peace between them without the solution of the Kashmir problem.

It appears from the current state of relations between India and Pakistan that India will not withdraw from any part of Kashmir.The US and World powers have failed after the UN's failure,in their efforts to bring about any kind of change in the Indian position.

India started the construction of the Baglihar dam on the Chenab and the Kishan Ganga dam on the Neelam river in Kashmir.She did thi sin violation of the Indus-Water Treaty of 1960 between the two countries.These dams will reduce the flow of water into our rivers.India is not willing to stop their construction, and does not bother to consider Pakistan's legal position.She can start other similar dams on the Indus,Jhelum and Chenab,violating the Indus-Water Treaty,reducing our share further.What kind of friendship can be there between the two countries in this situation?How can the Kashmir issue be resolved when India disregards the Kashmiris as a party together with us?

In 1998,the world had to accept India and Pakistan as atomic powers after their atomic explosions.This was the start of a new phase in their relations.Now,any major military conflict between the two will lead to an atomic war.This understanding deters them from attacking each other.

Now,when a large-scale war between India and Pakistan is not possible,how can Pakistan try to win back Kashmir?All through history ,war has been a means of getting back lost territories from the enemy.The Kargil war,started with this understanding,had to be stopped when the two countries were on the verge of using atomic weapons.

The efforts of the Indian and Pakistanis leaders and people to establish ties of friendship,business and culture look like moonshine in the above background.Is it yet another phase or chapter of deception of peace,after the deception of war and conflict,that we are in?What is it that the people of Pakistan and Kashmir are being led into through the corridors of talks and negotiations?The terrorist attacks on Mumbai in 2008,which India blamed on Pakistan,embittered Indo-Pak relations very much.