People are talking about —

— the tree plantation project initiated by environmentally conscious members of the T2F Karachi, titled ‘Mai Dharti Project,’ which aims to plant at least half a million trees in the city this monsoon season to repair the ecosystem of the city. A Facebook group has been opened called ‘Green Guardians,’ where a group of people will take responsibility to plant big chunks of trees, suitable to the city’s environment, throughout the city and document their growth in the form of pictures.

— pictures on social media of political entities trying to fool the public by picking up broom and brush to clean streets of garbage; serving crowds with refreshments; sitting on the floor and sharing meals with the poor; riding in taxis and so on, all with the electronic media in tow! Now that the public is more aware of its rights, people enjoy seeing these entities, who do not deign to visit their constituencies when in power, making fools of themselves.

— the poor fishermen of Karachi who feed stray dogs that have been contained on islands in the sea on a daily basis, even though they themselves lead a hand to mouth existence, working hard to make both ends meet. It is these people who can teach our politicians and others in control of running the country what compassion is and these authority figures could learn a lesson or two on thinking about the underprivileged rather than their own wellbeing.

— the campaign started by enthusiastic persons to get the Kalabagh Dam built, with each Pakistani who is able to, donating a thousand rupees so that there is no shortage of funds and the begging bowl will not have to be presented. People say the notion is good but what use is money when the political entities who control our fate disagree on the issue, with all kinds of theories and arguments being presented by anyone with a political agenda.

— the few women who defy the odds and brave the wrath of society by fighting for their rights or justice. People say the case of the valiant woman who had knife wounds inflicted on her and how her attacker was allowed to go free is a case in point. It is time that certain aspects of the law should be changed and victims showing signs of assault should be given a fair deal and not asked to provide further proof.

— the issue of schools charging fees for the summer months during Summer vacation and how this age old custom has been put a stop to by the court. People say while parents appear relieved and are happy, school administrations say that teachers have to be paid if they are employed during this time, which is true, so maybe a compromise solution can be found instead of cases being filed to burden already overburdened courts.

— the decision by the government to dispose of Evacuee Trust Property to pay off debts and how this has disturbed many who have heard of the proposal. People say there are many issues to be decided first, the main one being of appointing one member of the Hindu community on the ETBP board, something which has not been done despite it being part of an agreement and also that transparency should be ensured as the properties are valuable and being eyed by greedy individuals.