FIRST there was the horrifying news of the death of a 10-year-old maid, who was tortured to death by her employers on the suspicion of theft.

Her tender age and helplessness could not draw any mercy from her tormentors.

And now a 10-year-old boy has been tortured by his employer on the same pretext.

Ironically, the tormentor in this case is a doctor, whose mission of life is to serve the ailing humanity. Do such persons acting at the height of brutality ever imagine that how they would feel if their own child is subjected to a similar treatment? Laws are in place against child labour and there have been calls for more effective legislation to protect domestic workers, but the million-dollar question remains in place: will the weak get justice? In cases of weak versus strong, the weak getting justice is not among our national traditions. Justice is a costly commodity that only the resourceful can afford. The weak cannot expect to get it as a right, because might is right. In the long course of justice everything can happen to the weak, ranging from the distortion of facts, deliberately ignoring key evidences, twisted interpretation of laws and out-ofcourt settlements. As long as conscience is on sale at all levels, there will be no justice for the weak or the poor no matter how excellent the legislation may be.

Prof (Dr) Suray ya Khatoon University of Karachi Bottled mineral water OF late there has been an influx of bottled mineral water of different brands almost everywhere in the country. Mineral water is increasingly used in official and business meetings, seminars and conferences, etc.

The cost of mineral water has also risen at par with soft drinks. But how safe is bottled mineral water? The Ministry of Science and Technology, Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority and Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources are organisations responsible for ensuring quality of all brands of mineral water.

According to recent reports in the media, the Pakistan Standard and Quality Control Authority had issued notices and filed cases against 59 companies, that manufacture bottled water, for not adhering to the required quality standards.

These included 24 from Punjab, 25 from Sindh, two from Khyber Pukhtunkhwa and eight from Islamabad. Furthermore, licences of 12 companies were also cancelled andcases filed against them. These figures were out of 84 brands of mineral water collected from 12 major cities from July to September last year.

Out of the total samples, 63 brands were found to be safe and 21 brands unsafe for human consumption due to chemical and microbial contamination.

Big business houses and government offices should opt for using filtered water. The water filter system may appear costly but human health is more precious, to say the least.

Official regulating agencies of bottled mineral water should release quarterly reports in the media. They should give information on brands found not fit for human consumption.

DaniyalNajmi Lahore No taxes, no FBR THE FBR has failed to collect taxes judiciously. In 66 years, it has only managed to collect taxes from only five per cent of the population. Ironically, the BR has many well-paid employees.

It made tall claims of sending out `notices` to six million tax offenders while at the same time it offered `amnesty schemes` to illegal car owners.

Here it was reported that cars were still in transit in Japan and were being cleared by the FBR.

Ironically, the FBR cannot find tax offenders in the country.

We read about the detection of `flying or fake invoices`, which were only detected after billions were paid back to cheaters as sales tax return when they showed through fake invoices that they had paid taxes on imports.

We have been hearing about the famous FBR`s `SRO culture` that is designed to confuse everyone.

The FBR failed to arrest any of the parliamentarians when they clearly showed through their nomination papers that they were on a government job but paid no taxes.

This showed that the FBR is incapable of collecting income tax from anyone.

Since tax collection through income tax is only five per cent of the population, the government should consider making Pakistan a tax-free country like Dubai and Switzerland.

In a tax-free Pakistan, there would be no income tax, and thus no need of the FBR.

The tax-free status will help attract multinational organisations to reduce red-tapism and tax collection dealing with the local government.

Shahryar Khan Baseer PeshawarArmy knows its job APROPOS Dr Taha`s letter `Army and terror` (Jan 14), I may say the army is fully capable of eliminating terrorism in the country provided it is given a free hand.

When the law and order situation started getting out of control of the local police, Rangers were reluctantly deployed in Karachi, but a free hand wasn`t given to them.

The police couldn`t do their job as they have been politicised.

Why should Rangers be called to clean the muck created by political parties? If the local police are inefficient, nothing has been done to improve their efficiency.

Why were the Rangers kept for so long in Karachi in the presence of the police force? For how long will they stay over there? The problem is we don`t catch the bull by its horns. Nobody thinks of reforming the police. It`s easier to call Rangers or the army.

We all know what happened in Swat. The local administration failed to take over the responsibility from the army and provide required protection to the people. If terrorism starts again in Swat, whose fault would it be? Hence, it would be unfair to blame the army for the wrongdoings, inefficiency and lethargic attitude of the local administration.

If at all the army is required to be deployed, let it be there for a very short period.

Air Cdre ( r) Azfar A Khan RawalpindiSolar geysers THIS is apropos the letter `Solar geysers` (Jan 14). The writer`s proposal for imposing a ban on gas geysers may create problems for hotels, hospitals, industries, etc. However, to minimising its use, it is proposed that a surcharge of Rs50 may be added to the monthly bill of all those households where a gas geyser is installed.

The revenue so generated may be utilised by gas companies for providing solar geysers to their customers. Subsequently, the cost may be recovered in easy instalments.

The above-mentioned proposal, if implemented, would minimise the use of gas for heating water. Moreover, it will enable low-income families to benefit from cheap and clean renewable energy.

The surge in demand of solar heater would also make it feasible to manufacture it locally. That would open job opportunities, while local manufacturing would also reduce its cost.

Sohail A. Khan Centreville, Virginia Good idea but A SOLAR geyser is a good idea but banning gas geysers is not possible as long as we do not manufacture cost-effective solar geysers so that every Pakistani can afford switching from gas to solar.

I suggest that gas geysers now in use be modified. The main requirement is to have solar panels for this purpose locally manufactured. This is possible if we establish a facility for making solar panels in Pakistan.

I also recommend that data of consumption of gas being consumed in 45 gallons geysers and its cost be assessed if it runs round the clock during the winter season.

The expenditure incurred can be compared with the cost of solar panels and future investment in solar geyser will be free. Banning of gas geysers cannot be enforced legally as it is a domestic accessory.

I support the use of solar water geysers but provisioning solar panels at an affordable price is considered essential.

Lt Cdr ( r) Raja Riaz Akbar Wah Cantt Sharing resources THIS is apropos Khurshid Anwer`s letter (Jan 14). The writer has said that all natural resources belong to the country and,hence, suggests that their judicious use should be centralised. This is strange logic.Punjab has a rich soil and the climate is backed by irrigated water. Hence it contributes to more than 80pc of Pakistan`s agriculture.

Benefits of cotton, wheat and other crops produced are rightly harvested by Punjab`s farmers. But if other provinces have been bestowed only with natural energy with limited agricultural income, these resources should be shared equally.

Had Sui been a monarchy like Qatar, the people of Sui would have been much better off rather than being the most-deprived region of Pakistan in spite of contributing to the country`s major gas needs for years.

M. Saqib Karachi Sindh LG Act RECENTLY some amendments were made to the Sindh Local Government Act (LGA) by virtue of which the rural areas of Karachi, which mainly comprise Bin Qasim and Gadap Town of Malir district, were given the status of district municipal corporations.

This has been done to get political advantage in the upcoming local bodies.

These are backward areas of Karachi in which the people remain deprived of basic health and education facilities.

People mostly rely on their agricultural land, which is also one of the major sources of vegetable and fruit supply for Karachi.

Giving it the status of an urban area is unfair.

Secondly, the public notice about the LGA transferred land of the 43 Dehs of Bin Qasim and Gadap Town to the Malir Development Authority (MDA) needs to be looked into. The land was mostly allotted on a 30-year lease to poor farmers for agricultural purposes.

The region consists of thousands of villages which existed before the creation of Pakistan. Thousands of families rely on this land as their basic source of income and they cater to the vegetable needs of the metropolis.

The allotment of land to the MDA and giving the status of urban area deserve condemnation. The authorities concerned must take action against this injustice.

Shahnawaz Jokhio Karachi Letters should not exceed 350 words, and may be edited for the purpose of clarity and space. Letters should carry the writer`s address, CNIC and phone numbers.-Editor