CULTURE DAY: A Culture Day is meant to express unity, appreciation and respect for one`s culture. Instead, one observes a display of aggression, guns and nuisance regardless of which culture is being `celebrated`. What lessonisbeingtaughtby suchbehaviour, especially to the young students? It is time to reconsider the way we celebrate our culture. Instead of engaging in negative activities, we can foster a sense of community and cultural pride by organising city clean-ups, gifting books and cultural items, and promoting educational and interactive activities. By shifting the focus from aggression to positive engagement, we can truly honour and preserve ourculturalidentityin an inclusive and meaningful way.

Abdul Haq Bozdar Ratodero SLUGGISH APPROACH: Lahore suffers from smog every winter. This hasbeen going onforyears, andyet there is no remedy to it while residents continue to suffer various ailments.

The government keeps coming up with decisions like closing schools, but such steps have no value in terms of controlling the menace. The government should address the root cause, like limiting the use of old smoke-emitting vehicles, and an alternative to the trend of burning crop residue. Let us work on the causes rather than hurting the education and economy altogether.

Yousuf Ahmad Lahore LOADSHEDDING: Electricity load shedding affects millions of citizens daily. Factories are forced to shut down in theface of erratic production schedules. The overall academic life of students is disturbed because they are unable to study properly. Hospitals struggle to keep power backup for longthatisnecessaryforthe provision ofnecessary care to the patients.In short, loadshedding menace has greatly affected the development and economy of the country. The government should take the matter rather seriously.

Zainab Nadeem Karachi