Bilawal Bhutto has recently said that Pakistan should not get into the race of launching space missions, as our priority should be to weed out poverty first. I think this is a very thoughtful statement, as it will force us to think what our priorities should be as a developing nation. Once the Japanese PM said that our strength lies in human capital and not in anything else. Similarly, if we look at the American revolution, Japanese revolution and Islamic revolution – all were focused on actualization of their population, not on mega projects. I am not of the view that space missions and science and technology should not be given any attention. It is beyond any doubt that they are essential for any nation but it is about how our priorities should be set. We have seen in Pakistan that the government is also focusing on mega projects but forgetting basic problems like health, education and police corruption culture, which have made people unhappy. In my point of view, we should first concentrate on basic problems because if we are able to help our people prosper, the rest will follow.
AHSAN SYED,
Rawalpindi, September 29.