According to a news item, rents of homes in various poor localities of the provincial capital have suddenly increased after refugees from Bajaur and other areas have started pouring into Peshawar due to war in the tribal areas. This is our general psyche that whenever we see people in dire need of anything, be it shelter, edibles or mere drinking water etc, we raise prices to exploit the needy. That is what is happening in the case of rents for refugees. Being a Muslim and Pakistani, it is our religious and moral duty that we should extend maximum help to these helpless people who have left everything they had in their destructed home towns. The provincial and district governments are required to not only help them out at official level but should encourage and motivate people to come forward and help these displaced people by providing them shelter, food, clothes, and above all, a word of sympathy. They desperately need it. -BAKHT ZAMAN YOUSAFZAY, Peshawar, via e-mail, August 17.