The precious diamond necklace of the First Lady of Turkey has become a hot topic, where I am glad that Yousaf Raza Gillani returned it or we would never have been able to raise our heads. It is obvious that the purpose for which this gift was extended had unfortunately remained unfulfilled. Now, since the necklace has been traced and before it goes into the undeserving hands again, the only respectable course would be to return it to the owner, with gratitude under a covering letter, whose contents may be somewhat to the following effect :It may be made clear that to condone the manner in which this gift was handled at our end, it appeared necessary that the letter conveying the gift back to the donor may be cropped of diplomatic norms and should state nothing but the bare truth in the same awkward manner in which an accused is led to blurt out a confession. It should say that we are sorry that we have thieves and greedy people sitting in our government who instead of donating their personal wealth, in time of need, steal from what has been given to the poor. How do we think we can save ourselves from the wrath of Allah?
ZAFAR AZIZ CHAUDHRY,
Lahore, June29.