One part of government strategy for tackling the unprecedented energy crisis in Pakistan is closing down all libraries of the country even on Saturdays. I cant think of any other decision of policymakers that is so myopic in vision. True, the country is facing a disastrous situation due to the enormous scale of power shortage we are having but isnt this disaster an offshoot of the over all crisis we have of a lack of vision and lack of culture of research in the educational realm? What we lack most of all are specialist researchers from the fields of natural and social sciences which could have lead the country out of this catastrophic situation. We need the power of intellect to close the Pandoras Box from which all of these crises seem to be emanating. My request to the ministry of education, culture or whatever is that they should let the next generation break the shackles of illiteracy. Please exclude the cradles of education, innovation and progress, the libraries, from your list of power cuts. -SYED GOHAR ALTAF, Islamabad, August 12.