Pakistan is a country known for being star-crossed. Whenever a star appears over this byzantine country, it is invariably viewed as a foreboding omen. Albeit, to this day, the very source of discord that led it from economic collapse to severe inflation, political insta­bility to civil polarisation, water shortage to land degradation, ac­ademic shortcomings to underage labours, and rural urbanisation to deforestation is unbridled popu­lation growth quietly drawing un­seen meteors.

In Pakistan, the population is burgeoning rapidly at a growth rate of 2.55% annually and, ac­cording to United Nations esti­mates, is ranked as the 5th most populated country in the world. The growing population has proven to be an agent of meteors’ arrival; one of them is child labor. Middle-class families having mul­tiple children later in life have no choice but to be unable to nurture their children properly, depriv­ing them of the right to education and making them do hazardous labour work. 

As the saying goes, “for a na­tion, children are shining stars in the sky,” but in our sky, stars don’t shine anymore because it has clouded itself with labour and scrounging. The reasons are pret­ty obvious because these families are unable to make ends meet, let alone provide children with ba­sic amenities in a comet-strick­en country that is about to collide with several catastrophic comet clusters. Uncontrolled population surge plays the role of gravitation­al force in escalating the velocity of falling meteorites.

To stop meteorites from fall­ing, dealing with the gravity of a burgeoning population is more of a concern. Implementing com­prehensive family planning cam­paigns tailored to specific regions can play a pivotal role in raising awareness about contraceptive methods. Simultaneously, foster­ing gender equality empowers women to make informed deci­sions about their reproductive lives. Promoting widespread edu­cation and creating economic op­portunities even further contrib­ute to averting the impending collision. However, overcoming the gravitational pull of a surging population remains a theoretical endeavour; for that, let us rewrite the cosmic narrative, steering away from the collision course through these campaigns that are akin to winds that disperse the clouds in the sky, allowing our children to once again shine like the stars they are meant to be.

TAHIR JAMAL,

Nawabshah.