Chowrangi

Pakistan cannot survive unless the problems of illiteracy and overpopulation are solved. Illiteracy can be overcome only by making education compulsory for everyone, and preferably making it mandatory for all children to be taught in English, as is the practice in India.

The population of the country cannot be controlled unless draconian measures are introduced, as was done in China. Unfortunately, the common Pakistani has been brainwashed to believe that birth control is a heinous sin. It’s normal for men in the country to aim for ten children and to seek medical treatment if they cannot achieve this goal. In China, those couples who have more than one child lose their jobs and have to migrate to the rural areas to work in the fields. In India, the Congress Party carried out mass sterilization to prevent people breeding like rabbits, but this was one of the reasons why it was routed in the next general elections. Of course, the ensuing governments did not dare try it again, for obvious reasons.

In Pakistan, we can replace the present crop of illiterate clerics with those who have had a modern education. Or the state can train new mullahs who can prove to the people that birth control is not forbidden by Islam. Until that happens, our population will go on increasing exponentially until we run out of food and start eating each other.

Other posts by Shakir Lakhani

• Hand over India's security to ISI! - November 30th, 2008
• ISI is to blame for everything that goes wrong in India! - November 29th, 2008
• No limit on foreign exchange taken out of Pakistan - November 12th, 2008
• Some questions about the "forex" scandal - November 11th, 2008
• Enjoying life after sixty - November 7th, 2008
• A Hussein in the White House - November 5th, 2008
• Why are poor Pakistanis always punished? - October 31st, 2008
• Pakistan's Economic Crisis: we're responsible - October 29th, 2008
• How Wall Street operates - October 23rd, 2008
• We’ll always have corruption - October 19th, 2008