Readers tell of issues of the day.
Image: Sora
I feel pity for uneducated readers and writers who greedily and entitledly take full possession of even natural flowers such as the marigold – an embellishment used throughout the world as a garland.
I was garlanded with the same beautiful flowers at my marriage, and Muslim television dramas from India and Pakistan still make extensive use of this lovely flower during weddings and other celebrations.
As for the “Sita line” – often used by me to dramatise “dangerous boundaries” – this expression is fully accepted in Indian folklore as well as internationally. A simple internet search will confirm this.
I draw on literature from all religions and cultures for my humble contributions – Greek, Roman, Walt Disney, Hollywood, Indian, Pakistani, Christian, Jewish, Islamic and Hindu traditions, among others.
It is not my fault if some readers find fault with other writers when, as Shakespeare’s Cassius advised Brutus in Julius Caesar: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves.”
My apologies to that grand master from Stratford-upon-Avon. | Ebrahim Essa Durban
To those who continue to label and castigate those protesting illegal immigration, here are some sober facts to digest.
If it is true they are guilty of targeting only “Black Africans”, then that is a matter of great concern. However, anything illegal is illegal – anywhere in the world.
The other refrain is that African countries hosted anti-apartheid activists. True. But they were not illegal migrants. They were exclusively political asylum seekers, not illegal or economic migrants.
They did not swamp any country in their millions. They did not drain the economies of host countries: the UN Educational and Training Programme for Southern Africa and the International Defence and Aid Fund for Southern Africa distributed living allowances, legal defence funds, and education grants to them and their families.
But our country has 3.1 million migrants, including legal and illegal ones. Can this country afford that currently, with our own millions suffering insufferable poverty, unemployment, poor infrastructure, failing health care and collapsing service delivery?
If the authorities take no action, we will end up like India, which has about 5.2 million documented foreign-born residents, refugees and expatriates in the country and about 20 million illegals.
Not all illegals in SA are from countries that hosted anti-apartheid activists. Pakistan, Bangladesh and Malawi, unlike India and many Western countries, did not host them.
What if millions from non-African countries who supported our activists decided to rush here? Will SA be able to afford that?
The “compassionate brigade” writing opinion pieces and letters to the media about “vigilantes” such as Lubna Nadvi, etc, have been significantly silent about what happens to African migrants in Tunisia, Algeria and Libya.
The latter has been auctioning African migrants as slaves in an open market. Despite the UN’s Antonio Guterres calling it crimes against humanity and the AU’s condemnation, the practice continues, as does the silence of certain “activists” and groups.
As one individual said: “For the Arabs (Libyan jailers), black-skinned men are nothing but animals – animals were treated better.” Women too have been victims. | Kamini Prakash Umhlanga
In 1991, while I was undergoing a Diploma in Theatre Nursing Science at Natalspruit Hospital, we had a very good General Surgery Consultant.
A Ghanaian, he used to tell his team that if you want to be a good surgeon, you should sometimes listen to the scrub nurse, because they have a lot of experience from working with many consultants.
One night, a patient with a gunshot wound to the abdomen was brought in, bleeding profusely. The doctor on duty couldn’t reach the consultants on call.
The patient was losing blood, and the doctor couldn’t find the source of the bleeding. I asked him why he didn’t use a bladder retractor, as it might expose the bleeder.
He did so, identified the bleeder, stopped the bleeding and saved the patient’s life.
My point is that my first encounter with a Ghanaian left me with a good impression. I had expected them to be reasonable, understanding people, but now I can’t understand this vindictive attitude.
Fighting among ourselves only exacerbates the situation. No country can feed the whole world. Each country has a responsibility to its citizens. | Cometh Dube-Makholwa Midrand
Nations may rain down fire upon smaller lands with ruthless precision, bombing without mercy, decimating entire cities, reducing generations to dust, annihilating the defenceless, pulverising dignity, intimidating the weak and humiliating the broken, believing their power is absolute and eternal.
They parade their might before a trembling world, cloaking brutality in the language of necessity.
Beyond the roar of destruction and the arrogance of unchecked power stands our Lord, the final arbitrator, before whom every tyrant will stand exposed, stripped of illusion and confronted by the weight of their deeds.
In that ultimate moment, there will be no armies to defend them, no alliances to shield them and no narratives to distort the truth – only the cold and absolute reckoning of divine justice.
Leave Almighty God out of the equation at your own peril, for the judgement that awaits is neither delayed nor denied. The fall from power to accountability will be as devastating as the destruction once unleashed.
Humanity may deceive, delay and deny, but every act of cruelty stands recorded beyond manipulation.
The illusion of escape is the greatest deception of all, for divine justice is neither hurried nor forgotten. | Farouk Araie Gauteng
DAILY NEWS