RENAISSANCE JULY 2021

5 Monthly Renaissance July 2021 Editorial Civic Sense Dr Shehzad Saleem All of us are citizens of a country. It is our motherland. Our emotions naturally are attached to it and we aspire to see it rise in the comity of nations. At the same time, we need to show respect and regard to our fellow citizens. Nothing we do should infringe on their rights. This sensitivity to our country and to its citizens can be termed as civic sense. Every person must be an embodiment of this sense, and should endeavour to pass on this legacy to the next generation. Foremost among our civic duties is to obey the laws of our country in letter and spirit. These include traffic laws, community laws, public laws, monetary laws besides a host of others. Hoodwinking or bypassing the law should be unthinkable. From the standpoint of the country administration laws should be equally imposed on all sectors of the society, and any defiance should be penalized. Secondly, citizens must endeavour to keep their country clean. Littering at public places should be completely avoided. Waste bins and boxes should be used and if at some place they are lacking one must keep the waste material until one finds an appropriate place to dispose it off. Also included in this effort is keeping public toilets clean every time one uses them. Spitting in public and wall chalking are some of the other detestable practices that go on in public, especially in third world countries. Thirdly, a whole sphere of civic duty relates to being sensitive about noise pollution. Unnecessary honking by vehicles must be consciously avoided; pets, especially dogs who incessantly bark and make the lives of neighbours miserable should be kept in check; sermons from the mosques should be restricted to the confines of the mosque by judiciously using loudspeakers;