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Muscat Daily
29-06-2025
- General
- Muscat Daily
Summer break: How can students stay meaningfully engaged?
With schools now closed for summer, how can students be engaged meaningfully during the holidays? Is there need for more summer activities for children and teenagers? Here is what Muscat Daily readers said – Aarti Menon, Teacher Summer is the perfect time for students to explore hobbies outside the syllabus – music, painting, creative writing or coding. I do think Oman needs more affordable, structured summer camps for different age groups. Many children end up glued to screens because parents can't always engage them. Activities should focus on both fun and life skills.. Faisal al Amr, Private sector employee Children today spend too much time indoors, especially during the hot months. We need more cultural and indoor sports programmes that connect them with Omani heritage. My sons love astronomy. I wish we had more workshops on astronomy conducted by Oman Astronomical Society. Meaningful engagement will keep them learning, active and off their phones. Neha Prakash, Marketing executive As a working parent, I find the long summer break very difficult to manage. Private workshops are expensive and often not age-appropriate. I'd love to see more community-led free or low-cost sessions in art, environment and even robotics. Teens, in particular, need group activities to keep them social and mentally healthy. Sunayna Bobby, Teacher Summer vacations could be utilised to make children understand the importance of community service. They need to understand that as responsible individuals they should become meaningful contributors – whether small or big – to society. It could be working at an NGO, volunteering for clean ups, spending time with elderly at old age homes, part of soup kitchens, organising donations for a purpose etc. Sulaima Khalid al Kindi, IT professional Libraries, museums and parks should host interactive holiday sessions. If students are exposed to real-world challenges – sustainability, digital skills, social work etc – even once a week, it leaves a huge impact. I also wish some more physical activity classes in late evening like swimming or indoor football and basketball. Supriya Jain, Artist With schools closed for summer, students can be meaningfully engaged through art, sports, reading and skill-based workshops. These activities nurture creativity, discipline and learning beyond academics. There is indeed a growing need for more structured summer programmes that offer fun, safe and enriching experiences for children and teenagers during the holidays. Joyita Dasgupta, Teacher Speaking from my experience as a middle and secondary school teacher, engaging students meaningfully during summer holidays is important to prevent learning loss, maintain curiosity and support overall development. Children must be presented the opportunity for enrichment with life skills and global awareness. Volunteering will allow them to connect with local community service projects, while entrepreneurial tasks can help them plan small business ideas, like a handmade craft stall or tutoring young peers. Additionally, students can start a summer journal or blog about their experiences or interests. Fatima Khan, Homemaker My children often get bored during summer unless they travel. I wish there were short filmmaking, writing or design camps in malls or schools for reasonable charges. We love learning in creative ways, but it's hard to find such opportunities. And when available, these are often expensive. Summer shouldn't feel like a pause from learning. Ahmed al Balushi, Student Younger students don't always have access to activities outside Muscat. It would be great to have mobile workshops or online clubs run by trained volunteers. We must include teenagers in planning so it's relevant to their interests. Photography, writing or volunteering could shape their thinking and open career paths. Srirupa Mukherjee Thakur, Teacher Instead of going for curated summer camps and activities, I would rather prefer children to read, travel, pick up a hobby or simply discover nature during the summer break. They are already part of a regimented system in schools round the year. Better let them explore and discover themselves!
Yahoo
07-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Opinion - Can India and Pakistan overcome their violent history?
India and Pakistan are on the brink of war. A terrorist attack killed 26 in the beautiful hill station of Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22. India blamed Pakistani-trained militants. Early on the morning of May 7, India launched missile attacks on nine sites in Pakistan, calling the strikes 'measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature,' which Pakistan called a 'blatant act of war.' These attacks tear at the intertwined cultural fabric of India and Pakistan and recall their partition in 1947, after the end of British colonial rule. The personal and the political flow together here. Aarti Menon's father was killed in the April 22 attack and she noted that the terrorists spared her life as she clung to her six-year-old twin sons. Two Muslims named Musafir and Sameer helped her get away. Later, she recalled, 'I have two brothers in Kashmir now. May Allah protect you both.' The U.S. is trying to reduce tensions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken to senior officials on both sides, and President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson affirmed American support for India against terrorism. Later, Trump echoed Western sentiment saying the U.S. is close to India and Pakistan. With typical exaggeration, he also noted India and Pakistan have fought for a thousand years. India's government linked the April 22 attacks, without conclusive proof, to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pakistan officially denied support, but militants are often trained in Pakistan. India provided ample proof after the November 2009 Mumbai terror attacks. Anti-Pakistan fervor has built up in India, and vice versa. India and Pakistan fought wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971 and were involved in armed conflicts in 1999 and 2019. In 1947, the Maharaja of Muslim-majority Kashmir and Hindu-majority Jammu ceded the territories to India. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised a referendum on the status of Kashmir that, stymied with fraught relations and politics, was never held. Article 370 of the Indian Constitution provided special privileges for Jammu and Kashmir until 2019, when the nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government revoked it. At a personal level, the story of two Muslims assisting a Hindu woman after a terror attack speaks to the scars that have healed since the partition. The issue resonates with many of us: My father was born in what is now Pakistan and my mother's family fled from a village near Lahore in 1947. They left behind neighbors. One million people were killed during the partition and 15 million were displaced as Muslims left for Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs came to India. However, post-colonial India had one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, and today 14.2 percent of India's 1.4 billion citizens are Muslim. My mother recalled the partition vividly. Her family were in a caravan as they tearfully left their village in Pakistan. She and her sisters were dressed as boys because young girls were being raped. They were among those who eventually boarded the infamous trains from Pakistan to India. When they arrived at the house my great-grandparents owned in Indian Punjab, they entered through a courtyard with dead bodies. A great deal has been written about the trauma of the partition, but much less about the lineage of people like Aarti Menon or like my mother who witness horrific acts of violence but do not blame religion. My family's account of the partition was not unique. Many families saw the outbreaks of violence as historic colonial tragedies, not as inescapable religious hatred. Aarti Menon's Kerala of present and my parents Punjab of the past feature several religious groups living side-by-side in towns and villages. They are neighbors. It would have been easy for many post-partition Indians to blame Muslims. They largely did not. I grew up in a Sikh family. Many Sikhs were persecuted by Mughal emperors. However, the Sikh scripture is filled with verses from Muslim poets. Sikhs blamed the rulers, not the religion. After 1947, Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Nehru envisioned a secular and pluralist India for nation-building. One of the most famous Bollywood films remains 'Mughal-e-Azam' or 'The Great Mughal,' offering an allegory about integrating gender and Islam in a secular India. The secular Indian state is under duress from far-right Hindu nationalists who seek conflict. Significant acts marginalizing the Muslim community include the 1992 demolition of the medieval Babri Masjid and, after a controversial Supreme Court judgment in 2019, the building of a Hindu temple where the mosque once stood. Despite 172 million Muslims in India, the current BJP party-led government's cabinet or parliamentary majority does not include a single Muslim. During the 2024 elections, Modi referred to Indian Muslims as 'infiltrators.' The geopolitical implications are clear. Terrorist violence destabilizes America's political and commercial tilt toward India, especially as a check against China, with whom India has another historic rivalry. Meanwhile, polls show that Pakistanis favor China over America. The Pakistani military, an important but declining force in domestic politics, would also gain from conflict with India. With domestic politics exacerbating international tensions, statements like those of Aarti Menon or the stories of millions of post-partition households remind us that the Indus River — whose waters India has threatened to divert, abrogating a 1960 treaty between the two countries — has flowed through these lands for millennia. The lesson is not that neighbors do not fight, but that at interpersonal levels, people often choose not to fight, even when pressured the other way. Geopolitically, India is well-placed to avoid a war and win international favor. Trump called the May 7 attacks 'a shame' and expressed hope that they end quickly. Let's all hope so. J.P. Singh is Distinguished University Professor at Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University, and Richard von Weizsäcker Fellow with the Robert Bosch Academy (Berlin). He is co-editor-in-chief of Global Perspectives. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to The Hill.
The Hill
07-05-2025
- Politics
- The Hill
Can India and Pakistan overcome their violent history?
India and Pakistan are on the brink of war. A terrorist attack killed 26 in the beautiful hill station of Pahalgam, Kashmir, on April 22. India blamed Pakistani-trained militants. Early on the morning of May 7, India launched missile attacks on nine sites in Pakistan, calling the strikes 'measured, responsible and designed to be non-escalatory in nature,' which Pakistan called a 'blatant act of war.' These attacks tear at the intertwined cultural fabric of India and Pakistan and recall their partition in 1947, after the end of British colonial rule. The personal and the political flow together here. Aarti Menon's father was killed in the April 22 attack and she noted that the terrorists spared her life as she clung to her six-year-old twin sons. Two Muslims named Musafir and Sameer helped her get away. Later, she recalled, 'I have two brothers in Kashmir now. May Allah protect you both.' The U.S. is trying to reduce tensions. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has spoken to senior officials on both sides, and President Trump and House Speaker Mike Johnson affirmed American support for India against terrorism. Later, Trump echoed Western sentiment saying the U.S. is close to India and Pakistan. With typical exaggeration, he also noted India and Pakistan have fought for a thousand years. India's government linked the April 22 attacks, without conclusive proof, to the Pakistani terrorist group Lashkar-e-Taiba. Pakistan officially denied support, but militants are often trained in Pakistan. India provided ample proof after the November 2009 Mumbai terror attacks. Anti-Pakistan fervor has built up in India, and vice versa. India and Pakistan fought wars in 1947, 1965 and 1971 and were involved in armed conflicts in 1999 and 2019. In 1947, the Maharaja of Muslim-majority Kashmir and Hindu-majority Jammu ceded the territories to India. Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru promised a referendum on the status of Kashmir that, stymied with fraught relations and politics, was never held. Article 370 of the Indian Constitution provided special privileges for Jammu and Kashmir until 2019, when the nationalist government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi government revoked it. At a personal level, the story of two Muslims assisting a Hindu woman after a terror attack speaks to the scars that have healed since the partition. The issue resonates with many of us: My father was born in what is now Pakistan and my mother's family fled from a village near Lahore in 1947. They left behind neighbors. One million people were killed during the partition and 15 million were displaced as Muslims left for Pakistan and Hindus and Sikhs came to India. However, post-colonial India had one of the largest Muslim populations in the world, and today 14.2 percent of India's 1.4 billion citizens are Muslim. My mother recalled the partition vividly. Her family were in a caravan as they tearfully left their village in Pakistan. She and her sisters were dressed as boys because young girls were being raped. They were among those who eventually boarded the infamous trains from Pakistan to India. When they arrived at the house my great-grandparents owned in Indian Punjab, they entered through a courtyard with dead bodies. A great deal has been written about the trauma of the partition, but much less about the lineage of people like Aarti Menon or like my mother who witness horrific acts of violence but do not blame religion. My family's account of the partition was not unique. Many families saw the outbreaks of violence as historic colonial tragedies, not as inescapable religious hatred. Aarti Menon's Kerala of present and my parents Punjab of the past feature several religious groups living side-by-side in towns and villages. They are neighbors. It would have been easy for many post-partition Indians to blame Muslims. They largely did not. I grew up in a Sikh family. Many Sikhs were persecuted by Mughal emperors. However, the Sikh scripture is filled with verses from Muslim poets. Sikhs blamed the rulers, not the religion. After 1947, Mahatma Gandhi and Prime Minister Nehru envisioned a secular and pluralist India for nation-building. One of the most famous Bollywood films remains 'Mughal-e-Azam' or 'The Great Mughal,' offering an allegory about integrating gender and Islam in a secular India. The secular Indian state is under duress from far-right Hindu nationalists who seek conflict. Significant acts marginalizing the Muslim community include the 1992 demolition of the medieval Babri Masjid and, after a controversial Supreme Court judgment in 2019, the building of a Hindu temple where the mosque once stood. Despite 172 million Muslims in India, the current BJP party-led government's cabinet or parliamentary majority does not include a single Muslim. During the 2024 elections, Modi referred to Indian Muslims as 'infiltrators.' The geopolitical implications are clear. Terrorist violence destabilizes America's political and commercial tilt toward India, especially as a check against China, with whom India has another historic rivalry. Meanwhile, polls show that Pakistanis favor China over America. The Pakistani military, an important but declining force in domestic politics, would also gain from conflict with India. With domestic politics exacerbating international tensions, statements like those of Aarti Menon or the stories of millions of post-partition households remind us that the Indus River — whose waters India has threatened to divert, abrogating a 1960 treaty between the two countries — has flowed through these lands for millennia. The lesson is not that neighbors do not fight, but that at interpersonal levels, people often choose not to fight, even when pressured the other way. Geopolitically, India is well-placed to avoid a war and win international favor. Trump called the May 7 attacks 'a shame' and expressed hope that they end quickly. Let's all hope so.
