A tragic situation

THE international children's day is being observed around the globe today with the need to safeguard children against disease, hunger and other dangers and provide them with an environment conducive to physical and mental development. However in our country a number of social evils, most importantly, poverty have all combined to make the situation scary. Two reports appearing in the press on Wednesday indicate the sad plight of children in Pakistan. Forced by poverty, eight children aged between five and 12 belonging to three families were dropped off by their mothers at the Edhi Foundation in Karachi. The expression on the children's faces, upon learning that they had been abandoned by their parents, reflects a mental trauma that anyone in such a situation would feel.