Islamabad
My son talks to his friends all night on phone and he sleeps the whole day, I am an old man, still I have to go to the market to buy grocery” Rashid Ahmed, a retired govt. servant living in G-6, expressed his concern regarding late night packages offered by different mobile companies.
Asmat Ullah Khan, a senior citizen, living in Shamsabad, Rawalpindi, said, “It has changed our perception regarding everything in the world. It has corrupted the whole society. It was never that easy for a boy and a girl to talk freely, without any check. Now we have no control over the things that we witness happening.”
Companies announce packages and other offers to get maximum consumers. They intend to
sell their product only; they usually do not deal with moral and social values of the society. They mean business and that’s the prime purpose.
However, Muhammad Zareen, a resident of Bhara Kahu, has different opinion as he said, “People say that companies do not deal with social values, I don’t agree to it. I think they are deliberately playing with and spoiling our social norms just to earn money. Whenever any advertisement of a free package is shown on TV, it is always ‘a boy and a girl talking to each other’. This is the only use suggested by the companies themselves — inviting our youth to indulge in an activity that is against the social, moral and religious values. They are corrupting our eastern traditions.”
The users of these packages, especially the young ones, have a different perception regarding this matter. Abdullah Shehzad, a student at NUML, while talking to INFN, said, “It is very nice to have a free package. Our elders should trust us. If one does not have a free package, he would find another way to talk to the desired person. Packages have just released the financial burden that students had to bear.”
Another student, Sana Hameed, said, “We can share notes and discuss topics for exam preparations due to such packages. It’s an option and it depends on the consumer to use it positively or otherwise. Boys and girls talking over cell phones are unnecessarily over projected.”
“I am working here in Islamabad, my family lives in Mithi, Sindh. Just because of this free package, I talk to all my family members everyday as a remedy for my home-sickness. Our social contacts have improved due to the revolutionary cell phone technology,” said Aziz-ur-Rehman, a lecturer at a local college.
Change is inevitable — the influence and impact of modern development on our social setup cannot be avoided. It is time that we educate and train our people, especially the youth, to make the best use of the available options. However, there must also be some check on the way products are advertised on mass media. The News