Culture never remains static. It keeps on changing, but the way it is happening in rural Pakistan is mind-boggling. The older generation, helplessly watching it unfold, says the onslaught of technology is too powerful to resist.
It is impossible not to notice new cultural trends when you step out of your vehicle in Namal Valley, which shot to world fame after cricketer-turned-politician (now prime minister) Imran Khan set up Namal University nestling in the rugged Himalayan mountains in Southern Punjab.
When progressive values began to seep into the country in President Musharraf’s reign, it was the federal minister Dr Atta-Ur-Rehman, who was instrumental in opening the floodgates of information technology to the common Pakistani. Phone calls and internet connection were once very expensive even in cities while the villages remained uncovered by telecommunication facilities. Rehman introduced massive reforms in Information Technology (IT) by opening several institutions and took the requisite steps to slash telephone connection charges making it easily accessible. This encouraged people throughout the country to use this technology, which truly unravelled its impact by nibbling at old traditions.
More changes were sparked when illiterate women labourers in agriculture bought cell phones to join over 150 million users to taste the wonders of technology. They would call their off-springs in far-off city centres and chat away their spare time with their friends. Their husbands and families enjoyed the free exchange of ideas between rural and urban centres, little realising that it would gradually undermine the entrenched value system in rural Pakistan where the head of the family once took all important decisions.
The present cultural changes are even wider than the wave, which had swept the country when thousands of Pakistani labourers had migrated to Dubai in the ’70s in search of green pastures. Within years, the living standards of their families improved; creating social pressure for the neighbours to match their lifestyle when there was a spurt of electric gadgets in their homes.
The current cultural change blowing across rural Pakistan is much wider in scope and far more intense, much to the chagrin of the older generation
Through their remittances and on their return home from Dubai, their families moved from the lower strata of society to the upper in a short period. One film producer Haider Chaudhary and his scriptwriter Riaz Batalvi had captured the popular mood in a movie “Dubai Chalo” ( Let’s go to Dubai), which had turned out to be a blockbuster in the cinema.
The current cultural change blowing across rural Pakistan is much wider in scope and far more intense, much to the chagrin of the older generation.
“It simply is unstoppable,” said Ilyas, an IT expert in Islamabad. The easy access to the internet, smartphones, social media and Facebook is shattering the cultural taboos, once considered untouchable. This is happening even though internet coverage remains one of the lowest in Pakistan, about 18 per cent as roughly 58 per cent of its people live in villages. The facility is available in the form of a wireless device in rural areas but urban users are far greater.
With an ever-increasing use of the internet, more people will accept the change in the air and the number of those challenging conservative values will soar in the days ahead. Recently, even a few females have picked up the courage to drive cars or use motorbikes to go about and around in rural areas reflecting the winds of cultural change.
Girls on a motorbike in rural Pakistan, something unthinkable a few years back: www.mangobaaz.com
The world wide web has rendered meaningless the concept of physical borders as the globe has squeezed into the palms of 55.4 million smartphone users; giving them immense opportunities to interact with people of diverse cultures inhabiting different countries. This exposure brings with it cultural influences as well.
“The revolution in IT has transformed the way we live, work, educate, communicate and travel”, said Maham, a Harvard Law graduate hailing from Southern Pakistan. On- line courses and shopping are already making inroads into rural Pakistan.
This technology is changing our lives in ways unheard of in the past and creating new social issues leading to arguments in families. It has set the stage for change but its pace has surprised many in rural Pakistan. The question taxing the minds of social scientists is how it is impacting the matchmaking of couples in rural Pakistan. Given the fast flow of ideas, the youth are taking the final decision of whom to wed, whether in the area or somewhere in an urban centre. Stunned parents find themselves adapting to new cultural norms but of course, after putting up initial resistance.
“That is normal during a turbulent period of change because change is painful and is not easily accepted,” says Saad, a psychologist based in Scotland. “Such cultural shocks have dealt a blow to the concept of arranged marriages in rural Pakistan,” he added.
The generation gap between the old and young is unbridgeable as technology has changed its whole context and meaning, he said.
“This is a new generation who does not listen to us,” an old lawyer, Malik Aqil, in his 80s, whispers to his guests while attending a marriage party at Daud Khail, a small town of Mianwali.
The educated youth no longer accept the selection of their parents which was once the norm for the majority of young couples. University graduates and young professionals of this generation, like many before them, have become the harbinger of change in rural Pakistan.
“I told my parents, I will marry the girl of my choice and they finally agreed after a bit of initial reluctance,” said Rashid a fresh graduate of Asghar Mall College Rawalpindi.
It will be far from reality to say that arranged marriages have become a thing of the past as people both in rural and urban centres still sermonize it, but not without the consent of the would-be couple. But the taboo of going for a partner of one’s choice is emerging as an accepted norm by parents- though with a pinch of salt. They do resist, the older members of the family raise eyebrows, threaten to boycott the marriage ceremony or cut off all ties with the couple. In the end, they are finally persuaded by their learned peers to surrender to what they call the “cultural onslaught” knocking at the door of everyone in rural Pakistan.
The writer is a former Director of News and Foreign Editor based in Islamabad