But first, the obvious: at best, the solution did not correspond logically with the problem. The authority claimed the ban would stem the proliferation of spam, a source of frustration for cell phone users across the country. In actuality, the ban represented a new, more ruthless and invasive form of moral policing that had reared its ugly head in an unexpected way, catching even the most disillusioned off guard.
The ban hit a little too close to home for too many people. All of a sudden, the prospect of a text messaging Gestapo was overwhelming for the average cell phone user in Pakistan. This was not something you could click your tongue at in dismay or dismiss as conspiracy. Words like ‘harder,’ ‘lotion’, or ‘athlete’s foot’ could stifle your ability to communicate with your children, parents, business partners, or a friend in trouble. They are harmless words used to communicate mundane things, express frustration or describe the day-to-day.
One of the last remaining bastions of privacy was under threat. This, too, at a time when one of the indicators of progress and development measures how many people have access to life-altering technologies like cell phones, personal computers and the internet. This had the potential to make us go backwards very quickly.
Interestingly, the majority of the list consisted of words related to, about or consisting of sex, sexual acts, body parts and bodily functions. In publishing the list of words, the PTA took from real text messages and exposed a great irony: for a society that prides itself on imposing an austere form of modesty, there is an awful lot of energy being spent talking about and thinking of sex. The elephant in the room just got bigger. It popped in front of our very eyes, a thundering explosion that went unnoticed and unheard.
To be sure, the number of spam messages the average user receives is high. True, messages can be excessively raunchy and even obscene. But banning such words will not put an end to the spamming. A little wit can turn even a nursery rhyme into filth. The ban rightly invited ridicule of the authority, as well as suspicion of its problem-solving abilities. It would also continue to fan the flame it was trying to extinguish.
The PTA has subsequently announced a hold on the ban and I am now curious as to what next steps are being considered. Instead of eviscerating our right to privacy and free speech, perhaps the PTA could investigate the source and proliferation of spam and tackle the problem from that end. Rather than finding yet more ways to pummel, constrict, choke and expunge sex and, therefore, keep it at the forefront of our collective psyche, perhaps the use of some good old engineering science can turn a solution that fits. In other words, the PTA should stick to what it knows.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 17th, 2011.
COMMENTS (8)
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@Sidjeen u watch too many punjabis stage shows hahahahahahah
PTA needs to give everyone across the board service to be able to block nos from unacceptable callers/texters that one wud not like to receive texts/calls from, without extra recurring charges. THAT wud be a public service and thats what PTAs job is.
@sidjeen, HAHAHAHAHA and for pta, if they do enforce the ban, challenge accepted!
ok so words can be twisted to mean almost anything just look at the headline of this site today "ghilani kayani go three hours one on one." thoughtful isnt it.
They did not publish any numbers... For all we know, these words represent "intuitive ideas" of some bureaucrat at PTA's understanding of who we are as a people...
The ban should not be national, it should be individual for those want it. People who don't want a certain word popping up in SMS they receive should be able to tell their cell phone operators to not send any SMS to their way containing so and so word (or collection of words.)
Excellent piece, Madam.
For one thing, PTA had no right becoming a holier than thou maulvi and becoming the arbiter of whats obscene and enter the world of privacy.
But whats even more sad, is that these so-called " educated liberals" aka insaaniyat kay thaykaydaar in their snobbish demeanour, mocked the PTA with such words that were even more mundane than the ones suggested to be banned.
Yep, we are a hypocrite nation, and its time we returned to modesty, after begging for Forgiveness and Guidance from the Almighty.