What is a SOCIETY?

SOCIETY:
When someone start to delve into the question "what is society?" you will
realize that this is indeed a very deep subject. There is no one answer
because a society is not a thing that can be easily explained in one or two
sentences. In fact, this could actually be a topic for a thesis by a graduate
student in philosophy and it would take many volumes to include all the
possible answers. Let's start by looking at what we consider to be a
society.

In our daily lives, a society is the place where we live. It is made up of

the government, the education system, the health care and the many
occupations that people have. Each and every person is an important part
of a society because each one has something to contribute. It is a very
broad concept that is often broken down into different segments or facets
of life. Within a society, there are smaller societies or groups of people
who have a particular goal or ambition. These could be government
agencies, groups of students or groups raising money for a cause.

There are also other factors that separate smaller societies from one
another. These include culture, language, race, and religion. Within a
society, there can be many different cultures. If you look at the whole
world as one society, you can easily realize just how many differences
there are. Even within a country, city or town, you have numerous
differences and you can even have different societies within a
neighborhood. The neighborhood of a city could be an ethnic society all its
own.

In the larger frame of things, all these societies interact with one another
on a daily basis bringing new ideas and ways of doing things. Customs
transfer from one culture to another, immigrants become assimilated
within a society and people react with violence when a part of their
society is threatened. All of these things make up a society, which is more
of a quality than a thing.

Social problems of society in Pakistan

Since Pakistan is a developing nation, it has a lot of social issues some of
which include:

- Child labor
- Poverty
- Unemployment
- Illiteracy
- Terrorism
- Population growth
- Diseases
- Smuggling
- Drug abuse
- Prostitution
- Internal and international migration
- Discrimination of sex

The above points are discussed as under

UNEMPOLEMENT:
The problem of unemployment is a world-wide reality. The developed
countries like the U.S., England, France, Germany, Italy, etc. also suffer
from this problem, but it is more pronounced in Pakistan and India.It is
one of the major causes of our poverty, backwardness, crimes and
frustration among the people. Because of large scale unemployment there
is no suitable employment for the people. They are forced to remain idle.

There are millions of young men and women waiting for job opportunities.
This chronic problem of unemployment is not confirmed to any particular
class, segment or society. It is all pervading. There is massive
unemployment among educated, well-trained and skilled people, and it is
also there among semi-skilled and unskilled laborers, small and marginal
farmers and workers. Then there is underemployment. The jobs being
created have miserably failed to keep pace with the ever increasing
number of job-seekers. It is a problem which presents a great challenge
to leaders, thinkers, planners, economists, industrialists and
educationists.

Our education system should be reviewed and changed according to our

present needs. Like factories our universities, colleges and schools are
still producing on a large scale, a rich crop of graduates fit only for white
collar jobs in these offices. These graduates are fit only for such jobs as
those of clerks, assistants, officers and bureaucrats sitting at tables in the
offices. These educated but unemployed youths numbering millions and
millions are a source of great anxiety and concern. Our education should
be work-oriented. It should be such as enables a person to stand on his
own feet instead of depending on others. It is really an irony that our
highly educated and trained personnel like engineers, doctors, scientists
etc. run after the government jobs. It is perhaps because of the education
system started by the Britishers long ago, which has totally lost its
relevance and still prevails. They depend too much on the government
and lack the courage and inspiration to stand on their own feet. There
should be more and more emphasis on vocational education. There
should be more and more technical institutions and training centers.
Indiscriminate and unplanned admissions in colleges and universities
should also be checked. Higher education should be reserved only for
those who really deserved it.

Child labour and poverty:

Child labour is one of the biggest problems of the society. Specially in the
underdeveloped countries and nations that are in a development stage, it
is a cause of major concern for the government. Though in other
countries, governments are quite serios about eradicating child labour,
the rate is very high in Pakistan. Actually child labour is not such a simple
issue that can solved in a flash. No matter how much the country has
advanced in industrialization, education and agriculture, billions of
countrymen and women still belongs to section of the society, which is
termed as BPL (below poverty level) in economics. Neither any father nor
any mother wants to see his/her their children working like servants but
accept the fact because there’s no way out. It’s poverty that forces them
to push their young kids into the gallows because at the end of the day,
its money that matter to them. In a nutshell, child labour and poverty are
just two sides of a coin. Poverty is the head and child labour is the tail. If
the tail has to be cut then the head needs to be chopped off first.

Ministers often suggest poor people to get their children admitted in

schools so that they can get the required education. Certainly a noble
thought but a stupid solution to the critical problem. For people who fail
to arrange a plate full of rice twice a day cannot afford to spend money
for buying books for their kids. Yes, there are schools that provide study
materials and everything to the poor kids, but that does not seem to be
enough. For the poor people, who depends entirely on their efforts in the
croplands still prefer their next generation to get involved in farming,
because that’s how they have grown up. That’s where the challenge lies.
This thought, this concept needs ton be changed. The government needs
to make efforts to create awareness among poor people that proper
education is the only thing that can create a bright future for their next
generation. But in Pakistan, the performance of the government in this
sector has also been so disappointing that poor people now ignore these
campaigns. They much more worried about the continuous rise in price of
everything which is making survival a struggle for them.

Opening schools in villages, offering mid-day meals and creating

awareness among the BPL people are not solutions to child labour.
Serious steps are needed to be taken to ensure a better livelihood for the
poor people of the country. Things have to be done to improve the
earning capacity of the people living in poverty so that they stop thinking
about investing the physical energies of their young kids for earning some
extra money. When it happens, there will be no need for awareness
campaigns for education in villages. Once the poor people get plate full of
rice they will automatically understand the need of education. Once they
start earning money required to run their family normally they will start
sending their kids to schools and factories because every parent dream of
a bright future for their kids.

TERRIORISM:
Pakistan is a country that has only recently had serious problems with
terrorism, largely because of the government allying itself with the
United States in the global war on terror. Currently however, the
biggest threat to the state and citizens of Pakistan emanates killing
civilians and policemen to achieve their political ends, origination of
which can be attributed to General Zia ul-Haq's controversial
"Islamization" policies, the president of the country in the 1980s. His
tenure saw Pakistan's exceeding involvement in Soviet-Afghan War,
which led to greater influx of ideologically driven Afghan Arabs in the
tribal areas and the explosion of kalashnikov and drugs culture. The
state and its intelligence agency Inter-Services Intelligence in alliance
with the United States and Central Intelligence Agency encouraged the
"mujahideen" to fight the proxy war against the Soviet Union, most of
which were never disarmed after the war. Some of these groups were
later activated under the behest of the state in the form of Lashkar-e-
Taiba, Harkat-ul-Mujahideen and others were encouraged like Taliban
to achieve state's agenda in Kashmir and Afghanistan. The same
groups are now taking on the state itself.

From the summer of 2007 to late 2009, more than 5,500 people were
killed in suicide and other attacks on civilians. The attacks have been
attributed to a number of sources: sectarian violence mainly between
Sunni and Shia Muslims the origin of which is blamed by some on
initiated from 1911 to 1988; the easy availability of guns and
explosives of a "kalishnikov culture" and influx of ideologically driven
"Afghan Arabs" based in or near Pakistan, originating from and the
subsequent war against the Afghan communists in the 1980s which
blew back into Pakistan; Islamist insurgent groups and forces such as
the Taliban and Lashkar-e-Taiba; Pakistan's thousands of
fundamentalist madrassas which are thought by some to provide
training for little except jihad; secessionists movements the most
significant of which is the Balochistan liberation movement blamed on
regionalism problematic in a country with Pakistan's diverse cultures,
languages, traditions and customs.

PROSTITUTION:
A report published in 2001 by the National Commission for Child Welfare
and Development (NCCWD) revealed the existence of child prostitution in
Pakistan, the first official admission of this violation of children’s rights in
the country. According to the report, both girls and boys are victims of
prostitution. For example, in some parts of the North-West Frontier
Province (NWFP), which borders Afghanistan, older, wealthy men “keep”
young boys for sexual gratification, while girls from the poorest areas of
the country are being taken by organized rings to clandestine brothels in
large cities. Most of the girls prostituted in Punjab Province come from the
NWFP or from Afghan refugee camps there, and seem to be forced into
prostitution when they are in their early teens.
Prostitution in Pakistan is a taboo culture of sex-trade that exists as an
open secret although being illegal. Prostitution is largely based in
organisational set-ups like brothels or furthered by individual call girls.
Sex-trade is deemed illegal due to the declaration of extramarital sex as
an immoral activity. Prostitutes in the country, thus, operate underground
and in spite of the legal difficulties, and contrary to popular belief,
prostitution is thriving in the country. Most analysts recognize poverty as
a crucial factor in driving women towards an occupation such as
prostitution. Both female and male prostitution have grown in operational
yield in Pakistan over the years. With this increase in professional sex-
trade in the country, non-governmental organisations are beginning to
worry about issues like discrimination and AIDS. After the partition in
1947, Pakistan inherited the historical red-light districts in Lahore and
Multan including the infamous Hira Mandi area. These were well-
developed and attracted both wealthy clients and those looking for
singers and actresses. The prostitutes and associates in the sex-trade
were named kanjars. while their musician companions were known as the
community of mirasis. The prostitutes would usually, and still do, dance
to the music of harmonium and tabla played by the mirasis. Where
Lahore and Multan were the known contenders in the trade, other cities
also had their own red-light districts which may include Ghulam abad and
Aminpur bazar in Faisalabad Napier Road in Karachi and Qasai Gali in
Rawalpindi. The prostitutes retained the hereditary character of their
occupation and the social stigma.
During the rule of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who tried to Islamise the
nation, prostitution was viewed as an "evil" in society and attempts were
made to eradicate prostitution. Attempts were also made to curb music
and dancing. The hours for performance of the dancing girls were reduced
to two hours every evening. Police checkpoints were established in all
entrances of red-light districts during the hours of rehearsing or practising
music where the names of the visitors in red-light areas were recorded in
police register frightening the clients away.

Law:Prostitution has no legal recognition in Pakistan. Moreover despite

growth of male prostitution and gay prostitution, homosexuality is
outlawed in the nation. Under Section 377 of the Pakistan Penal Code,
whoever voluntarily has "carnal intercourse against the order of nature
with any man, woman or animal" shall be punished by 100 lashes and
from 2 years to life imprisonment. While arrests are not common for
homosexuality, the law is used as a tool to blackmail. Police frequently
take money or sex from people they know to be involved in commercial or
non-commercial homosexual relationship. Pakistani law is greatly
influenced by the Penal Code drawn up by the British in 1892. This
remains a major element of the current Pakistani law.
Section 371A and section 371B of the Pakistan Penal Code states:

SMUGGLING:
The current incident in the Hazar Gunji area of Quetta city of Balochistan
Province is just tip of the iceberg about the horrendous and wide scale
human trafficking in the Pakistan. From all the provinces, not only the
local people are shipped illegally to the Middle East, Europe, Australia and
to Mexico but also the people from Afghanistan, Central Asian States and
Iran also use Pakistan as transit to go across the seas. Very few of them
manage to reach their destinations. Most of them either die due to the
suffocation in the containers, some of them die while trying to swim their
way through the seas, or traversed their way through the deserts or some
of them become victim of border police bullets. Some of them die with
hunger, thirst or disease along the way and some just perish with fatigue.

In order to go to Dubai or Kuwait, the smugglers drop the illegal

immigrants in the sea, 10 to 12 miles away from the coast of desert
which is somewhat near to Dubai. The immigrants get a shock of their
lives when they are told by the smugglers to jump and swim to the coast.
Those who refuse are shot down instantly. Half of the people get drowned
in the sea and dozens of them get shot down by the helicopters of coastal
guards. Then those who dare to reach the coastal desert meet with the
skeletons of those who reached earlier. Same sort of stories happened
with the people who take their chances to go to other destinations in the
search of better lives and future for themselves and mainly for their
families.

There have occurred many instances in which the commission agents

have cajoled with the people in Pakistan, especially in the remote areas.
They take money of life earning of people, take them to any deserted
coast in Balochistan and at night time board them on a launch. Then that
launch travels for some hours in the sea and then just before dawn, they
launch drops the aspirants to some other wild coast alongside Balochistan
and agents tell people that they would have to walk for 3 hours from the
coast to reach Dubai.

The recent incident in the Quetta in which more than 60 people died in
the container due to suffocation is just a grim reminder as what is
happening in the fatherland. The network of human smugglers is very
strong and integrated in the Pakistan and they are present in every city
and town. In the name of lucrative employment, colorful life, and dollars;
these smugglers extort huge money from the people and then dump them
in sea or in desert or in any foreign jail. Thousand of Pakistanis are dying
with misery in the jails of Europe and Middle East and there is no hope for
them.

Tell you what, if we work hard that much in our own country what we do
abroad, we could earn much more and live with respect and regard with
our own families. In foreign countries, Pakistanis live in a single small
room with dozens of people, they eat very less and they spend nothing
and they work round the clock. If they do that in Pakistan, they would be
earning lots and lots of more and that is in their own country near to their
dear ones. There is nothing like home.

DESCRIMINATION OF SEX:
Gender discrimination in Pakistan Women in Pakistan mainly due to the
social and cultural conditions is more disadvantaged than the women in
modern western democratic societies. Educated and professional women
in urban areas and from upper classes of the society enjoy much better
status and rights than illiterate women in rural areas. Women in tribal
areas of Balochistan, Frontier province and remote areas of southern
Punjab and interior Sindh live in more unpleasant social conditions than
women in other parts of the country. In rural areas, women are
discouraged in attaining higher education just for the sake of avoiding the
time when women can lead man while in urban areas; women are
encouraged to get educated, so girls energetically join the technical
courses. But after getting technically or professionally qualified they are
not granted permission to work, this is the reason we don’t find girls at
offices as much as we find men. This is a major drawback as it leads a
nation towards economic disaster as half the nation in the form of girls if
won’t participate then economic will diminish. They are not allowed to
participate in economic activities and hence their professional qualification
goes in the bin. The story of social and economic injustice with reference
to gender discrimination is very long, as it exists in almost all the
societies and economies. Girls excel in academics so more girls avail
admissions in medical colleges. After getting qualified as M.B.B.S,
majority girls do not practice due to our social factors. In villages, girls
are usually not asked whom do they want to marry; parents just fix their
wedding of their daughters to the groom of their choice. Sometime for
land and money, parents fix the wedding of their young girl to an old
man. It has also been observed that if a couple in involved in some
unethical practice, people points the girl only while boy is never
considered guilty. If a female marries twice or thrice, she is considered
awful while the case is totally different in the case of a male. Divorced
lady is treated in the same manner. Today’s life is male oriented. Females
face gender discrimination everywhere. Discrimination is generated when
the balance is not found. What to blame other people, when parents
themselves initiate gender disparity. Some Parents only send their sons to
schools while some send their sons and daughters both to schools but
they put boys in good schools and girls in government local schools.
Some broad minded people send both sons and daughter to good schools
but at the time of sending children abroad, they discriminate and send
their sons at first place. Is it good? Should they do it? Well what to say as
we are also a part of this system and we might behave similar when we’ll
face the same scenario. So we should think over it and we must treat our
sons and daughter all equally.

Population growth rate: 1.555% (2009 est.)

Population is also a very serious problem of our society. The definition of
population is The average annual percent change in the population, resulting
from a surplus (or deficit) of births over deaths and the balance of migrants
entering and leaving a country. The rate may be positive or negative. The growth
rate is a factor in determining how great a burden would be imposed on a country
by the changing needs of its people for infrastructure (e.g., schools, hospitals,
housing, roads), resources (e.g., food, water, electricity), and jobs. Rapid
population growth can be seen as threatening by neighboring countries
Year Population growth rate Rank Percent Change Date of Information
2008 2 66 2008 est.
2009 1.95 63 -2.50 % 2009 est.
2010 1.56 83 -20.00 % 2009 est.
wrriten By Goharzaman:

THE END