Surrounded by friends, fans and flowers, dressed in a crispy white shalwar kameez, Muneer Niazi witnessed a warm welcome when he visited the capital a few days back. The capital literary circle sat for hours listening to the poet who narrated interesting episodes of his life to the audience sitting in the lush green lawns of a local guest house. Although for him Islamabad was a retreat, he was a treat for the art lovers of Islamabad.
A Pathan by birth and a poet by destiny, the frail Muneer Niazi recited poetry on the request of the audience amidst great applause. “How I became a poet I do not know,” he confessed while answering questions on poetry, love and the difference between Ishq and Junoon.
No tobacco
‘Stop under 18. We do not sell cigarette to youth under 18.’ A huge billboard got my attention a few days back while going towards Islamabad airport. The copy of the advertisement went on saying, “Smoking is an informed choice. Prevent underage smoking.”
All of us who saw the advertisement appreciated the innuendo of the advertisement agency. The message, to my astonishment, was from none other than the tobacco company itself.
However, a visit to a local restaurant in Islamabad recently was a matter of great shock. Many young boys, hardly 14 or 15 years of age, were taking turns smoking ‘sheesha’. Yes, that’s what they call it. They all seemed to be from well off families and students of as low as nine or ten grades.
Sheesha, available at Rs120 per hour to the customers, is quite a sleek and sophisticated version of the hokah imported from Arabic culture. There are many fruity flavours of tobacco available which you can choose from, such as mint, strawberry, apple, the waiter added to my knowledge. The worse thing is that these kids smoking it consider it very trendy and a part of the new fade that’s hit the capital.
Since a couple of years I had actually started believing that smoking was disappearing from our society, specially among the youth as more and more people become aware of the health hazards involved. But, it seems, that all efforts to eliminate smoking on flights, inside closed environments and multistoried buildings are insufficient and cannot serve any purpose if this generation fails to realize its effects. As my concern raised, I started digging for more information on the subject. The more I consulted, the greater was the shock and the sadder I felt over the findings.
Pakistan is a country with a high degree of cigarette consumption, and despite numerous health and economic costs, the consumption of cigarettes continue to rise. Smoking is prevalent in among the school children of Islamabad and according to Tobacco Free Initiative, a project of Network for Consumer Protection, peer pressure is identified as the root cause for juvenile smoking. The survey indicates that more than 75 per cent of the teenage smokers start smoking under the influence of friends. Even if they try to quit, peer pressure does not let them. What is worse is that more than half of the children claim that their family members are unaware of the fact.
With rising awareness about the danger of smoking in the West, tobacco firms are shifting their marketing drive to the Third World. Equally important is the implementation of measures aimed at thwarting the designs of cigarette firms that are determined to attract as large a clientele as possible. Cigarette advertisements are filmed on daring adventurous locations, with beautiful females and macho men flaunting a glamorous lifestyle with fancy slogans.
One can say that doctors, parents and teachers have to join hands to discourage this generation from tobacco consumption, but to accomplish these goals we actually need commitment from these teenage smokers themselves.
The fashion show-cum-concert organized by Network and Tarash on No Tobacco Day was a part of awareness raising on the hazards of smoking amongst youth. The function, however, broke all previous records as it started with a delay of more than two hours, something not very common in Islamabad. The guests became restless and irritant, paying no attention to the important messages conveyed by speeches from the organizers. The buy-your-own-meal instructions on a Rs1000 ticket, added to their agony.
The idea behind this noble cause was no doubt hard-hitting, that is getting the showbiz industry to say ‘No’ to tobacco. A commitment was made by the models to turn down modelling offers of cigarettes ads, and it will definitely make a positive impression amongst the young generation who idealize celebrities.
The pop singer Fakhir did not have much time to spare on this so-called noble cause and be a part of the campaign. He started his act past midnight and left the stage after just two songs as he had a flight to catch for greener pastures i.e Toronto, Canada. Is Toronto Sars free? Well, we will know only when Fakhir gets back safe and sound.
Surrounded by friends, fans and flowers, dressed in a crispy white shalwar kameez, Muneer Niazi witnessed a warm welcome when he visited the capital a few days back. The capital literary circle sat for hours listening to the poet who narrated interesting episodes of his life to the audience sitting in the lush green lawns of a local guest house. Although for him Islamabad was a retreat, he was a treat for the art lovers of Islamabad.
