LAHORE: Lok Sujag, a non-profit organisation, has developed websites that focus on the events of districts.

“We have started from Sahiwal and Faisalabad and plan to add eight more districts in the coming months,” Tauqeer Mustafa, Lok Sujag’s executive director, said at the launch of websites of Sahiwal and Faisalabad on Friday.

He said the internet access in Pakistan was increasing at a fast track but it lacked content that had local relevance. These websites are also aimed at providing the local youth with quality content in a language that they can comprehend, he added.

Lok Sujag has been working with communities across Punjab for the past 18 years.

Tahir Mehdi, Sujag senior member, said in today’s world, the media was playing a vital role in projecting and channelising social and political discourse. “Mainstream media’s capacity and interests are limited and its coverage does not go beyond large metropolitan centers,” he added. He said a majority of population living outside these centers had no place in socio-political discourse.

Dr Yaqoob Bangash said the fast paced globalisation was alienating us from our immediate surroundings. This, he said, existed at the heart of our identity crisis. He appreciated the effort to bridge this gap and emphasised that local language content in the website be gradually increased.

Dr Sajida Vandal said the efforts would go a long way in representing our cultural diversity. She said that channelising cultural discourse was the key to nation building.

Salman Rashid said that readership in local languages was way too bigger than in English and there was a dire need to address our people in their own language through the new media.

S Akbar Zaidi said web initiative should be connected with local governments. He said these websites had the potential to make local authorities accountable and strengthen democracy.

Sujag member Shafiq Butt said Faisalabad had more population than Switzerland or Sweden and Rawalpindi district had more inhabitants than New Zealand. “Our districts are big enough to have their own independent media,” he added.

Rights’ activist IA Rehman said developing local pride would not only solve our identity issues, but also it can be instrumental in making our development dream come true.

Published in Dawn, May 30th, 2015

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