THERE is no respect whatsoever these days for anybody regardless of age, qualification or social position. The only exception is the amount of wealth one has, judged by the car one drives, the type of house one lives in and the amount of money one is willing to throw around. Society is not bothered about the means one may have adopted to accumulate that wealth.

People now openly say that they have availed the ‘opportunity’ of being on a particular appointment for two years during which they made a lot of money. On the contrary, those who do not make the most of such a chance, staying away from any illegal source of money, are considered by society to be ‘stupid’. Forget society, even their families criticise them, calling them simpletons.

It has been about a couple of decades since the federal government had announced that senior citizens would be treated on a priority basis in all public places where various services are provided, and that special windows and booths would be reserved for them and people with disabilities. However, one hardly sees any public place having a separate window or giving priority to the senior citizens or to the people with disabilities.

Our society has really stooped so low that it has started giving new meanings to the notions of ‘good values’, ‘acceptable manners’ and ‘respect for the elderly’. This is so because society has failed to carry the burden of conventional meanings.

Sqn-Ldr (retd) Tarique Mahmood Malak
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, May 16th, 2025