Net cafes mushrooming in Kalash area
CHITRAL,April 22: Use of the Internet has become common in the district and amazingly the Kalash youths are far more adept at using the net than their Chitrali counterparts.
The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) introduced the facility some seven years ago.
The growing number of Internet cafes is a clear evidence that the number of people using the facility is constantly increasing.
Last year there were 10 cafes in the city and this year the number has reached 20.
Internet café owner Bashir Hussain told Dawn that besides students the majority of the users were in the age-group of under 25 and a large number of them had been their regular customers for six years.
He said that his clients included students and the Kalash youth.
Net café owners said the Kalash youths chat with foreigners with whom they had cultivated acquaintance during the latter’s visits to the Kalash valleys.
The Kalash valleys Bumburate, Birir and Rumboor are visited every summer by hundreds of European tourists who are usually fascinated by the Kalash people due to their unique culture and way of life.
After returning to their countries, the Europeans keep in touch with the Kalash through the Internet which is the fastest and easy mode of communication in this shrinking world.They said that some less educated Kalash youth seek the help of others while chatting with their friends in Europe and other regions.
“There is no telephone facility in the Kalash valley, so the Kalash youth throng to the city covering a distance of more than 45 kilometers just to have a chat with their friends in the country and abroad,” they said.
Expressing their dissatisfaction over the internet connectivity, net café owners told Dawn that they faced disconnections many times in an hour and sometimes the speed remains very low.
It may be mentioned that more than 100 students are enrolled with the Virtual University in Chitral where the Internet is used as a source of instruction and examination.
Source: Dawn
Date:4/23/2007
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