Musaib Nisar;
In 21st century where we have these innovative marvels in technology, where life is unimaginable without internet, We people here in kashmir are still suffering losses due to internet bans. And occasional 2G restoration, It’s like being savages in the world full of civilised people. Especially the business man over here is suffering great losses, Talking on a personal level, Ever since the ban on internet and the use of social media, Our factory has greatly been hit by the losses, It’s not just me who is affected by it, With every single business unit in kashmir are connected several lives in terms of the employees that work there and the families that are dependent upon those employees, and even when the govt restores internet it’s only 2G and that isn’t enough for us to make our businesses survive the affects of internet bans and shutdowns and for me i have 10-12 more people working under me which includes boys and girls who are highly educated and are trying to survive in this wave of unemployment here in kashmir but looks like the recent internet and social media ban isn’t going to make that survival any easier, and now the restoration of 2G is messing with our psyche even more, It’s obvious by now that our businesses survive on social media but the slow speed doesn’t let us post videos or big data files, which results in less customer satisfaction and people who aren’t patient enough to wait for several minutes to get a text through or to comment or book an order online are already in the list of good opportunity lost, and due to the slow speed we get even more frustrated than our losses have already made us, it can poke one to no end of irritation and that’s because having internet restored and still not being able to use it properly and to put it in one’s advantage just adds fuel to the fire, and it’ss just not me, It’s hundreds of units like mine whose business are wholly and solely dependent on internet, And it’s sad that due to all this all those families who have no role in any disturbance have to suffer because of such internet bans. It sounds pathetic to even be talking about Social media bans in an era of advanced technology, and then you cannot even talk to your friends or customers abroad and tell them that our internet is working on 2G speed, and get those feelings of being insulted based on the speed of internet, yet here we are suffering losses, units being closed and God knows what else is happening with the entrepreneurs who had somehow build their startups through social media, Startups these days are contingent on social media reach and efficacy and when there is no social media to work with in the first place it messes up their chances of success and it’ss sad because here in kashmir we are in dire need of entrepreneurship as unemployment has been reaching peaks and social media and internet bans are not helping to curb the problem in anyway instead it creates even more probability for people to drop out of the ideas of starting their own units and employee more people.
The writer is a Himaliyan Peaks Wood Industries Owner/Young Entrepreneur.
