by Zahid Maqbool, Hill Post
Srinagar: In a culture where party culture is looked down upon, social networking sites in this Himalayan region is not only helping people to connect but it has also become an alternate platform for holding celebrations, including religious ones.
Popular social networking sites are Facebook, Orkut and Twitter that are finding increased number of users with each passing day.
Basarat Hassan, a research scholar at Jawahar Lal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi who could not make it home for Eid says, “I did not miss home on Eid this year as regular updates on Facebook by friends and relatives kept me busy and it was fun.”
He adds, “Offering prayers in a mosque and back in the hostel was all what Eid used to till last year. The fun of celebrating with friends and family was not there”.
Interestingly, even the moon sighting was discussed and shared on the networks.
A simply query “Can anyone confirm, has moon sighted in Pakistan” was quickly responded to by a volley of comments, some confirming, some declining.
Dependence on radio stations which were relied upon for sighting of moon has given way to social networks.
With Eid celebrated a day earlier in the Middle East countries before most parts of sub-continent, social networking sites users directly communicate with them.
Not just for sharing religious festive moments, the social networks are also helping personnel from police and army forces deployed in Kashmir with touching base at home regularly.