THERE has been a raging debate in the media talk shows, newspapers and social media platforms about leaked audio tapes of politicians and other important individuals. The two leading institutions of the country, military and judiciary, too, have not been spared.

It appears that we have not woken up to the certainty of living in modern times. Physically, we live in the 21st century, but, mentally, we are still in the 20th century and are governed by rules and laws drafted in the 19th century by alien colonisers.

Our rulers dream of going further back in the past to the 17th or even the 16th century Mughal era. At the tail end of the 20th century when the US left Afghanistan after ‘defeating’ the Soviet Union, it left behind a trove of electronic equipment, which found its way into our ‘bara markets’ and from there to other places.

The leftovers included wireless frequency scanners. This instrument could scan and relay any or every phone call being made in the vicinity at that time. It became an entertainment tool in the hands of youngsters who would listen into conversations of lovelorn young (or old!) hearts sharing their deep inner thoughts and desires during the silent hours of the night.

The scanners were used by American troops to detect communication among Soviet troops, and also among their trusted Mujahideen. Since that time, the telecommunication industry has made big strides in terms of developing more sophisticated scanners.

We are not aware that the world has moved on, and practically everything has evolved, progressed and changed; or died. What used to be an unwieldy communication instrument has become a small handy gadget with so many functions that one needs a big manual to know about them. What used to be a wire-connected link has become a wireless electronic system.

Recording telephone conversations is no longer an ‘intelligence accomplish-ment’. It is a simple skimming act with a handy scanner that can give access to any call being made in a particular area, and to record it.

Ideally, we need to be technologically advanced in our approach, but the least we can, and should, do is have some knowledge of the technology around us and the fast pace at which it is evolving.

Mohammad Zubair Qureshi
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, April 9th, 2023