‘People are more politically aware now’

People in Qatar are more politically aware than they were in the past because of social media, Doha resident Ufaq Zehra told Qatar Urdu Radio’s live show Haqeeqat yesterday.“Social media has changed everything because people have access to news on their fingertips,” Zehra said, adding that people were very well informed about the developments of the Gulf crisis through social media. She also said that the blockading countries were inciting people against Qatar through media and mosques. “It is very sad to see these countries spreading false propaganda against Qatar through different channels, especially through Friday sermons.”Zehra, a qualified journalist, said that the blockading countries were in a fix because they cannot defend their allegations against Qatar.“Qatar has strongly refuted all the allegations with proof, showing the world how the siege was illegal and unjust. But the blockading countries cannot retreat or move on since they cannot justify their actions.” Speaking about the reasons for imposing the siege on June 5 last year, Zehra said that a popular opinion is that the blockading countries wanted to hide internal issues such as unemployment and inflation from their citizens by propagating a political crisis in the region. Haqeeqat is a joint venture of the Gulf Times and Qatar Media Corp Urdu Radio. The show, hosted by Saif-ur-Rehman, aims to engage and interact with the large South Asian expatriate community in Qatar. Log on to Qatar Urdu Radio on Facebook and ‘@QatarUrduRadio’ on Twitter for feedback and comments about the show.