Govt Committed To Curb Blasphemous Material On Social Media

ISLAMABAD, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 25th Dec, 2022 ) :The government's recent initiative of withdrawing its appeals from the Supreme Court of Pakistan against the Lahore High Court's (LHC) judgment directing the authorities concerned to take steps for removing blasphemous content from social media, in fact represents sentiments of the nation.

Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) Chief Maulana Fazl-ur-Rehman and Prime Minister's Special Representative for Interfaith Harmony and middle East Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmood Ashrafi played a significant role in withdrawal of appeals filed by Ministry of Information Technology and Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) in the apex court.

Both of them and many other religio-political leaders and scholars had strong reservations about posting blasphemous material on social media.

"We can never compromise on Finality of the Prophethood (Khatm-e- Nabuwat) of Holy Prophet Hazrat Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and Islamic values," said Maulana Fazl Ur Rahman who is also the chief of ruling coalition.

"Whether it is the Parliament, the courts or the civil society, we would remain fully vigilant to ensure that not even a single word is uttered against the honor and respect of our Prophet," he stated.

Hafiz Ashrafi, who is also Pakistan Ulema Council Chairman, has hailed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif for taking the bold step and honoring sentiments of the faithful.

The National Assembly had also passed a unanimous resolution on November 24 to take back appeals from the apex court. Mover of the resolution, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz's Choudhary Faqir Ahmad has urged to control the spread of indecent content against islam and the State on social media.

Chairman Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan had also appealed the government for action against publishing anti-Islamic content on social media.

"On December 5, the Commission also started a trend on Twitter to withdraw the appeals, which was backed by nearly 400,000 people and the message potentially reached to 103 million social media users," said Chairman of the Commission, Advocate Rao Abdul Rahim.

Lahore High Court Judge, Justice Shujaat Ali Khan in a case against the 'distorted translation' of the Holy Quran had directed Prime Minister's Principal Secretary Dr Syed Tauqir Hussain Shah and Punjab Chief Minister's Principal Secretary Muhammad Khan Bhatti to settle the issue once and for all with consensus.

Both Tauqir Shah and Muhammad Khan Bhatti, on behalf of their respective governments, had assured the court on implementation of its decision and reach a permanent solution to this issue.

Meanwhile, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs Murtaza Javed Abbasi, speaking in National assembly had expressed apprehensions on distorted translation of the Holy Quran and sought the Chair's ruling for stopping this heinous practice.

Deputy Speaker Zahid Akram Durrani, keeping in view the gravity of situation, directed Punjab government to address grievances of believers on priority as incorrect translation of the Holy Quran was hurting their religious sentiments.

Law enforcement agencies are also on their toes to tighten noose against those involved in this criminal activity on social media and some 62 blasphemers have been put behind bars so far with nine of them awarded capital punishment by trial courts and two others death penalty by the High Courts.

To curb the menace of unethical stuff on social media and other communication sites, a number of faith-based organizations including Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, Namoos-e-Risalat Lawyers Forum Pakistan, Legal Thinkers Forum, Tehreek Tehfuz Namoos-e-Risalat Pakistan, World Khatm-e-Nabuwat Council, Anjuman Ashqaan-e-Muhammad, Tehfuz Khatm-e-Nabuwat Forum, Tehfuz Khatm-e-Nabuwat Wukla Forum, Legal and Cyber Experts Forum, Razakaran-e-Khatm-e-Nabuwat and Islamabad Bar Association are playing their role by pursuing blasphemous cases at legal forums till their logical conclusion.

"Federal Investigation Agency's (FIA) Cyber Crime Wing had booked an accused for publishing indecent content against the divine books �the Holy Quran and Bible on social media on November 29," said Secretary General Legal Commission on Blasphemy Pakistan, Sheraz Ahmad Farooqui.

"The FIA It had also arrested two miscreants from twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi for allegedly involving in proliferation of desecration material on social media," he added.

He said a blasphemer namely Sana Ullah had been given death sentence twice by the Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Peshawar-I on November 30. "The convict used to share blasphemous content on a WhatsApp group against the sanctity and prestige of Holy Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him), Mothers of Believers (Ummahaat-ul-Momineen) and the religion of Islam," Farooqui added.

He further stated that a woman 'Rabia Peerni' was arrested by Lahore Police after lodging First Information Report against her as she was involved in disrespecting the Islamic values and injunctions publicly.

"To uphold the sanctity of Islamic values, the present government was leaving no stone unturned since it had come to power," he added.

Ministry of Religious Affairs and Interfaith Harmony has also re-activated its Web Evaluation Cell to curb publishing of blasphemous material on social media.

"People should immediately report blasphemous material on social media at the ministry's email [email protected]; Facebook page: @mora.official; or WhatsApp number: 0306 3332555," Ministry's spokesman Muhammad Umar Butt informed for the public's consumption.

He warned that publishing or spreading hate material against religion or sacred personalities cannot be tolerated and "those involved in this heinous crime would be taken to task."