Friday 6 June 2014

PTA at it Again (Banning Progressive Facebook Pages)

Ahh PTA, when will you ever learn? First Youtube, then Twitter and even SMS packages because its 'immoral'. And now banning progressive and Liberal pages preaching for a more tolerant and hate-free Pakistan such as Roshni, Taliban are Zaliman (oppressors), Bhangvi and Laal. Ironically pages and websites linked with extremists groups are free and accessible for everybody calling for open-hatred and persecution of minority groups and anti-state action.

I would have written more but since I have my exams I think this excerpt below will describe my thoughts just fine.



In 5th June, 2014 Pakistan Telecommunication Authority connived with Facebook to ban nearly all Pakistani progressive, secular and liberal pages campaigning for a Pakistan with human rights, social justice, equality and no terrorism. 
The irony is that anti state, Taliban pages operate with impunity while the voices of moderation and sanity are silenced by the state organ responsible for regulating telecommunication.  
Pakistan is a country haunted by a troubled past and its involvement in Afghan Soviet war tattered the social fabric, society was deeply radicalized religiously and space for progressive discourse shrank over the years until broadband internet penetration began to see a stellar rise in Pakistan under General Pervaiz Musharraf's reign. The introduction of broadband internet provided some space for the progressive and moderate forces
This development also blessed the embattled progressive Pakistanis with an unparalleled opportunity to channel their narrative to a much larger audience and that too without the fear of persecution in a society where being aligned with liberal thought alone merits ones life to be taken away. This was because the web offered a certain degree of anonymity. 
The social media, particularly Facebook effectively started giving a new picture of things earlier obscured because a variety of factors including state censorship. This increasing spread of awareness potentially has the ability to contribute to a change in the Status Quo with a better aware policy.

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