Pakistan

‘If you believe, boycott Facebook'

Ppi May 19, 2010

KARACHI: Members of the women’s wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) joined countrywide protests against social networking website Facebook by holding a large protest rally at MA Jinnah Road on Wednesday.

Scores of women demonstrated against the competition of making drawings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) on Facebook. The naib ameer of JI, Professor Ghafoor Ahmed, addressed the rally, saying that the United Nations Organisation and the Organisation of Islamic Countries should take action against what he called a ‘blasphemous act’.

The Ummah should not tolerate such profane caricatures of their prophet, he said. All Muslims adore the prophet and every young man and woman can give their lives to protect his honour. JI Karachi chief Mohammed Hussain Mehanti said that the blasphemous competition on Facebook was aimed at provoking the Ummah. He urged the rulers of Pakistan to register their protest on diplomatic fronts. He demanded they ask the US government to ban the competition. Mehnti asked the public to boycott Facebook in order to prove their faith in God and the Holy Prophet (pbuh).

Published in the Express Tribune, May 20th, 2010.

COMMENTS (24)

SALMAN | 14 years ago | Reply Boycott Facebook and Join www.Pakbuddies.com Pakistan's First social netwrok ..

BE MORE WISE | 14 years ago | Reply Hang on, i have been going over the comments below and i am honestly really dissapointed to see the kind of mental abyss we all are in, people are saying not to boycott facebook just because they have been become addicted to blogging and wasting time over networking with friends, the outside world is literally laughing at our state at the moment. dont you think when ever you log on to facebook you contribute some amount to their annual profit.helping an organization profit which is run over by the enemies of islam, the jews.there are other better sites to propagate islamic thoughts peacefully. by the way ull never be successful in doing so on facebook they continually remove islamic content and preserve anti islamic stuff.think again!

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Sana N | 14 years ago | Reply Look if you don't like facebook, DON'T ACCESS IT! There is hate everywhere if you want to find it. We can't boycott the world and live underground! Has no one learnt of tolerance in Islam?! The cartoons do not change history, do not change the prophets character and do not affect your faith!

javed | 14 years ago | Reply Because Facebook attempted to host contest to draw caricatures of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Therefore, simply boycott Facebook and American products. When million of Muslims around the world would boycott then they would lose business and would stop there mischief activities. Convey the message to others. Stop using Facebook, boycott American products

Tαnzeel | 14 years ago | Reply Never knew just a mere website would do big damage to fragile Muslim Ummah!

Face | 14 years ago | Reply Guys register your vote at http://facebookpak.com/

Omar Qadir | 14 years ago | Reply Lolz...It's only 2010 and I am 25 I will love to see the world in 2050...Ah can't wait.

Yumna Shezad | 14 years ago | Reply They have done it in the past. They have done it now. They will continue donig it. We boycotted such media in the past. we have done it now and we shall do it in the future. However, this is NOT the way to retaliate! Rather than stepping down, we should find ways of stepping up to them and finding better ways of punching them in the face. And those who talk of 'DEMOCRACY', let it be known to them that there's a difference between freedom of speech and pointing fingers at religions! Its high time for the Muslim generation to unite amongst themselves and take REAL stand against those monsters!

Usman Eshai | 14 years ago | Reply @ Muslim First, Brother boycotting their products would result us in negative indeed. We are already quite behind. Ostrich moves are useless now. First make YOUR products good enough that they could be purchased with a trust of quality and durability. If I am a buyer I would never buy a product tagged with "MADE IN PAKISTAN", rather i would prefer MADE IN U.S.A or MADE IN JAPAN or else... You know the answer WHY I would Prefer those. Think again and again and again, where are we standing right now, and what are we doing right now. Good Luck.

Muslim First | 14 years ago | Reply Assalam-o-alykum wrb Because Facebook attempted to host contest to draw caricatures of our beloved Prophet Muhammad (SAW). Therefore, simply boycott Facebook and American products. When million of Muslims around the world would boycott then they would lose business and would stop there mischief activities. Convey the message to others. Stop using Facebook, boycott American products Jazakallahu Khayran

KA | 14 years ago | Reply @ZK I am agreed with you that banning FB is not the answer we should ban each & every Western & Indian media from our society..........today we call our self Muslim but unfortunately we are not even following the 0.1% of it. If you really love your Prophet(P.B.U.H)then follow his suunah...........Offer Prayers five times daily, love your brotherhood & neighborhood, do not fight with each other & etc. Before pointing your finger on some one just look at your self that how much good you are

ZK | 14 years ago | Reply This is ridiculous, i.e. banning fb. And look at all the angered, pumped up protestors on the street. We never see so many people protest when innocent people are killed or for target killings. Yes, what fb did was wrong, but banning it is not the answer. All the fundos and extremists are out on the streets chanting slogans saying death to those who have said these things, etc... Madness.

Dee | 14 years ago | Reply Correction: I meant 70,000 users and congratulations now it has 80,000. Plus whoever is against the ban should have a look at this report by Fox news 'Everybody Draw Mohammed' Page Briefly Vanishes Due to Facebook Glitch: Facebook officials said a "small technical issue" prevented users from accessing the page for a "very short period" of time. "Once alerted to the problem, we resolved it as quickly as possible," the company said in a statement to FoxNews.com

Dee | 14 years ago | Reply @ Kashan: You think we didn't? I reported it several times and so did all of my friends. I searched "holocaust" on facebook and there was just one community against it with only 650 members (most of them were Jews themselves quarreling with others) whereas this community had over 7000 the last time I checked. I reported each and every picture every other day but no one at facebook had enough time to delete even a single one of them. Freedom of speech, if I mock your beloved ones then you shouldn't stop me because that's freedom of speech! I've never in my life supported IJT and never will but for God's sake get over this obsession of democracy and freedom of speech. None of these laws were created by God or mentioned in Quran.

Kashan Ahmed | 14 years ago | Reply I just can't believe how many people in this country are so lame that they actually believe in internet blockade and lauding this stupid decision by LHC. I am no means appreciating what that page has to offer but banning facebook or any other website is just an attack on freedom of speech and information. If we Pakistanis are so grieved about this situation then why not report that page and force the face book authorities to ban the page. But all we can do is shut our ears and eyes and give them more publicity and make ourselves a laughing stock in front of the world. No wonder we are producing so many terrorist, who are ready to kill people rather than convince someone with logic and rationality.

Babar | 14 years ago | Reply Good Job done by the Lahore High Court, bcuz our leaders were sleeeping in lovely dreams.

Shabah | 14 years ago | Reply ‘If you believe, boycott Facebook’ Damn Right!!

Usman Eshai | 14 years ago | Reply The real issue is that our people are ignorant. No doubt LHC decision is praiseworthy, but this not the way.

Fahad Asmat | 14 years ago | Reply Very good decision by Lahore High Court to ban Facebook & YouTube.

Danish | 14 years ago | Reply @Umayr: far more frequent and we'll block em all one by one and in the end all u'll be visiting in land of pure will be PTV website. btw which country has the biggest chunk of porn website hits. ;)

Umayr Masud | 14 years ago | Reply Even though i agree 100% with their feelings, but i think the ban has given the event the sort of media coverage that such incidents are now going to become more frequent.

Arif Samana | 14 years ago | Reply This is the time for our Ummah to be united. If 1 lack people, those who believe in Islam and love Prophet Muhammad, (although we all claim to be so), we should unite and stand one holiday, on I.I.Chundrigar Road, making a cue and protest against this act, then we will be heard on the world and will get our lost glory. Unless then, its all story.

Sameena Rehman | 14 years ago | Reply I am not the supporter of this political party, but I will have to agree to this call they are giving us; I wonder when I had the Israeli flag on going down the trashcan, Facebook instantaneously blocked my profile, I thought to myself 'yes, I might have violated some rules' but then what's with this particular group now, does it not violate Facebook's codes anymore? How come should they not ban that particular group which has raised many objections from Pakistan, are we too negligible to be considered or are they too stubborn to be impartial towards Muslims?

MK | 14 years ago | Reply Wow. Nice picture. Typical Pakistani students huh? Way to go with representing our country on a website (which you would wish was) visited by millions. I wonder why I wasted 15 years of my life at Karachi Grammar School, went to an Ivy League school, and decided to come back and work in this country. Should have dressed up in a turban and I would have shown up on this website as a typical Pakistani student protesting against Facebook. Ridiculous. P.s: Free media? Freedom of speech? Let this comment go up without editing it.

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