PPP’s Babar lambast govt for X ban

Wonders as to how PTA chief continued to flouts SHC order with impunity

ISLAMABAD:

The chief of PPP’s human rights cell has strongly criticized both the federal government and the telecommunication regulator for blocking the micro-blogging site X, despite repeated orders from a superior court to lift the unannounced ban.

Former senator Farhatullah Babar issued a statement on Thursday, referring to the admission by the interior ministry before the Sindh High Court (SHC) that it had blocked X on the advice of intelligence agencies.

Babar described this admission, which came after a month of denial, as indicative of "a dangerous model of governance in which a security-paranoid establishment makes decisions without accountability and without regard for the economy, education, and democratic expression."

He also criticized the statement made by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) chief before the court, stating that his organization was in a state of “confusion”.

Babar questioned the validity of this confusion, pointing out that the interior ministry itself acknowledged ordering the suspension of X on February 17.

Also read: SHC tells govt to must reply on X closure by April 17

According to the PPP leader, the suspension was ordered shortly after a senior bureaucrat in Rawalpindi made startling allegations against the chief election commissioner and the top judge regarding manipulation in the February 8 elections.

Babar raised concerns about the lack of investigation or prosecution regarding the bureaucrat's allegations during the month-long blockage of X.

He also questioned why the PTA did not restore X despite several orders from the SHC, suggesting that the PTA chairman might believe he can disregard court orders due to his previous service in “another institution”.

Babar noted that the interior ministry's admission came shortly after Federal Minister for Information Attaullah Tarar acknowledged that X was already blocked during the caretaker setup, with no notification for the clampdown.

“This begs the question that if Mr Attaullah Tarar did not find any notification blocking ‘X’ then why did the government fail to investigate the blocking of the social media platform?” he asked.