After Rehman Malik's efforts, Shia website unblocked

Rehman Malik had directed the FIA to take legal action against those who posted objectionable material on the website.

ISLAMABAD: The Shia website which acts as a watch dog on sectarian murders in the country and had been banned last week, was made accessible early Thursday morning after Adviser to the Prime Minister on Interior Affairs Rehman Malik directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take legal action against those who posted objectionable material on the website.

Issuing directions, Malik warned all such elements to “remove objectionable material from the web pages immediately.”

He further directed the FIA Director General to submit a report in this regard after taking “necessary cognizance to such offence.”

Later in the evening, Malik tweeted from his verified account that in a communique, it had been "confirmed that my efforts have worked and the said web page(pakshia.com) has been unblocked."

Three hours after that tweet, the website was accessible once again.

The watchdog website Shiakilling.com was banned Saturday, almost a week after the regulatory body had blocked the official website of the Ahmadiyya community, which was unblocked later. The website kept track of murders of Shia community members, motivated by sectarian differences.

Visitors were greeted with a “this webpage is not available” sign as they tried to access the site.

Members of the Shia community had also protested against the ban in Karachi on Tuesday and had tried to make their way towards the office of the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA).

Episodes of violence against Shia Muslims in Pakistan have been on the rise recently, particularly the target killing of community members in Karachi and Hazaras in Balochistan.