Blasphemous contents: Police, FIA ordered to take action

The petitioner had sought action against the chairmen of Pemra, PTA and the interior and foreign secretaries.

LAHORE: Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday ordered the inspector general of Punjab police and the Federal Investigation Agency director general to take action against those involved in the business of movies having objectionable contents about Prophets and their Companions. Justice Ijazul Ahsan issued this order on a petition by Azizur Rahman Sani, a representative of the Aalmi Majlis-i-Tahafuz-i-Khatam-i-Nabuwat and adjourned the hearing for October 22. At the previous hearing, the court had ordered a ban on all blasphemous material available on CDs and directed the cable operators not to run such materials. The petitioner had sought action against the chairmen of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulator Authority (Pemra), the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and the interior and foreign secretaries. On Friday, the petitioner’s counsel, Chaudhry Ishtiaq, argued that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority  had failed to fulfill its responsibility to block blasphemous videos and their links were still available on the internet. He maintained that pictures, movies and plays on the lives of Prophets should not be allowed in the light of an order of the Federal Shariat Court. He prayed to the court to form a team to probe the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2012.