Throw the book & face the consequences

Why stop with just the bans? Why not outlaw the Internet altogether? That may not save much electricity, but it will surely help to keep the nation shrouded in ignorance. –Photo by AFP

There is no shortage of energy in Pakistan. Notwithstanding the sporadic suspensions in the supply of electricity, during a sojourn in Lahore earlier this month, I found myself confronted every day with evidence of reasonably energetic demonstrations and protests related to a broad spectrum of issues ranging from hepatitis awareness to appalling delays in the payment of salaries to government employees. Oodles of newsprint and endless hours of air time on the numerous television news channels are being devoted, meanwhile, to the relentless confrontation between the executive and the judiciary. Keen to deflect attention from its multiple woes, the government has adopted, inter alia, the strategy of demanding that the Supreme Court make former military dictator Pervez Musharraf answerable for the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) he introduced nearly three years ago.

Pakistan versus the Internet: YouTube blocked

KARACHI: Pakistan has blocked the popular video sharing website YouTube in a bid to contain blasphemous material, officials said on Thursday.

There are reports that another popular photo sharing website, Flickr.com has been blocked. Internet users across the country have also reported being unable to access the English section of popular internet encyclopedia website, Wikipedia.

This comes in the backdrop of a PTA ban on the popular social networking website Facebook after a controversy surrounding the website hosting an event promoting caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).