Adil Najam
The news is finally in. As expected, the Lahore High Court has lifted the ban it had earlier imposed on the social networking site, Facebook.
So, what is the lesson in all of this? Who gained what in this entire episode? And who lost what?
The essentials of the news, as reported in The Express Tribune, are as follows:
The Lahore High Court (LHC) lifted the ban on social networking website Facebook on Monday. During today’s proceedings, the court demanded gaurantees that such content will not be accessible to users in Pakistan. The court observed that the act would be treated as contempt of court if it is repeated again. Meanwhile, deputy attorney general and PTA representative assured the court it would not happen again.
The court also outlined the government’s responsibility in such cases. The Lahore High Court banned Facebook on May 19 for hosting a blasphemous drawing contest and asked PTA to submit a written reply. Menwhile, the next hearing was adjourned till June 15. The popular social networking website was banned by the Lahore High Court after a controversy over it hosting blasphemous caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
Muslims across the world were offended by a Facebook page which declared May 20 a day to caricature Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Despite a growing surge of protests by Muslims, Facebook had opted not to remove the page. The court had temporarily banned the social networking site Facebook till May 31 across the country. It had issued the order after an Islamic forum of lawyers sought ban on access to the popular social networking site for holding a contest of drawing caricatures on Prophet Muhammad (PBUH).
I am thinking of not to use fb now.
Dear Muslims,
Facebook has officially reopened in Pakistan. We will appreciate if you invite all your friends to join FaithfulBillion Network. Let us not forget that facebook did not take any action against our cry for deleting pages that were disrespecting our Beloved Prophet (P.B.U.H.).
We don not need facebook or any other network that insults, disrespects and degrades our Prophet Muhammed (P.B.U.H.).
We will react to it as we strongly condemn, blasphemous caricature competition held at Facebook and that every other act, which can possibly become the cause of spewing hatred and inciting violence.
FaithfulBillion.com an endeavor to show to the world that we muslims are merely not an above billion number of individuals, but we are part of such an undivided group, which exists with strongest element of commonality in their beliefs.
We need your help to make this a success…
Invite friends from your facebook and orkut account to join us…
Regards,
FaithfulBillion team
http://www.faithfulbillion.com
SIGNUP NOW!!! You will surely enjoy here.
Good decision. Wish they did not have to make it. Because the ban was a bad idea that we should never have made.
What happened in Lahore is truly one of the saddest and heart-wrenching incidents I have ever experienced as a Pakistani. When places of worship no longer carry the sanctity they deserve, the stark divide in religious ideology is made clear in Pakistan. After wandering around various blogs and reading horrible hate posts by people who label themselves as Muslims, I felt compelled to write to the terrorists and their followers directly. It is mesmerizing that there are people in my country who actually applaud the heinous crime of killing innocent people, carrying out a crime against Islam, a crime against Pakistan. I am shocked at the people who have the audacity to support those who kill in the name of our religion, one that bounds my faith for the timeless virtues of tolerance, compassion, and forgiveness.
http://bit.ly/avZfHU (http://ahraza.wordpress.com)
Well it was sensible thing to do. I think we should have left it to Muslims themselves to decide whether they want to boycott Facebook or not.
I have one reservation about the use of photograph of few bearded persons protesting with this article. We are talking about a coort decision lifting the ban. Perhaps the logo of the Facebook would have suffice.
It is somewhat (not completely) similar to what BBC have done. Please see the following link. Showing an individual (perhaps a woman) with Niqab, only eyes showing and some Arabic written on the head band. Completely irrelevant. A classic example of negative, biased and stereotyping coverage.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/default.stm