Rawalpindi:
The Rawalpindi bench of the High Court of Lahore (LHC) issued directives to federal and provincial governments to take immediate measures against blasphemy on social networks, including the prevention of blasphemy against the Prophet Muhammad (PBUH), the Holy Quran and all sacred personalities.
The court, in its detailed 16 -page judgment, also ordered the immediate end of all types of VPN, the registration of all social media websites and the establishment of special national courts, similar to the NAB and anti -terrorist courts (ATC). He also ordered the appointment of judges dedicated to these courts, the creation of a special wing within the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to combat blasphemy and the creation of a department of blasphemy (CBD) modeled after the Department of Terrorism (CTD).
In addition, the court asked the observation of the International Day of Islamophobia of the “day of honor of the Prophet” each year on March 15.
The court published these directives after approving all the related requests filed by Umar Nawaz and Aamir Zafar. A detailed 16 -page judgment was published concerning petitions, which sought to limit the growing campaign of blasphemy on social networks and called for strict actions.
In the decision, judge Abdul Aziz gave instructions to federal governments and Punjab, FIA, PTA and the Ministry of the Interior (me), urging them to identify NGOs that support the publication or download of this content in the form of freedom of expression.
The court also headed meetings with social media platforms like Facebook and YouTube to inform them about the strong feelings of the Muslim community and require the immediate deletion of these offensive publications. The FIA ​​cybercriminal wing was invited to be independent with more resources and funding. The court also recommended that you include equipment in the educational program to encourage children to use social media positively.
The judgment stressed that the Pakistani state must play an active role at the end of the upward trend of blasphemy on social networks, with PTA awareness campaigns by downloading positive videos. In addition, individuals who commit blasphemy that have mental health problems should be treated, and preventive measures must be taken to avoid incidents such as Sialkot’s tragedy, Gojra’s incident, Shanti Nagar and the murder of the Sri Lankan director in Sialkot.
The court recommended training councils of university experts at divisional levels and the district to prevent vigilant justice and ensure that the suspects are quickly held, followed by transparent surveys. Affairs should then be officially recorded and the judicial measures taken.
The Court expressed strong dissatisfaction with the role of state institutions and ordered the PTA to develop an immediate mechanism to eliminate the blasphemous material from social media platforms. He also ordered that the bloggers involved in such crimes that fled abroad are brought back to legal action.
The detailed judgment was sent for an immediate implementation to the federal and provincial governments, chief secretaries, ministries concerned, FIA, PTA, me and social media societies.
