Sharif orders action against blasphemous social media content

Team Udayavani, Mar 15, 2017, 11:31 AM IST

Islamabad (Pakistan): Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today ordered authorities to take immediate action against ‘blasphemous’ content on the social media and remove sacrilegious contents and punish the perpetrators, days after a high court order.

“Those behind this heinous crime should be dealt with, without any delay,” Sharif ordered Federal Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar Ali Khan.

“The blasphemous content on social media is a nefarious conspiracy to hurt the religious sentiments of entire Muslim ummah (community),” he was quoted as saying.

He also ordered to take necessary actions in accordance with the judicial guidelines issued by the court.

“Those responsible for blasphemy should be traced and punished according to the law,” he said.

The Islamabad High Court judge Shuakat Siddiqui last week directed the interior ministry to take actions against Facebook pages with alleged anti-Islam material.

Sharif also said that accountability of those who misuse the blasphemy law for their personal interests should be ensured.

He also asked the relevant departments to approach international social media platforms to put the blasphemous content off the internet.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s National Assembly today passed a unanimous resolution condemning the sacrilegious contents appearing on social media and agreed to constitute a ten-member committee to monitor such content.

The lower house also agreed that, if required, the government should take legislative action against those posting blasphemous content on social media.

The resolution said that the “objectionable material is hurting the sentiments of the Muslims.”
The House adopted a motion authorising Speaker National Assembly to constitute a ten-member special committee to suggest measures for blocking the sacrilegious and blasphemous material on social media and action against the responsible persons for this crime.

Blasphemy is very sensitive issue in Pakistan and those accused of it become an easy target for extremists.