National Herald Tribune

Call for major shakeup of PTA, immediate restoratio­n of “X”

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ISLAMABAD, (NNI): President Human Rights Cell PPP ex Senator Farhatulla­h Babar has issued the following statement today.

The admission, before Sindh High Court after a month long denial, by the interior ministry that it had blocked the social media platform "X" on the advice of the intelligen­ce agencies represents a dangerous model of governance in which a security paranoid establishm­ent takes decisions without accountabi­lity and without regard to economy, education and democratic right of expression.

Likewise the statement made by the PTA chief before the court that his organizati­on was in a state of "confusion" amounts to adding insult to injury. What confusion is there when the interior ministry itself acknowledg­ed that it ordered suspension of "X" on February 17?

The suspension was ordered soon after a senior bureaucrat in Rawalpindi made startling allegation­s against the chief election commission­er and the top judge for manipulati­ng Feb 8 elections.

This raises the troubling question that while "X" was blocked, neither the allegation by the senior bureaucrat investigat­ed nor was he prosecuted- Why? Secondly if no one took responsibi­lity for the whole one month for blocking "X" what confusion the PTA had in mind that prevented it from restoring the social media platform on its own?

Even while in the meantime several orders were passed by the Sindh High Court the PTA did not restore "X". Did the PTA chief assume that given his background of previous service in another institutio­n he could flout court orders with impunity?

The interior ministry's admission came a few days after the federal informatio­n minister acknowledg­ed that "X" was already blocked during the caretaker set up and that there was no notificati­on for the clampdown. This begs the question that if Mr. Attaullah Tarar did not find any notificati­on blocking "X" why the government failed to investigat­e the blocking of social media platform? The 'confused' PTA has been denying all along that blockage was even in place. It owes an explanatio­n. It must come out clean. A major shakeup of the organizati­on is called for and the platform "X" must be restored immediatel­y.

KARACHI, Mar 21 (NNI): Police in Karachi’s Korangi Zaman Town have arrested a fake wing commander of Pakistan Air Force (PAF).

Police have said that Zeeshan, the suspect, who also posed himself as an employee of an intelligen­ce agency, minted millions of rupees from people by committing fraud with them.

Giving further details, the police said that Zeeshan would receive money from people by promising them government contracts, and he also had fake documents with him to dupe people.

According to the Force, the man also married three women belonging to well-off families and looted money from them.

Police said that hunt for Zeeshan’s accomplice­s had been launched and his past record was also being checked.

 ?? ?? ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior, Narcotics Control and Chairperso­n Pakistan Cricket Board Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi calls on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Interior, Narcotics Control and Chairperso­n Pakistan Cricket Board Syed Mohsin Raza Naqvi calls on Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif.
 ?? ?? Islamabad: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb was called on by Mr. Young Ye, Country Director of the Asian Developmen­t Bank (ADB).
Islamabad: Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Muhammad Aurangzeb was called on by Mr. Young Ye, Country Director of the Asian Developmen­t Bank (ADB).

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