ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology this week criticized a recent statement by Pakistan’s top body of clerics against the use of virtual private networks (VPNs) as “unreasonable,” stressing that recent Internet disruptions had impacted the livelihoods of over 2.5 million freelancers in the country.
The Ministry of Interior, in a letter to the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) on Friday, directed the nationwide blocking of illegal VPNs, citing their use by militants for financial transactions and violence. The ministry also noted that VPNs were being used by Pakistanis to access pornographic websites and blasphemous content.
The Council of Islamic Ideology (CII), a constitutional advisory body that reviews laws to ensure they align with Islamic principles, also declared the usage of VPNs as “un-Islamic” in a statement after the development. CII Chairman Raghib Hussain Naeem said the state had the authority to prevent wrongdoing or actions that facilitate it, which included the blocking of VPNs. He said the use of VPNs with the intention to access illegal content or blocked websites is considered impermissible from an Islamic perspective.
A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Information Technology on the recent Internet disruptions in Pakistan, chaired by Senator Palwasha Mohammad Zai Khan on Monday, criticized the CII’s statement against the use of VPNs.
“The Committee called the Islamic Ideological Council’s comments on the blockage of VPNs as unreasonable,” a press release shared by the Senate Secretariat Media Directorate said. It added that the committee humorously suggested the CII should also ban television as it displays “harmful content.”
“The Committee opined that nothing would be achieved by blocking the tools, and instead, the government should focus on regulating them,” it said. “The Committee sought the basis for the Islamic Ideological Council’s judgment.”
Meanwhile, Senator Afnan Ullah questioned the legality of the interior ministry’s letter, saying that VPNs do not fall under the umbrella of social media apps. “The Committee directed the PTA to seek the legal opinion of the Attorney General of Pakistan on whether or not VPNs fall under the ambit of social media apps,” the statement said.
Digital rights activists and bodies have criticized Pakistan’s recent Internet restrictions, notably after the February general elections, where allegations of electoral manipulation led to the blocking of social media platform X.
Media reports also suggested the government was setting up a national firewall, which had led to the slowdown of Internet speed across Pakistan, saying the decision was taken to curb “anti-state narratives” by political activists.
Discussing the reasons for the Internet disruptions, Khan criticized the IT minister for not attending the meeting.
“She stated that there are around 2.5 million freelancers in the country, and the recent Internet disruption was causing hindrances for them in earning their livelihood,” the press release said. “Despite inviting the minister for IT, she didn’t bother to attend the meeting for the third consecutive time.”
It said the committee decided to highlight the IT minister’s inability to defend his ministry’s decisions in a letter to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif.
Among users of VPNs in Pakistan are supporters of the country’s imprisoned former prime minister Imran Khan, who have called for a march on Islamabad on Nov. 24 to pressure the government for his release.
Pakistani senate committee says ‘unreasonable’ of clerics body to call VPN usage ‘un-Islamic’
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Pakistani senate committee says ‘unreasonable’ of clerics body to call VPN usage ‘un-Islamic’
- Council of Islamic Ideology’s chairman last week said use of VPNs to access illegal content is impermissible
- Senate Standing Committee on IT questions the legality of interior ministry’s letter banning use of VPNs
Trump tells India and Pakistan to ‘stop’ clashes
- The US president initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between India and Pakistan
- His administration has scrambled into action in the last 24 hours since the Indian strikes in Pakistan
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump called Wednesday for India and Pakistan to immediately halt their fighting, and offered to help end the worst violence between the nuclear-armed countries in two decades.
“It’s so terrible,” Trump said at the White House. “I get along with both, I know both very well, and I want to see them work it out. I want to see them stop.
“They’ve gone tit-for-tat, so hopefully they can stop now.”
Trump’s comments came as India and Pakistan exchanged heavy artillery fire along their contested frontier, after New Delhi launched deadly missile strikes on its arch-rival.
At least 43 deaths were reported in the fighting, which came two weeks after New Delhi blamed Islamabad for backing an attack on the Indian-run side of disputed Kashmir, which Pakistan denied.
Pakistan has long been a key US military ally but Trump has been keen to build up relations with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he hosted at the White House in February.
“We get along with both countries very well, good relationships with both, and I want to see it stop,” Trump said in the Oval Office.
“And if I can do anything to help, I will be there.”
Trump initially played down the crisis as part of old tensions between India and Pakistan — even saying they had been at odds for 1,500 years, despite the two countries only forming after independence from Britain in 1947.
But his administration has scrambled into action in the last 24 hours since the Indian strikes.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio spoke to his counterparts from India and Pakistan on Friday, encouraging them to reopen dialogue to “defuse” the situation, the White House said.
Peace in South Asia to remain ‘a dream’ until Kashmir dispute is resolved— ex-Pakistan FM
- Tensions between New Delhi, Islamabad soar after India’s strikes in Pakistani territory kill 31
- Any sovereign nation would have no choice but to respond, says Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s former foreign minister Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari this week said peace in South Asia will remain “but a dream” unless India and Pakistan resolve the issue of Kashmir, as tensions soared between the two nuclear-armed neighbors following India’s missile strikes in Pakistani territory.
Bhutto-Zardari’s comments follow surging tensions between India and Pakistan after the former conducted missile strikes into the latter’s territory late Wednesday night, which Pakistan said killed 31 and injured 57. The Indian government said it struck nine Pakistani “terrorist infrastructure” sites involved in planning a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. The assault took place on the tourist hill station of Pahalgam in the part of Kashmir governed by India, with 26 men killed.
The Pakistani military said six locations across its territory — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh in the eastern province of Punjab and Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir — were targeted. Azad Kashmir is the part of the disputed Kashmir valley that is administered by Pakistan. In response, Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry had said five Indian planes and one combat drone that had attacked Pakistan were shot down, naming three Rafales and an MiG-29 and Su-57 each.
India and Pakistan have fought two out of three wars over the disputed Himalayan territory of Kashmir. Both countries claim the territory in full but administer only parts of it. India accuses Pakistan of arming separatist militants in the part of Kashmir it governs, which Pakistan denies. Islamabad says it only extends moral and diplomatic support to the people of Kashmir.
“This [Kashmir] is a disputed territory,” Bhutto-Zardari, who is also the leader of the Pakistan Peoples Party, a key government coalition ally, told Arab News during an exclusive interview on Wednesday.
“This is a dispute that India took to the United Nations. And until we get to the root cause, until we find a solution to the Kashmir question, until then I believe that peace in South Asia will be but a dream.”
Bhutto-Zardari said Pakistan had called for a credible, international probe into the Pahalgam attack. However, he rejected India had leveled unfounded allegations at Pakistan “without any supporting evidence.”
“All over the world it is known you’re innocent until proved guilty,” the PPP leader said. “Accuse me of a crime but produce the evidence and at least have a trial.”
He criticized the Indian government for becoming “judge, jury and executioner,” adding that its military strikes had targeted innocent civilians and children.
“They violated Pakistan’s sovereign territory,” the former foreign minister said. “Any sovereign nation on the planet would have no choice but to respond in such a circumstance.”
Pakistan has vowed that it has the right to respond to India’s military strikes as per international law. During his address to the nation on Wednesday night, Sharif warned India it would have to “pay the price” for striking Pakistan. His office said earlier on Wednesday that the country’s top national security body had authorized its armed forces to take “corresponding actions” in response to Indian strikes.
Pakistani parties rally in Karachi to protest India’s missile strikes
- Sindh chief minister leads rally featuring participation from PPP, ANP, MQM-P and JI parties
- Political parties’ leaders praise Pakistan’s armed forces for retaliating to Indian missile strikes
KARACHI: In a rare display of unity, major Pakistani political parties rallied in the southern port city of Karachi on Wednesday to vehemently protest India’s missile strikes that killed 31 people and injured 57.
In the sharpest military escalation in more than two decades between the nuclear-armed rivals, the Indian government said it struck nine Pakistani “terrorist infrastructure” sites involved in planning a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. The assault took place on the tourist hill station of Pahalgam in the part of Kashmir governed by India, with 26 men killed.
The Pakistani military said six locations across its territory — Ahmedpur East, Muridke, Sialkot, Shakargarh in the eastern province of Punjab and Kotli and Muzaffarabad in Azad Kashmir — were targeted. Azad Kashmir is the part of the disputed Kashmir valley that is administered by Pakistan. In response, Pakistan military spokesperson Lt. Gen. Ahmed Sharif Chaudhry said five Indian planes and one combat drone that had attacked Pakistan were shot down, naming three Rafales and an MiG-29 and Su-57 each.
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah led the rally at the Karachi Press Club, which featured participation from the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Jamaat-e-Islami (JI), Awami National Party (ANP), Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) and the Muttahida Qaumi Movement Pakistan (MQM-P) parties.
“Within just ten minutes, Pakistan was blamed without any investigation,” Shah told participants of the rally, referring to India’s accusations that Islamabad was involved in the Pahalgam attack.
The chief minister accused Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, whom he referred to as the “Butcher of Gujarat,” for orchestrating the recent events to divert attention from domestic issues.
“India rejected these gestures for peace and instead launched nighttime attacks on six separate locations, resulting in the deaths of innocent civilians,” he noted.
He lauded Pakistan’s armed forces for giving a befitting response to Indian military strikes.
“The Pakistan Air Force shot down five Indian aircraft and a drone,” Shah said. “We held back only to avoid escalation; otherwise, not a single Indian jet would have survived.”
Monem Zafar, the chief of the JI’s Karachi chapter, agreed with Shah that the rally was a demonstration of political unity amid the crisis.
“The message to India and Modi is that the entire Pakistani nation strongly condemns this attack,” he said. “The nation stands with the Pakistan Army for the protection of the country.”
Zafar called on the nation to observe the coming Friday as a “Day of Resolve” to demonstrate national support for the armed forces.
Erdogan conveys Turkiye’s solidarity to Pakistan PM amid crisis with India
- Erdogan tells Shehbaz Sharif he supports Pakistan’s “calm” policies amid crisis
- Pakistan military says Indian strikes on Wednesday night killed 31, injured 57
ANKARA: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan spoke by phone on Wednesday with Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to convey his solidarity after India hit Pakistan and Pakistani Kashmir with missiles, the Turkish presidency said.
Pakistan, which has strong ties with Turkiye, said it had shot down five Indian aircraft and vowed to retaliate further, in the worst clash between the nuclear-armed neighbors in more than two decades.
During the call, Erdogan told Sharif that Turkiye supported what he called Pakistan’s “calm and restrained policies” in the crisis, his office said in a statement.
Erdogan also said he found “appropriate” Islamabad’s call for an investigation into a militant attack that triggered the crisis. The militants killed 26 people in Indian Kashmir in the attack on April 22. Pakistan denies Indian accusations that it was linked to the attack.
“Erdogan stated that Turkiye was ready to do what it can to prevent the tensions from escalating, and that his diplomatic contacts in that regard would continue,” it said.
Turkiye has previously condemned India’s attack and called on both sides to act with common sense. Turkiye’s Foreign Ministry said the latest military action by India created the risk of an “all-out war.”
Ankara also maintains cordial ties with India.
Pakistan blocks 16 Indian YouTube channels, 32 websites for spreading ‘propaganda’
- Pakistani telecom authority says action taken to “safeguard” national security
- Development takes place after Indian strikes overnight killed 31 civilians in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said on Wednesday it has blocked 16 Indian YouTube channels and 32 Indian websites for spreading “anti-Pakistan propaganda” and disseminating false information following Indian military strikes inside Pakistani territory that killed 31 people.
The move, part of PTA’s move to combat disinformation, comes after a sharp military escalation between the nuclear-armed rivals. The Indian government said it struck nine Pakistani “terrorist infrastructure” sites on Wednesday night, alleging that they were involved in planning a deadly attack in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. The assault took place on the tourist hill station of Pahalgam in the part of Kashmir governed by India, with 26 men killed.
“The PTA has blocked 16 Indian YouTube news channels, 31 YouTube video links and 32 websites for disseminating false information and anti-Pakistan propaganda,” the authority said.
“The blocked content was found to be spreading misleading and harmful narratives aimed at manipulating public perception and undermining national unity.”
The PTA said it had taken the action to “safeguard” national security and “protect” Pakistan’s digital ecosystem.
The authority said PTA is committed to maintaining a “safe, secure, and trustworthy” Internet environment for telecom users, adding that online content will continue to be actively monitored for material that threatens Pakistan’s national interests.
The development is a similar response to India blocking access to social media accounts of Pakistani actors and cricketers on May 3.
In April, India banned more than a dozen Pakistani YouTube channels for allegedly spreading “provocative” content following the April 22 attack. The banned platforms included the YouTube channels of Pakistani news outlets Dawn, Samaa TV, ARY News, Bol News, Raftar, Geo News and Suno News.
