{"id":38494,"date":"2017-04-11T13:11:11","date_gmt":"2017-04-11T20:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/world.edu\/?p=38494"},"modified":"2017-04-11T13:11:11","modified_gmt":"2017-04-11T20:11:11","slug":"crushing-intellect-pakistans-war-free-speech","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/crushing-intellect-pakistans-war-free-speech\/","title":{"rendered":"Crushing the intellect: Pakistan\u2019s war on free speech"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/ntuf-demands.jpeg\"><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/ntuf-demands.jpeg\" alt=\"ntuf-demands\" width=\"680\" height=\"383\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-38495\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/ntuf-demands.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/ntuf-demands-250x141.jpeg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Pakistani authorities <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1320650\">have won<\/a> another battle against free speech. The latest blow is just another consequence of harsh measures taken by Pakistan\u2019s government <a href=\"https:\/\/www.hrw.org\/news\/2017\/01\/10\/pakistan-bloggers-feared-abducted\">in the last five years<\/a> against freedom of speech.<\/p>\n<p>On March 27, the interior ministry <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1323131\/Facebook-removed-85pc-blasphemous-content-on-pakistans-request-ministry-tells-ihc\">announced that Facebook had removed 85%<\/a> of \u201cillegal, blasphemous\u201d content found on its website. <a href=\"https:\/\/propakistani.pk\/2016\/01\/26\/state-of-social-media-in-pakistan-in-2016\/\">The estimated number of social media users<\/a> in the country, according to a 2015 report, is around 17.3 million. Facebook is the top site, and Twitter is spreading fast.<\/p>\n<p>The move was possible because of the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.theguardian.com\/world\/2012\/sep\/05\/pakistans-blasphemy-laws-colossal-absurdity\">blasphemy laws<\/a> in Pakistan, which were inherited from British rule. <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-south-asia-12621225\">The laws are aimed at anyone<\/a> who displays \u201cdisrespectful\u201d behaviour or words against religion. And those found guilty can be put to death.<\/p>\n<p>The laws <a href=\"https:\/\/www.amnesty.org\/en\/latest\/news\/2016\/12\/pakistan-how-the-blasphemy-laws-enable-abuse\/\">are known and criticised globally<\/a> because they have led to many deaths over the past decade.<\/p>\n<p><strong>A war against online media<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In January, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2017\/01\/20\/opinion\/bring-pakistans-missing-bloggers-home.html\">five Pakistani bloggers disappeared<\/a>. All were known for their extensive use of social media, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1307293\">public criticism of religion and statements against censorship<\/a> in their country.<\/p>\n<p>Among them was the poet and academic <a href=\"http:\/\/fjwu.edu.pk\/gs-faculty\/mr-salman-haider\/\">Salman Haider<\/a>. He <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-38782936\">finally returned home on January 28<\/a>, as did <a href=\"https:\/\/tribune.com.pk\/story\/1321566\/abducted-blogger-breaks-silence\/\">two other activists<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_38496\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/siteblock.png\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38496\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/siteblock.png\" alt=\"Blocked message from 2013 in Pakistan. Wiki.0hlic\/Wikimedia \" width=\"680\" height=\"374\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38496\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/siteblock.png 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/siteblock-250x138.png 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-38496\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Blocked message from 2013 in Pakistan. Wiki.0hlic\/Wikimedia<\/p><\/div><br \/>\nBut none of them have yet disclosed who abducted them. And the others are still missing, adding <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1320669\/a-misery-called-disappearance\">to the many unexplained disappearances<\/a> in Pakistan.<\/p>\n<p>Cases of true blasphemy are rare and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/asia_pacific\/blasphemy-charges-create-climate-of-fear-for-pakistani-media\/2017\/03\/18\/e649b4da-0ba6-11e7-bd19-fd3afa0f7e2a_story.html\">laws exist to address them<\/a>. And there is also no evidence that there has been a surge of blasphemous content online.<\/p>\n<p>The public has to accept the verdict of the government without really knowing what is wrong with the way people express their views on social media.<\/p>\n<p>But after the disappearances, the judiciary <a href=\"https:\/\/tribune.com.pk\/story\/1371124\/bring-back-bloggers-ihc-orders-fia\/\">launched an investigation<\/a> and asked the Federal Investigation Agency to monitor <a href=\"https:\/\/tribune.com.pk\/story\/1371124\/bring-back-bloggers-ihc-orders-fia\/\">the question of online blasphemy<\/a> more carefully.<\/p>\n<p>Confronted by technological changes, authorities or self-proclaimed moral groups stir panic over what they don\u2019t understand and then justify extending their control.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The contempt of Pakistan\u2019s ruling elite<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The problem in the country is not simply a religious one. It\u2019s a structural issue within the ruling elite, the \u201cPakistani brown sahibs\u201d, who, argued Director of the Institute of Contemporary Islamic Thought Zafar Bangash <a href=\"https:\/\/crescent.icit-digital.org\/articles\/the-modern-brown-sahibs\">in 2005<\/a> look down on the common man.<\/p>\n<p>They control permitted views, deeming some as inferior and wrong, he said, adding:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Almost all colonized people display two characteristics: total subservience to the colonial master, and utter contempt for their own peoples.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The role of Pakistan\u2019s citizens in their country\u2019s governance has, unfortunately, been fairly minimal. Even in the limited periods when democracy has ostensibly existed in the country, it has been of varieties restricted <a href=\"https:\/\/www.academia.edu\/4966234\/Bureaucracy_and_Democracy_in_Pakistan\">either by prevalent socio-political conditions<\/a> that do not provide equality of opportunity to constituents, or by the manipulative politics of dictators and demagogues garbed in the camouflage of electoral popularity.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_38497\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/socialmedianotice.jpeg\"><img decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38497\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/socialmedianotice.jpeg\" alt=\" The government has been specifically targeting social media in advertisements. Altaf Khan, Author provided \" width=\"680\" height=\"510\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38497\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/socialmedianotice.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/socialmedianotice-250x188.jpeg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-38497\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">The government has been specifically targeting social media in advertisements. Altaf Khan, Author provided<\/p><\/div><br \/>\nThis mindset fits into the late literature professor and founder of post-colonial studies Edward Said\u2019s argument in the follow up to his book <a href=\"https:\/\/www.penguin.co.uk\/books\/57454\/orientalism\/\">Orientalism<\/a>, titled <a href=\"http:\/\/www.penguinrandomhouse.com\/books\/159778\/culture-and-imperialism-by-edward-w-said\/9780679750543\/\">Culture and Imperialism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>According to Said, post-colonial structures revert to an appreciation and the practice of colonial masters when disappointment with total freedom sets in. And distaste for popular opinion becomes ingrained in the system.<\/p>\n<p>This is the reason why the very idea of freedom of thought, let alone freedom of expression or journalism, has become anathema to the governing structures in Pakistan.<\/p>\n<h2>A troubled relationship with the press<\/h2>\n<p>It is true that the abuse of social media and the incompetence of the mainstream media, especially private television, has created an environment that was traumatising for some.<\/p>\n<p>The proliferation of private TV channels and their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1134573\">lack of professionalism<\/a>, the growth of social media and the rise of fake news have made some <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ndu.edu.pk\/issra\/issra_pub\/articles\/issra-paper\/ISSRA_Papers_Vol6_IssueI_2014\/03-Media-Activism-Muhammad-Ashraf.pdf\">audiences fearful<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/690219\">The debate<\/a> about responsible journalism is clearly not going anywhere when people <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.com\/news\/world-asia-39406034\">such as Aamir Liaquat Hussain<\/a>, a religious broadcaster, publicly accuse liberal activists, bloggers and journalists of blasphemy and treachery.<\/p>\n<p>But there is a difference between regulation and punitive measures. The authorities in Pakistan never had a policy of developing a public information system that responded to people\u2019s questions, educated them or empowered them to participate in governance.<\/p>\n<p><div id=\"attachment_38498\" style=\"width: 690px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/pakistanuser.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-38498\" src=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/pakistanuser.jpeg\" alt=\"Social media usage has risen in Pakistan in the last several of years. Faisal Mahmood\/Reuters \" width=\"680\" height=\"454\" class=\"size-full wp-image-38498\" srcset=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/pakistanuser.jpeg 680w, https:\/\/world.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/04\/pakistanuser-250x167.jpeg 250w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 680px) 100vw, 680px\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-38498\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Social media usage has risen in Pakistan in the last several of years. Faisal Mahmood\/Reuters<\/p><\/div><br \/>\nIn a world of information explosion, no iron curtain could work. Pakistan <a href=\"http:\/\/alumni.nottingham.ac.uk\/page.aspx?pid=3832\">allowed private TV<\/a> under former president Pervez Musharraf (2001-2008) in early 2000s, not because the ruling class changed its thinking, but because there was no other option left.<\/p>\n<p>State-owned PTV was considered <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pressreader.com\/pakistan\/the-financial-daily\/20141215\/281608123775891\">a poor tool to counter Indian channels<\/a>, which carried their own version of stories involving both countries, such as the coverage of the <a href=\"http:\/\/herald.dawn.com\/news\/1153481\">Kargil war<\/a> in disputed Kashmir. Bringing in private TV channels was a half-hearted allowance that was never meant for freedom. And herein lies the problem.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Media yes, but no freedom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Because of the regime\u2019s attitude towards media, citizens barely got accustomed to what free press stands for. Which is also why the rise of social media in the country has had such an impact and given rise to new forms of freedom of expression, with few boundaries and dependent on the subjectivity of connected individuals.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sites.stedwards.edu\/apsmg434701-group2\/history-of-social-media-in-pakistan\/\">It took Pakistan almost 15 years<\/a> to get from email through direct dial-up connections in 1993 to high-speed internet in 2007. But it\u2019s now one of the top 20 connected countries in the world by 2014.<\/p>\n<p>But the use of this medium as a journalistic enterprise \u2013 one without sufficient professional ethics \u2013 has brought with it problems, not only for social media users, but for the mainstream media too and, beyond, for freedom of expression within Pakistani society.<\/p>\n<p>As the bloggers\u2019 disappearances showed, social media activists in Pakistan are among <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dawn.com\/news\/1321407\/the-war-against-online\">the first ones to suffer<\/a>. Having only a \u201cnetwork\u201d of sympathisers for support, they have to go through all the ordeals of censorship and repression on their own, while mainstream journalists can at least rely on wider structures.<\/p>\n<p>The situation in Pakistan is no longer about who did right or wrong, whether social media is to blame or if the government or other powers are intolerant or retrogressive.<\/p>\n<p>The question that haunts the free mind and confronts every intellect in the country is whether it would be possible to restore the semblance of freedom of expression we had six months ago. Or if we need to use scissors on our minds, tighten the locks on our tongues and hail neo-obscurantism.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Author Bio:<\/strong> Altaf Khan is a Professor at the University of Peshawar <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pakistani authorities have won another battle against free speech. The latest blow is just another consequence of harsh measures taken by Pakistan\u2019s government in the last five years against freedom of speech. On March 27, the interior ministry announced that Facebook had removed 85% of \u201cillegal, blasphemous\u201d content found on its website. The estimated number [&hellip;]\n&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/crushing-intellect-pakistans-war-free-speech\/\" class=\"more\">learn more&rarr;<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":38495,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[85],"tags":[12681],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-38494","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-social-change","tag-free-speech-2"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.2 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Crushing the intellect: Pakistan\u2019s war on free speech - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/crushing-intellect-pakistans-war-free-speech\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Crushing the intellect: Pakistan\u2019s war on free speech - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Pakistani authorities have won another battle against free speech. The latest blow is just another consequence of harsh measures taken by Pakistan\u2019s government in the last five years against freedom of speech. On March 27, the interior ministry announced that Facebook had removed 85% of \u201cillegal, blasphemous\u201d content found on its website. 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The latest blow is just another consequence of harsh measures taken by Pakistan\u2019s government in the last five years against freedom of speech. On March 27, the interior ministry announced that Facebook had removed 85% of \u201cillegal, blasphemous\u201d content found on its website. 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