KARACHI: Pakistan’s local Geo news channel announced on Wednesday it could not broadcast a press conference by Maulana Fazlur Rehman, chief of Jamiat-e-Ulama-e-Islam (JUI-F), a religio-political faction, due to the instructions released by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA).
Rehman’s JUI-F party recently announced to launch an anti-government movement by the end of the month, saying its members would march toward the federal capital, Islamabad, to dislodge the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) administration.
Within an hour of the announcement on Geo, #PoliticizedPEMRA was trending on Twitter.
“I texted a caption and hashtag to my team and it went viral on the social media platform,” Muhammad Sami Swati, head of the social media wing of the JUI-F, told Arab News.
Swati added he had also directed his recently trained team of over 5000 activists to share the livestreaming link of Rehman’s press conference as well.
“In just a little while, about 100,000 Facebook visitors were watching it,” he said.
The JUIF chief wants Prime Minister Imran Khan’s resignation and has threatened to march on Islamabad on October 31. Although other opposition parties have declined his request for a sit-in, all leading political factions, including the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) and Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), have endorsed the march and decided to participate in it.
Recently, the Islamabad High Court (IHC) also dismissed a plea against the protest.
“The entire country will be our war zone,” Rehman said in his news conference that was not allowed to be broadcast on Wednesday. “The war will end only when the government falls.”
“The JUI-F has never received its due share [of coverage], but this time it’s a complete blackout, forcing us to turn to social media to reach out to the public,” Swati, who heads a team of 5000 trained activists and 450,000 registered workers, said.
He added that his party had a massive Facebook presence, but it “recently turned to Twitter” due to the impact of that social media platform. “I recently held workshops in Karachi, Hyderabad and Larkana cities of Sindh where I also shared the party’s ‘code of conduct’ with the workers,” Swati informed.
Shamsuddin Amjad, social media director of the Jamaat-e-Islami party, said religious factions had always focused on social media due to little coverage in print and on television. “We have found a blessing and power in social media websites. They enable every citizen to become a journalist. The wars of narrative are fought on social media,” he said.
Atif Rauf, head of the PML-N social media wing, said that censorship in mainstream media was pushing parties toward social media.
“People want to read and hear the truth and the mainstream media admits that it cannot air or publish it,” Rauf told Arab News, adding: “Several prominent journalists who were not allowed to express themselves on their news networks launched their own YouTube channels, reflecting that social media in Pakistan is more truthful than the country’s mainstream media.”
According to the Global Digital Report released by “We are Social” and “Hootsuite” in January this year, 37 million of the 202.7 million Pakistanis are active social media users.
The figures provide a perfect opportunity to political parties, said social media influencers.
“Political parties use social media not only because mainstream media is being stifled but also because much of the battle of narratives and perceptions has shifted from mainstream to social media,” said Omar R Quraishi, a journalist, social media influencer who has also served as a media consultant to PPP Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari.
Quraishi said the opposition parties, however, relied more heavily on social media now.
Arsalan Taj Ghumman, one of the pioneers of the PTI social media team, said the party in power could not ignore social media, either.
“The party in power needs more social media engagement as you have to keep your vote bank intact against all odds. When the mainstream media starts questioning your performance you need to have a strong social media engagement,” Ghumman said.
Maulana Fazlur Rehman goes online ahead of his ‘Azadi March’
Maulana Fazlur Rehman goes online ahead of his ‘Azadi March’
- The religio-political party recently trained 5000 activists to use social media
- The ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party was the first political faction that skillfully used social media in Pakistan
UN torture expert decries Pakistan ex-PM Khan’s detention
- Khan’s party alleges government is holding him in solitary confinement, barring prison visits
- Pakistan’s government rejects allegations former premier is being denied basic rights in prison
GENEVA: Pakistan’s former prime minister Imran Khan is being held in conditions that could amount to torture and other inhuman or degrading treatment, the United Nations’ special rapporteur on torture warned Friday.
Alice Jill Edwards urged Pakistan to take immediate and effective action to address reports of the 73-year-old’s inhumane and undignified detention conditions.
“I call on Pakistani authorities to ensure that Khan’s conditions of detention fully comply with international norms and standards,” Edwards said in a statement.
“Since his transfer to Adiala Jail in Rawalpindi on September 26, 2023, Imran Khan has reportedly been held for excessive periods in solitary confinement, confined for 23 hours a day in his cell, and with highly restricted access to the outside world,” she said.
“His cell is reportedly under constant camera surveillance.”
Khan an all-rounder who captained Pakistan to victory in the 1992 Cricket World Cup, upended Pakistani politics by becoming the prime minister in 2018.
Edwards said prolonged or indefinite solitary confinement is prohibited under international human rights law and constitutes a form of psychological torture when it lasts longer than 15 days.
“Khan’s solitary confinement should be lifted without delay. Not only is it an unlawful measure, extended isolation can bring about very harmful consequences for his physical and mental health,” she said.
UN special rapporteurs are independent experts mandated by the Human Rights Council. They do not, therefore, speak for the United Nations itself.
Initially a strong backer of the country’s powerful military leadership, Khan was ousted in a no-confidence vote in 2022, and has since been jailed on a slew of corruption charges that he denies.
He has accused the military of orchestrating his downfall and pursuing his Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party and its allies.
Khan’s supporters say he is being denied prison visits from lawyers and family after a fiery social media post this month accusing army leader Field Marshal Asim Munir of persecuting him.
According to information Edwards has received, visits from Khan’s lawyers and relatives are frequently interrupted or ended prematurely, while he is held in a small cell lacking natural light and adequate ventilation.
“Anyone deprived of liberty must be treated with humanity and dignity,” the UN expert said.
“Detention conditions must reflect the individual’s age and health situation, including appropriate sleeping arrangements, climatic protection, adequate space, lighting, heating, and ventilation.”
Edwards has raised Khan’s situation with the Pakistani government.
