LAHORE: A Pakistani court on Monday dismissed a plea seeking a ban on popular online video game Players’ Unknown Battle Ground (PUBG), local media reported.
A citizen, Tanveer Sarwar, had moved the Lahore High Court (LHC) to ban the game weeks after a teenager confessed to killing four members of his family in a rage after bingeing for days playing online.
Police said Ali Zain had shot dead his mother, two sisters and a brother in Lahore on January 18, and claimed under questioning that the game had driven him to violence.
Sarwar contended in his plea that PUBG was creating intolerance in the society, especially in youngsters, who were addicted to it, Geo News channel reported.
“The LHC disposed of the plea over the petitioner’s discontinuation of the case’s pursuit,” the report read.
Last month, police in the central Pakistani province of Punjab also recommended a ban on PUBG, in relation to the Lahore family massacre.
“To stop acts of violence caused by this game, it is necessary to ban PUBG,” the police said. “Youngsters addicted to completing the game’s tasks eventually commit acts of violence.”
Pakistan banned PUBG in July 2020 after the country’s telecom regulator said it had received numerous complaints that the game “affects physical and mental health” of children and teenagers.
“The game is highly addictive, destroying the youth, a wastage of time and has a negative impact on physical and psychological health,” the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) said at the time.
However, the ban was lifted the same month on the orders of the Islamabad High Court (IHC).
Pakistani court dismisses plea seeking ban on popular video game PUBG
https://arab.news/4ppkd
Pakistani court dismisses plea seeking ban on popular video game PUBG
- Development comes weeks after a teenager shot his mother and three siblings dead in Lahore
- Pakistan imposed a ban on PUBG in July 2020 but removed it the same month on court orders
Pakistan’s deputy PM says country will not send forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas
- Ishaq Dar says Pakistan open to peacekeeping but Gaza’s internal security is Palestinian responsibility
- Pakistan’s top religious clerics from different schools have warned against sending forces to Palestine
ISLAMABAD: Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar said on Saturday Pakistan was willing to contribute to an international peacekeeping force in Gaza, though it would not deploy troops to disarm or de-weaponize Hamas.
The statement follows media reports saying Washington views Pakistan as a potentially significant contributor given its battle-hardened military and wants it to be part of International Stabilization Force (ISF), which is part of United States President Donald Trump’s 20-point framework for a Gaza peace plan.
The plan announced by Trump at the White House on September 29 was formally adopted at the Sharm El-Sheikh Peace Summit in October. Co-chaired by Trump and Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, the summit brought together leaders from 27 countries to sign the “Trump Declaration for Enduring Peace and Prosperity.”
Deployment of troops from Muslim-majority countries during a transitional stabilization phase is a key part of the plan before the war-ravaged Palestinian territory moves toward reconstruction and a longer-term political settlement.
“If they say that we should go and start fighting, disarm Hamas, de-weaponize them, and go and destroy the tunnels that Hamas has built until now, that is not our job,” Dar, who is also the country’s foreign minister, told reporters during a year-end briefing in Islamabad.
He emphasized there was clarity between Pakistan’s civil and military leadership over the matter.
“We have a very complete understanding on this matter that we cannot do that kind of work,” he added.
The deputy prime minister said Pakistan had been using the term “peacekeeping” and had never used the phrase “peace enforcement” while discussing the force.
“I have been very clear: Pakistan will be happy to join if the mandate is not peace enforcement and disarming and de-weaponizing Hamas.”
The government’s stance comes amid growing domestic pressure over the issue.
On Monday, a group of Pakistan’s top religious leaders, chaired by prominent scholar Mufti Taqi Usmani, warned the government against yielding to what they described as international pressure to send forces to Gaza.
In a joint statement from Karachi, the clerics — representing Deobandi, Barelvi, Ahl-e-Hadees and Shia schools of thought — said that Washington wanted Muslim countries to send their forces to Gaza to disarm Hamas.
“Several Muslim governments have already refused this, and pressure is being increased on Pakistan,” it added.
Addressing such concerns, Dar said Pakistan would not land its forces in Palestine to “fight Muslims.”
Israel has repeatedly called for the disarmament of Hamas as a precondition for any long-term settlement, and the United Nations Security Council has also endorsed the ISF framework in November.
However, Dar maintained during the media briefing the internal security of Gaza was the Palestinian responsibility.
“The Palestinian Authority, their government, it is their job, it is the job of their law enforcement agency,” he said
The deputy prime minister also highlighted Pakistan’s involvement in the “Arab Islamic Group of Eight,” including Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Turkiye and Indonesia, which has been coordinating on the crisis.
He said the efforts of these countries had brought some peace to Palestine and reduced bloodshed.
“Our declared policy is that there should be an independent two-state solution,” he continued while calling for pre-1967 borders.
