ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) announced that cellular services will remain suspended in Sindh today, Monday, to maintain law and order as thousands of Shi’ite Muslims are expected to take part in mourning processions across the southern province.
With the start of the Islamic month of Muharram each year, Shi’ite Muslims across Pakistan hold gatherings and processions to pay homage to Imam Hussain, the grandson of Prophet Muhammad (Peace Be Upon Him) and his companions. These gatherings varyingly last until the day of his martyrdom, the 10th of Muharram, which is also known as the ‘Day of Ashura.’
Shi’ite Muslims also hold religious gatherings and processions in many parts of the country on the 40th day after Ashura, also known as “Chehlum,” to pay tribute to Hussain for laying down his life to uphold Islamic principles.
“It is to inform the general public that on the directions of the Ministry of Interior Government of Pakistan, voice and data services will remain suspended in Karachi and interior Sindh including Khairpur, Hyderabad Larkana, Sukkur and Shikarpur on 26 August 2024 with immediate effect,” the PTA said in a press release.
It added that the decision had been taken to maintain law and order in the province on the occasion of the Chehlum.
Every year, authorities beef up security and suspend cellular services ahead of Muharram and Chehlum processions in areas that have witnessed sectarian violence in the past. Pakistan has witnessed violent attacks targeting Shi’ite Muslims in the past that have stoked sectarian tensions in the country.
In December 2009, a suicide bomber killed 43 people in Karachi during Muharram. Three years later in 2012, 23 people were killed in another suicide attack that targeted a Muharram procession, injuring 62 others in Pakistan’s garrison city of Rawalpindi.
Pakistan suspends cellular services in Sindh ahead of mourning processions today
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Pakistan suspends cellular services in Sindh ahead of mourning processions today
- Thousands of Shiite Muslims will organize religious processions today to mark 40 days after Ashura, the martyrdom of Imam Hussain
- Pakistan Telecommunication Authority says decision to suspend cellular services taken to maintain law and order in Sindh province
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.
