- Foreign Ministry must lodge protest with US over Indian lobbyist’s activities; PTA insists in-camera meeting of govt agencies with internet service providers
The Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior and Anti-Narcotics Force on Monday strongly condemned US congressman Ted Poe for his anti-Pakistan bill, undermining its role in the war against terror.
Presenting the resolution in the committee meeting held here under his chairmanship, Senator Rahman Malik said that Ted Poe was working for Indian lobby in Washington. The resolution, which was unanimously adopted by the committee members, said that Pakistan had been an ally of the US in the war against terror and had offered more sacrifices than others.
The committee asked the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to lodge a protest with the US Embassy in Pakistan over the anti-Pakistan bill. It also urged US President Donald Trump that such a resolution should not be passed by the Congress. Appreciating the sacrifices of the security forces in the war on terror, Rehman said any such move against the solidarity of Pakistan would not be tolerated.
On the occasion, the committee chairman directed the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to take action on the fake twitter accounts being operated in the name of Senate chairman. Condemning the circulation of blasphemous material on social media, he urged the government to take steps for blocking such material, citing that the United Arab Emirates’ model in that regard could be followed.
He said that the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) seemed to have no arrangement with the social media companies for blocking sites, or pages containing blasphemous material. He directed the PTA to provide the details, if it had signed any agreement with the social media companies in that regard.
The PTA chairman urged the committee to call an in-camera meeting of representatives of internet service providers, Inter Services Intelligence (ISI), the Intelligence Bureau and the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) on the issue. The committee also directed the FIA to investigate the cases of harassing women employees in the two government departments and present the report in three weeks.
During the meeting, Senator Sirajul Haq raised the issue of alleged blocking of the computerised national identity cards (CNICs) of the tribal people of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) by the National Database and Registration Authority (NADRA). He said that CNICs of over 14,000 tribal people had been blocked.
The committee chairman directed the authorities concerned to resolve the issue of CNICs blockage within a month. The committee also passed the draft PPC Amendment Bill 2007, presented by Senator Siraj. Rahman also condemned the killing of Pakistan People’s Party leader Babar Sohail Butt in Lahore and urged the Punjab government to arrest his killers at the earliest.
The meeting was attended by Senators Shibli Faraz, Tanvir Khan, Barrister Saif Ali Khan, Muhammad Khan Swati, Mian Muhammad Shiekh, Sitara Ayaz and Sirajul Haq. The committee was briefed by State Minister for Interior Balighur Rehman, FIA Director Dr Mazarul Haq Kakakhel, PTA chairman, NADRA director general, and other officials of the Ministry of Interior.
