Cyber-crime allegations: PPP leader’s son arrested for ‘maligning’ defector to PTI Firdous Ashiq Awan

By
Abdullah Niazi
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The son of a Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) ticket holder has recently been arrested by the FIA on charges of posting ‘hateful content’ on social media. The case was registered by the secretary of former federal minister and recent PTI inductee Firdous Ashiq Awan. The event has sparked a hue and cry by PPP supporters that are calling out the PTI on their hypocrisy regarding cybercrime regulations in the country.

Haseeb Zahid, who is the son of the head of PPP Sialkot wing Zahid Bashir, was arrested by the cybercrime wing of the FIA after being accused of making defamatory remarks regarding political rivals on his social media accounts.

News of the event spread soon enough and twitter broke out with the hashtag #IamHaseeb trending after a PPP page called ‘VoJ5 I am Bhutto’ tweeted using the hashtag claiming that the accusations under cybercrime laws had been made by former PPP federal minister Firdous Ashiq Awan who has recently defected from the party, switching her loyalties to the Pakistan Tehrik Insaaf (PTI).

 

PPP stalwarts from Sialkot had reacted with a great sense of betrayal to Firdous Ashiq Awan’s dissent from the People’s Party. Mian Abid Farooq, who had contested the previous elections alongside Dr Awan from Sialkot has announced he will contest the election from NA 111 against her in 2018.

Another major critic of Dr Awan from the wings of PPP Sialkot had been the party leader Zahid Bahir – whose son has now been arrested by the FIA cybercrime division. Zahid Bashir had said that the switching of parties was a personal matter but that the PPP was always in need of loyal workers and leaders and that these incidents often acted as filters to keep the party brimming with true jiyalas. He also seemed confident of the party’s position in the constituency saying her departure was inconsequential.

Immediate reactions to the arrest questioned how any of this can fit into the democratic principles of freedom of speech. Social media pounced on this point sending a barrage of criticism towards Dr Awan and the PTI. Others also came out in full support of the accused and heavily critical of those accused of orchestrating the arrest:

 

 

 

Moreover the accusations against the newly minted PTI member have caused uproar over the hypocrisy being displayed by the PTI in regards to freedom of speech and accusations of cybercrime. Less than a month ago the PTI chairman Imran Khan had tweeted a link referring to the questioning of 200 PTI social media team members by the FIA for supposedly anti-army sentiments expressed on social media. The PTI chairman had threatened to “take to the streets if action is taken against out social media activists under the garn of ‘national security.’”

 

It is pertinent to note that the PPP had come out in support of the PTI in this dark episode with PPP spokesperson Senator Faratullah Babur critcising the alleged crackdown of the government on persons expressing political and social opinions on the internet. “The misuse and overuse of blanket orders issued last week by the interior ministry to take action against social media platforms in the name of national security is not acceptable” Babur had been quoted as saying.

The recently introduced cybercrime laws have been met with great criticism from different camps including by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP). And while the PTI was a major critic of the questioning of their social media activists by the FIA under these laws, their members are now being accused of using the same laws as weapons against political opponents. And while the PTI may feel that they can rightfully use the law when it suits them and oppose it when it does not, this leaves any resistance made against the vastly criticised cybercrime laws lacking any real legitimacy.

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