Social networking giant Facebook has deleted the official page of Milli Muslim League (MML) and accounts of its candidates as well as supporters.
The MML confirmed that the social media website deleted and disabled numerous pages of the religious political party and removed the accounts of workers and candidates ahead of the 2018 general elections Milli Muslim League (MML) “without any reason”.
MML Spokesperson Tabish Qayyum condemned Facebook’s action, saying, “Freedom of expression is the basic right of every human and political party. In the meantime, when elections are near and each party is using social media, deleting MML’s accounts is injustice.”
“Facebook has violated its own policy,” he added, referring to the crackdown.
MML-AAT-JUD, HAFIZ SAEED:
The MML, a banned militant group-turned-political party, has fielded hundreds of candidates across the country under the umbrella of Allah-O-Akbar Tehreek (AAT), an old Islamist political party.
MML, established in August 2017, joined hands with AAT after Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) rejected MML’s request for the registration.
The ECP first rejected MML’s request to be recognised as a political party last year, after Pakistan’s interior ministry reached out to ECP and accused MML of serving as a front organisation for Jamaatuddawa (JuD).
JuD is a banned militant group — the US and UN have designated it terror organisation — with ties to Hafiz Saeed, a US-designated global terrorist accused of being the mastermind of the 2008 Mumbai terror attacks that killed 160 people, including six Americans.
The US State Department imposed sanctions on MML in April and labeled its leadership as terrorists.
