A preposterous proposal
August 24th, 2012
In announcing his proposal to ban all prepaid cell phone connections in the country, Interior Minister Rehman Malik is trying to appear proactive in the fight against militancy. We should not be fooled by this. Rather, a mass ban that will affect tens of millions of Pakistanis and deprive them of their primary means of communication is an extremely lazy solution to a real problem. The government’s job should be to strike the right balance between security and liberty by ensuring that personal rights are not sacrificed at the altar of the fight against militancy. This would mean relying on intelligence to make arrests and cracking down on activities of militant groups, both online and on the streets. It does not mean snatching cell phones out of the hands of every citizen.
If the government truly believes that cell phones are the greatest threat facing the country today, it can make it harder for militants to get their hands on them rather than proposing a mass ban. For example, it could tighten restrictions on getting a new SIM card by forcing applicants to give more documentation. It could also limit the number of SIMS one person can purchase under his national identification card. The government has already made telecommunication companies block SIMS that are not verified by a certain date. The sudden need to just do away with prepaid connections all together reeks of a power trip, not necessity.
All tactics that the government has employed so far in the war against militancy have proved resounding failures. Military operations have cleared one piece of land but militants have usually just moved on to another area. Arrests have proven ineffectual because of courts that are unusually eager to release suspected militants and a general inefficiency in collecting evidence. Rather than admitting to these failures and working to strengthen its counterterrorism abilities, the government is holding the entire country hostage because of its incompetence. We should consider this new proposal the latest in a long line of censorship and control efforts, such as the idea to build a giant firewall that would allow the government to block millions of websites at will. We should not give in to fears about militancy to allow the government this power.
India’s internet censorship
August 24th, 2012
As we know all too well in Pakistan, the first instinct of a government facing a crisis is to start asserting its control in ways that are inimical to personal freedom. The Indian government has now joined in the act, threatening legal action against social media networking website Twitter because of users who have been posting inflammatory and untrue messages warning of an impending Muslim attack on students and workers from northeast India. The Indian government wants Twitter, Facebook and Google to block such users and delete their messages because they are leading to one of the largest internal migrations in Indian history. The frustration felt by the government due to the spreading of these rumours is understandable but countering it with mass bans is inadvisable.
India has blocked 245 websites, banned the sending out of bulk text messages and even blocked the Twitter accounts of some Indian journalists. It is unwise to expect Twitter to be able to monitor the countless messages that are constantly posted on it. Platforms like Twitter rely on self-policing. A better solution would be for individual users to identify inflammatory messages and then report them to Twitter. Incitement to violence is not protected under any freedom of speech laws but Twitter will need help to ensure the smooth running of a community that essentially needs to police itself.
India, of all countries, should understand that reversing the tide of technological progress is unwise. The economic boom it witnessed has been driven by an IT revolution. The solution to the current situation is to target those responsible for inciting violence and not go after the medium through which they have been doing it. The internet, along with websites like Twitter, are powerful tools allowing the free flow of ideas. Occasionally, this space can be misused. In the long run, though, the world is better off with Twitter available as a tool for protest. Democratic governments need to recognise this rather than try to stem the tide of progress.
Difference in celebrations
August 24th, 2012
On Eid day and the holidays that followed, we saw numerous pictures on television channels of people celebrating the occasion in parks, on the beach and at family gatherings. We are told that in Lahore, restaurants were packed to full capacity so that there was no room for walk-in customers during Eid. Magazines published to coincide with the occasion featured women and girls wearing henna and bangles; men in crisp, embroidered shalwar kameez.
But this is just one face of Eid. For many others — perhaps, tens of thousands of people — Eid remained a far less festive occasion. The parents who could not buy clothes or new shoes for their children did not figure prominently in the media; nor did those unable to put together a decent meal even on this occasion. There are fathers known to have begged for just a few hundred rupees ahead of the occasion in the hope of introducing just a little festivity in their homes. They were not the only ones to be affected. Shopkeepers in both Karachi and Lahore say that shopping was lower than before and some among the middle class confess they locked doors and pretended to be out of town to avoid having to bear the cost of entertainment. Their sense of misery can only be imagined.
The disparities in our nation, the toll being taken by relentless inflation and the social impact it is having need to be considered very seriously. It is true that philanthropic help is offered generously by many. Presents go out to children in orphanages, food is sent around to some. But this is not enough to cater to their needs. There are far too many people who are simply unable to manage their daily requirements and Eid offered a reminder of this. The real question, however, remains: what is being done to alter social policy, to make life more equitable and to ensure that everyone can enjoy occasions such as Eid — a time when not joy but deep anxiety descended over many homes as reports came in of suicides and other acts of despair committed on the occasion.