[Reader-list] On the ban on Facebook in Pakistan

[Shuddhabrata Sengupta]

Dear All,

The news that the Government of Pakistan has banned the use of  
Facebook and Youtube on the grounds that these social networking  
sites featured pages which they invited their members to draw  
representations of the Prophet Mohammed  is shocking, and deserving  
of outright condemnation. (See the report in The Hindu, carried below)

It shows that those who hold power in Pakistan continue to be  
imprisoned by a retrograde and fascist disregard for freedom of  
speech and a complete lack of understanding of the nature of social  
networking technologies made available by the internet. This is a  
gross insult to the hundreds of thousands of Pakisanis who are active  
facebook and youtube users. I have enjoyed downloading many clips of  
music, excerpts from self made videos and other materials uploaded by  
Pakistanis on Youtube. I keep in touch with several of my Pakistani  
friends on Facebook. This ban comes as an obstacle to these acts of  
communication and is a direct attack on all our freedoms. I hope that  
this ban will soon be defeated.

I am familiar with the materials that have been generated over the  
years with the 'cartoons of the prophet' controversy, and though I  
think that they are in bad taste and offensive. However, I feel  
strongly that such materials ought to have the right to be published,  
because without them being in the public domain they cannot be  
effectively criticised. I have always believed that the cartoons (and  
any material considered heretical or blasphemous to any tradition or  
faith) should be freely available to everyone to see and make up  
their own minds about. Any faith that cannot tolerate the presence of  
criticism or insults is brittle. I think that those, be they Muslim,  
Hindu, Christian, Jewish or whatever who attack other people because  
they perceive themselves as insulting to them are actually deeply  
insecure about the sources of their own beliefs. Perhaps they need to  
do some introspection about the brittleness of their own faith.

I am very well aware of a lot of material that comes from within the  
pious Islamic and Islamist milieu that is also equally intolerant and  
insulting to people who are either not Muslims or have chosen to  
abandon or question Islam, or interpret Islam in their own ways. I  
have no objection to their presence, even though I am strongly  
opposed to their contents. I cannot understand why those in Pakistan  
(claiming to be pious Muslims offended by the prophet cartoons) who  
are agitated by what they percieve as insults to their faith cannot  
take the same attitude. If they can generate materials that can be  
perceived as insulting by others, then they should understand that  
others have the same rights as them. For instance, for years, (before  
the Danish cartoon controversy broke) very offensive, sexist and  
insulting cartoons aimed at Ahmediyas and their inspirations have  
been in circulation in websites that originate in Pakistan, or are  
generated by Pakistanis. And yet, I have not seen any calls to ban  
them in Pakistan. And were there such calls, I would have been  
opposed to them.  What makes the sentiments of a pious Ahmediya (who  
also consider themselves to be Muslims, even if they are not  
considered as such by mainstream Sunni Islam) less important or  
valuable than the sentiments of a pious orthodox sunni? Why should  
insults to one figure considered holy be more important than insults  
aimed at another? Those who have successfully called for bans on  
Facebook and Youtube in Pakistan have exposed exactly how deep their  
double standards are.

I am not a believer in any faith, but have the greatest respect for  
the diverse traditions in all religious traditions, including Islam,  
I also respect doubt and heresy. This does not stop me from realizing  
that many expressions of Islamic piety, (or Hindu, Christian, Jewish  
or Buddhist piety, are to me offensive and in bad taste). I believe  
that those who use Islam (or any other religion) to mount homophobic,  
anti-semitic, xenophobic and misogynist attacks are disgusting.  
Facebook and Youtube, and the internet in general have plenty of anti- 
semitic, xenophobic,homophobic and misogynist pages that stem from an  
Islamist milieu. They are as offensive to me, as the pages that  
intend to insult the prophet of Islam. Facebook and Youtube also have  
what I think are excellent resources produced and uploaded by  
believing Muslims, and also, by un-believers from a Muslim background  
(the same is true with regard to other faiths and their followers). I  
frequent both kinds of materials, because I have an abiding interest  
in Islamicate cultures. The Pakistani governments ill informed  
decision to ban Facebook and Youtube cuts off at one stroke a lively  
climate of debate and discussion that is the best guarantee of the  
health of Islamicate cultures and societies.

It is a sad day for us all. I hope that those who have the best  
interests of the people of Pakistan foremost in their mind will  
ultimately prevail, and that the Pakistani government will be  
compelled to reconsider this very unfortunate action.

best,

Shuddha

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http://www.hindu.com/2010/05/21/stories/2010052165002200.htm

After Facebook, Pakistan bans YouTube
Anita Joshua

ISLAMABAD: On a day when Pakistan extended the ban on social  
networking website Facebook to the online video-sharing platform  
YouTube for carrying caricatures of the Prophet, the Foreign Office  
urged the international community to address the issue which is an  
extremely sensitive and emotional matter for Muslims across the world.

Asked whether the Foreign Office intended to take up the issue with  
diplomatic missions in the country, spokesman Abdul Basit said  
Pakistan had always raised its voice against such acts at  
international fora, including the United Nations and the Organisation  
of the Islamic Conference, and in bilateral interactions with various  
countries.

Condemning the publication of the caricatures of the Prophet, he  
described them as “malicious.'' They hurt the sentiments of Muslims  
the world over and cannot be accepted under the garb of freedom of  
expression. “Attacks on sacred religious beliefs, symbols and  
personalities are a violation of the fundamental rights to freely  
profess and manifest one's religion. Such acts are also not helpful  
in the context of promoting inter-faith harmony and cooperation.''Mr.  
Basit added that there was a growing trend of tarnishing the image of  
Islam and the Prophet.

Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net