10/19/2011 08:30:00 am
Let's Wage a War Against Pornography in Pakistan
IN THE LAHORE HIGH COURT , AT LAHORE
C.M.No._____/2011
IN
WRIT PETITION No._____/2011
Asif Ali Vs Federation of Pakistan
RE-REPLY OF THE PARA WISE COMMENTS SUBMITTED BY THE MINISTRY OF I&T GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN i.e. RESPONDENT NO.2 IN THE TITLED WRIT PETITION.
Respectfully Sheweth:
That the brief facts leading to the filling of the instant Re-Reply are given as under:
PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
ON FACTS
( سورة الأنعام , Al-Anaam, Chapter #6, Verse #151)
That Again in Surah l Nehal Chapter # 16 , Verse # 90, Allah Holds His Decree against Fawahish in the following words:
“Verily, Allah enjoins Al-'Adl (i.e. justice and worshipping none but Allah Alone - Islamic Monotheism) and Al-Ihsan [i.e. to be patient in performing your duties to Allah, totally for Allah's sake and in accordance with the Sunnah (legal ways) of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in a perfect manner], and giving (help) to kith and kin (i.e. all that Allah has ordered you to give them e.g., wealth, visiting, looking after them, or any other kind of help), and forbids Al-Fahsha' (i.e. all evil deeds, e.g. illegal sexual acts, disobedience of parents, polytheism, to tell lies, to give false witness, to kill a life without right), and Al-Munkar (i.e. all that is prohibited by Islamic law: polytheism of every kind, disbelief and every kind of evil deeds), and Al-Baghy (i.e. all kinds of oppression). He admonishes you, that you may take heed. “
( سورة النحل , An-Nahl, Chapter #16, Verse #90)
That it is further submitted here with respect that "Surely Allah enjoins justice, kindness and the doing of good, to kith and kin; and He forbids all that is shameful, indecent, evil, rebellious and oppressive. Pornography and the culture of pornography have all the three elements which Allah has prohibited in the above verse of the Quran: Fahsha; Munkar, Baghy. All scholars agree pornography is included in the term Fahsha.
That It is further submitted with respect that the Holy Prophet also strictly condemns all kinds of shameful sins , the relevant Hadith is reproduced hereto below for the perusal of this Honourable Court
(1). “Narrated Abdullah bin Mas'ud: Allah's Apostle said, "None has more sense of ghaira than Allah, and for this He has forbidden shameful sins whether committed openly or secretly, and none loves to be praised more than Allah does, and this is why He Praises Himself." (Book #60, Hadith #161)”
(2). No man or woman should look at the naked body of each other (unless married). Sahih Muslim
(3). By God, I would prefer to be thrown from the skies and spattered in parts than to look at someone's private parts or let someone look at my private parts. Narrated by Salman. Almabs ooth kitabul istehsan.
(4). don’t expose your thigh to anyone and don't look at the thigh of any person even if s/he is dead. Narrated Ali ibn abi Talib. Ibn e Maja, Abi Dawud, Darqutani. Tafseer Kabeer.
(5). “Narrated Abdullah bin Mas'ud: Allah's Apostle said, "None has more sense of ghaira than Allah, and for this He has forbidden shameful sins whether committed openly or secretly, and none loves to be praised more than Allah does, and this is why He Praises Himself." (Book #60, Hadith #161)”
That it is further submitted with respect that The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, under its principle of policy clause 37 (g), provides that the state shall prevent prostitution, gambling and taking of injurious drugs, printing, publication, circulation and display of obscene literature and advertisements., the stance of the petitioner is further fortified from the fact that multiple provisions of Pakistan Penal Code are also envisaged to curb shameful sins and acts within Pakistan. Like Section 292 prohibits the sale of obscene literature and/or books; the punishment is three months imprisonment or a fine or both. Under Section 298 the selling of such obscene literature and/or books to children under 20 year of age is punishable by imprisonment for six months or a fine or both. Under Section 294 obscene acts and songs are punishable by imprisonment of three months or a fine or both.
6. That the contents of this paragraph No. 4 are false on the face of it ,hence are denied and condemned , the real fact of the matter is that no such committee has been formed to shield children from pornography and exploitation so far, the stance of the petitioner is further cemented from the earlier admissions of the Respondent in the preceding paragraphs of the instant para wise comments where in it has failed to mention that pornographic material forms basis of the specific criteria so evolved by the Government of Pakistan in order to block the websites containing such adult material. The drafter of the instant Para wise comments has failed to appreciate that the subject of the instant writ petition is altogether different with that of the petitions challenging blasphemous or anti state websites . it is further peculiar to be noted here that in case the Government of Pakistan can prohibit and block such blasphemous and anti state websites than y cant it block the pornographic websites. That the stance of the petitioner is further fortified from the fact that the inability and ineffectiveness of the Respondent To prohibit or block the easy access to Pornographic websites in Pakistan ipso facto denotes only one inference and that is “”Pornography is being patronized at a state level in Pakistan. “” that it is further submitted with respect and humility that the contentions raised by the Respondent to the effect that a report of the sub committee will soon be published in the inter ministerial committee is nothing but a pack of lies , as there exist no such committee to adjudicate upon the subject in hand, it is a deliberate attempt on the part of the respondent to defraud and mislead this Honourable Court.
7. That the contents of Paragraph No. 5 are misleading on the face of it hence categorically denied. The real fact of the matter is that the Respondent required least of the time, immense human and financial resources to tackle with the issue of easy access to pornography , all that is required by them to do is to direct the ISP’s to maintain filters as they have adopted in the case of the Telecommunication sector to prohibit international gateways. That it is further submitted with respect that even in advanced countries, the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have made arrangements to block all pornographic material so that children cannot access it. For instance Kingdom of Saudi Arabia only permitted its citizen’s public access to the Internet once the state felt confident it could control the content users could access. Strong Internet filtering was a prerequisite for Internet deployment in the Kingdom, but in Pakistan no such arrangement has so far been devised by the Respondent No.1 or 2 or by the Internet Service Providers working in Pakistan. In addition to it , they are required to direct the ISP’s the Respondents No.___ in the main writ petition to make a catch and kill program with the help of programmer using common tags (adult, xxx, ratedX, Mature, Porn, "sex," "camel sex," "rape video," "child sex video etc) so anytime someone types these common tags in Google or whatever apps they use, this program should b able to block the site from entering your cyber space of Pakistan . it is imperative in the best interest of the justice to be carried out in the instant matter, if the record of the complainst so lodged with this special crisis cell so established by the Respondnet No.2 in addition to the complaints lodged on the toll free No. and the action thereupon taken by the Respondents be directed to be placed in this Honourable Court so as to reach at a fair conclusion in this regard.
8.That the contents of Paragraph No. 6 is vexatious and misleading, the real fact of the matter is that the Respondent Ministry is not at all taking any material steps to ensure a prohibition on the easy access available to Pornography in Pakistan, neither the concerned departments nor officials are seriously acknowledging the catastrophic eventuality of its existence .
PRAYER
Under the circumstances mentioned hereto before it is therefore most humbly prayed that the instant Para Wise comments submitted by the Respondent No.2 in this Honourable Court may very graciously be declared irrelevant , and they be directed to submit proper and relevant para wise comments while keeping in view the contents of the writ petition filed by the petitioner
That it is further most humbly prayed that in the light of the re-reply filed by the petitioner , the titled writ petition may very graciously be accepted in accordance with the prayers made by the petitioner in the main writ petition .
That it is further most humbly requested that while keeping in view of the gravity of the nature involved in the instant matter, a stay order may very kindly be issued against the easy access to pornography in Pakistan in favour of the petitioner and against the respondents .
That any other relief that this honourable court deems just and proper may also very kindly be extended in favour of the petitioner , while keeping in view of the peculiar nature of the instant matter
Petitioner
Through
Fahad Ahmad Siddiqi
Advocate High Court
Qadeer Ahmad Siddiqi Law Associates.
Ground Floor, Siddiqi Plaza, 7- Turner Road, Lahore, Pakistan
C.M.No._____/2011
IN
WRIT PETITION No._____/2011
Asif Ali Vs Federation of Pakistan
RE-REPLY OF THE PARA WISE COMMENTS SUBMITTED BY THE MINISTRY OF I&T GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN i.e. RESPONDENT NO.2 IN THE TITLED WRIT PETITION.
Respectfully Sheweth:
That the brief facts leading to the filling of the instant Re-Reply are given as under:
PRELIMINARY OBJECTIONS
- That the comments submitted by the Respondent No. 2 are absolutely irrelevant and frivolous to the contents of the writ petition filed by the Petitioner, hence failed to satisfy the contentions raised by the petitioner against easy access available to the pornographic websites in Pakistan on Internet.
- That the comments submitted by the Respondent No.2 are in direct contravention of the principles of natural justice fair play and equity on the face of it .
- That the Para wise comments filed by the Respondent are absolutely silent on the subject of pornography save as in accordance with the injunctions of Islam and the law of the land in as much as they are in direct contradiction of the injunction of the Holy Quran and Ahadith on the subject of shameless activities to be carried out.
- That the Para wise comments so submitted by the Respondent No.2 lacks in their spirit the very answers for which they were asked for,
ON FACTS
- 1. Paragraph No. 1 is denied hence irrelevant and absurd on the face of it, the fact of the matter is that the Respondent No. failed to analysis the gravity of the situation resulting as easy access available to porn material in Pakistan through Internet. The fact of the matter is that the petitioner has filed the titled writ petition through which he seeks the redresser of his grievances relating to the easy access available to the pornographic material on the internet in Pakistan. the Respondent No.2 submitted their comments which are irrelevant on the face of it and does not comply with the requirements of the writ petition filed by the petitioner.
- That the Paragraph No. (a) of the Para wise comments is absolutely absurd and irrelevant on the face of it , hence vociferously denied. The fact of the matter is that for reasons certainly extraneous in nature the Respondent No.2 very craftily connected the instant matter with that of blasphemous websites including the social networking program like YouTube.com and Facebook.com, whereas the fact of the matter is that the alleged Porn websites has nothing to do with these mentioned programs. It is further peculiar to be noted here that the Respondent No.2 merely kept the Para wise comments filled with paper-work stuff, and have done nothing in actual. That it is further peculiar to be noted here that the Respondent No.2 is not inclined to share the burden of his responsibility which is cast upon him under the provisions of the Constitution and the law of the land. It is further significant to be observed that the Ministry of I&T or the Government of Pakistan only realizes that the appearance and distribution of content affront to the religious and moral values of the Pakistani Citizens, particularly blasphemous and sacrilegious content, at mass level over internet is creating immense discomfort and dismay among people of Pakistan. Surprisingly the Government of Pakistan or the Respondent No.2 are not considering that the easy access available to pornographic content on internet is also contributing to the acute dismay of the people of Pakistan. As the Respondent No.2 itself has admitted in the Para wise comments so submitted in this Honourable Court, that the Pornographic content falls within the specific criteria as no formal mechanism so far has been established to monitor the said easy access. Neither a single pornographic website so far has been blocked by the Government of Pakistan. It is further peculiar to be noted here that the Respondent No.2 only consider, websites that propagate propaganda and unscrupulous agendas of inter faith hate, communal disharmony , propagation of discord, blasphemy and anti state content to be objectionable . The fact is further fortified from the perusal of the contents of the Paragraph No. 1. There is not even a single authority in the Islamic Republic of Pakistan who could monitor the free flow of adult material nor is there any one who is concerned in protecting the future of the youth of Pakistan from the catastrophic effects of such an easy access to pornographic websites.
- That the contents of Paragraph No. (b) Of the Para wise comments are again frivolous and irrelevant hence strongly denied and condemned. The fact of the matter is that the contention raised in the writ petition is not responded in this paragraph. The contents of this paragraph are absolutely irrelevant as the contentions raised in the writ petition does not attract the activities carried by the Government of Pakistan, The Inter Ministerial Committee or the Respondent No.2 against Face book or the You tube. It is further submitted here with respect that the Respondent No.2 is under legal obligation to give priority to the injunctions of Islam and after that to the provisions of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan in case if there arises a conflict between the basic Policy observed by the Government of Pakistan in respect of the easy flow to information. The injunctions of Islam are very clear on the point of shameless activity, same is the case with the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan in addition to the penal laws, hence, by stretch of no imagination any shameless activity strictly prohibited by the Injunctions of Islam or by the provisions of the Constitution or which is punishable under the penal laws of Pakistan can not be carried out under the garb of a Basic Policy of Free Flow of Information. The answer given in this Paragraph is of a general nature in as much as rhetoric has been implied to praise the so called efforts initiated by the Respondent in the discharge of their professional / legal obligations.
- That the contents of the paragraph No.3 are irrelevant, absurd and obnoxious on the face of it hence denied and condemned. The fact of the matter is that the word Pornography has for the first time been instituted in the comments and false vows have been raised so as to gain the sympathies of this Honourable Court on the subject. If, for the sake of argument, it is conceded that certain measures have been taken up by the Government of Pakistan in this regard and its report has also been submitted in the Lahore High Court in some other writ petition, even since no plausible action so far has been initiated by the Respondents to bring a halt to the easy access of the pornographic material available on internet in Pakistan. the admission on the part of the Respondent No.2 that certain guidelines so far has been issued by the Honourable High Court to address the issues related to web content in a large policy context, and their inability to act upon them entitles them to be prosecuted for the contempt of this Honourable Court for not acting upon the guidelines so far been issued by this Honourable Court. . That the stance of the petitioner is further fortified from the fact that no such measures so far has been initiated by the Respondents or by the Government of Pakistan to monitor and control the access of pornographic websites on the internet. The stance of the petitioner can easily be verified by this Honourable Court by directing its staff to open the site Google and punch the words of “sex”, this Honourable Court can witness, what actual measures so far has been adopted by the Respondent to act upon the advice of this Honourable Court so far!!
- That the contents of Paragraph No. 3 are false and frivolous hence denied and condemned volubly. The real fact of the matter is that the Government of Pakistan has not initiated even a single measure to prohibit the easy access available on the internet to porn material so far. Government of Pakistan is not inclined to acknowledge the fact that the injunctions of Islam in as much as the provisions of the Constitution are very much clear on the subject. Hence the Respondent can not take shelter from discharging its duties under the blanket of a fabricated Policy of free flow of information. The relevant injunctions of Holy Quran, Ahadith, and the provisions of the Constitution of Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the provisions of the penal law dealing with the subject are mentioned here to below:-
( سورة الأنعام , Al-Anaam, Chapter #6, Verse #151)
That Again in Surah l Nehal Chapter # 16 , Verse # 90, Allah Holds His Decree against Fawahish in the following words:
“Verily, Allah enjoins Al-'Adl (i.e. justice and worshipping none but Allah Alone - Islamic Monotheism) and Al-Ihsan [i.e. to be patient in performing your duties to Allah, totally for Allah's sake and in accordance with the Sunnah (legal ways) of the Prophet صلى الله عليه وسلم in a perfect manner], and giving (help) to kith and kin (i.e. all that Allah has ordered you to give them e.g., wealth, visiting, looking after them, or any other kind of help), and forbids Al-Fahsha' (i.e. all evil deeds, e.g. illegal sexual acts, disobedience of parents, polytheism, to tell lies, to give false witness, to kill a life without right), and Al-Munkar (i.e. all that is prohibited by Islamic law: polytheism of every kind, disbelief and every kind of evil deeds), and Al-Baghy (i.e. all kinds of oppression). He admonishes you, that you may take heed. “
( سورة النحل , An-Nahl, Chapter #16, Verse #90)
That it is further submitted here with respect that "Surely Allah enjoins justice, kindness and the doing of good, to kith and kin; and He forbids all that is shameful, indecent, evil, rebellious and oppressive. Pornography and the culture of pornography have all the three elements which Allah has prohibited in the above verse of the Quran: Fahsha; Munkar, Baghy. All scholars agree pornography is included in the term Fahsha.
That It is further submitted with respect that the Holy Prophet also strictly condemns all kinds of shameful sins , the relevant Hadith is reproduced hereto below for the perusal of this Honourable Court
(1). “Narrated Abdullah bin Mas'ud: Allah's Apostle said, "None has more sense of ghaira than Allah, and for this He has forbidden shameful sins whether committed openly or secretly, and none loves to be praised more than Allah does, and this is why He Praises Himself." (Book #60, Hadith #161)”
(2). No man or woman should look at the naked body of each other (unless married). Sahih Muslim
(3). By God, I would prefer to be thrown from the skies and spattered in parts than to look at someone's private parts or let someone look at my private parts. Narrated by Salman. Almabs ooth kitabul istehsan.
(4). don’t expose your thigh to anyone and don't look at the thigh of any person even if s/he is dead. Narrated Ali ibn abi Talib. Ibn e Maja, Abi Dawud, Darqutani. Tafseer Kabeer.
(5). “Narrated Abdullah bin Mas'ud: Allah's Apostle said, "None has more sense of ghaira than Allah, and for this He has forbidden shameful sins whether committed openly or secretly, and none loves to be praised more than Allah does, and this is why He Praises Himself." (Book #60, Hadith #161)”
That it is further submitted with respect that The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, under its principle of policy clause 37 (g), provides that the state shall prevent prostitution, gambling and taking of injurious drugs, printing, publication, circulation and display of obscene literature and advertisements., the stance of the petitioner is further fortified from the fact that multiple provisions of Pakistan Penal Code are also envisaged to curb shameful sins and acts within Pakistan. Like Section 292 prohibits the sale of obscene literature and/or books; the punishment is three months imprisonment or a fine or both. Under Section 298 the selling of such obscene literature and/or books to children under 20 year of age is punishable by imprisonment for six months or a fine or both. Under Section 294 obscene acts and songs are punishable by imprisonment of three months or a fine or both.
6. That the contents of this paragraph No. 4 are false on the face of it ,hence are denied and condemned , the real fact of the matter is that no such committee has been formed to shield children from pornography and exploitation so far, the stance of the petitioner is further cemented from the earlier admissions of the Respondent in the preceding paragraphs of the instant para wise comments where in it has failed to mention that pornographic material forms basis of the specific criteria so evolved by the Government of Pakistan in order to block the websites containing such adult material. The drafter of the instant Para wise comments has failed to appreciate that the subject of the instant writ petition is altogether different with that of the petitions challenging blasphemous or anti state websites . it is further peculiar to be noted here that in case the Government of Pakistan can prohibit and block such blasphemous and anti state websites than y cant it block the pornographic websites. That the stance of the petitioner is further fortified from the fact that the inability and ineffectiveness of the Respondent To prohibit or block the easy access to Pornographic websites in Pakistan ipso facto denotes only one inference and that is “”Pornography is being patronized at a state level in Pakistan. “” that it is further submitted with respect and humility that the contentions raised by the Respondent to the effect that a report of the sub committee will soon be published in the inter ministerial committee is nothing but a pack of lies , as there exist no such committee to adjudicate upon the subject in hand, it is a deliberate attempt on the part of the respondent to defraud and mislead this Honourable Court.
7. That the contents of Paragraph No. 5 are misleading on the face of it hence categorically denied. The real fact of the matter is that the Respondent required least of the time, immense human and financial resources to tackle with the issue of easy access to pornography , all that is required by them to do is to direct the ISP’s to maintain filters as they have adopted in the case of the Telecommunication sector to prohibit international gateways. That it is further submitted with respect that even in advanced countries, the ISPs (Internet Service Providers) have made arrangements to block all pornographic material so that children cannot access it. For instance Kingdom of Saudi Arabia only permitted its citizen’s public access to the Internet once the state felt confident it could control the content users could access. Strong Internet filtering was a prerequisite for Internet deployment in the Kingdom, but in Pakistan no such arrangement has so far been devised by the Respondent No.1 or 2 or by the Internet Service Providers working in Pakistan. In addition to it , they are required to direct the ISP’s the Respondents No.___ in the main writ petition to make a catch and kill program with the help of programmer using common tags (adult, xxx, ratedX, Mature, Porn, "sex," "camel sex," "rape video," "child sex video etc) so anytime someone types these common tags in Google or whatever apps they use, this program should b able to block the site from entering your cyber space of Pakistan . it is imperative in the best interest of the justice to be carried out in the instant matter, if the record of the complainst so lodged with this special crisis cell so established by the Respondnet No.2 in addition to the complaints lodged on the toll free No. and the action thereupon taken by the Respondents be directed to be placed in this Honourable Court so as to reach at a fair conclusion in this regard.
8.That the contents of Paragraph No. 6 is vexatious and misleading, the real fact of the matter is that the Respondent Ministry is not at all taking any material steps to ensure a prohibition on the easy access available to Pornography in Pakistan, neither the concerned departments nor officials are seriously acknowledging the catastrophic eventuality of its existence .
PRAYER
Under the circumstances mentioned hereto before it is therefore most humbly prayed that the instant Para Wise comments submitted by the Respondent No.2 in this Honourable Court may very graciously be declared irrelevant , and they be directed to submit proper and relevant para wise comments while keeping in view the contents of the writ petition filed by the petitioner
That it is further most humbly prayed that in the light of the re-reply filed by the petitioner , the titled writ petition may very graciously be accepted in accordance with the prayers made by the petitioner in the main writ petition .
That it is further most humbly requested that while keeping in view of the gravity of the nature involved in the instant matter, a stay order may very kindly be issued against the easy access to pornography in Pakistan in favour of the petitioner and against the respondents .
That any other relief that this honourable court deems just and proper may also very kindly be extended in favour of the petitioner , while keeping in view of the peculiar nature of the instant matter
Petitioner
Through
Fahad Ahmad Siddiqi
Advocate High Court
Qadeer Ahmad Siddiqi Law Associates.
Ground Floor, Siddiqi Plaza, 7- Turner Road, Lahore, Pakistan
Posted in: Federation of Pakistan,Ministry of IT,Qadeer Ahmad Siddiqi Law Associates,Writ Petition
1 comments:
excellent
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