The ban question
2024-12-02
ENEWED talk about banning one of the country`s largest
political parties shows nothing but the impoverishment of
democratic thought in the Pakistani power elite. Following
the forcible eviction of the PTI`s latest protest from the
federal capital, some entities have once again taken to
describing the party as a `terrorist outfit` and are seeking
its proscription. Thankfully, the PPP, JUI and some others
have opposed the measure, calling it a bad idea. Others,
perhaps most surprisingly the ANP, have made no bones
about the fact that they wish to see the PTI removed from
the picture completely. However, the parties that want the
PTI to be banned do not seem to realise that they are
veering away from the very `democratic` credentials they
claim to possess.
The recent round of condemnations started with the
Balochistan Assembly, which passed a resolution on
Thursday amid an opposition walkout calling to ban the
party after its recent protests. Even by the sketchy
standards of democracy in the province, this marked a new
low. A similar resolution was also tabled in the Punjab
Assembly, but this could not be passed with the same
alacrity shown by the Balochistan Assembly, seemingly due
to the PPP`s opposition to the move. Meanwhile, the federal
cabinet considered imposing governor`s rule in KP but
again, saner minds seemed to have prevailed. None of this,
however, is as disappointing for a student of Pakistan`s
political history as the fact that the heir of Khan Abdul Wali
Khan, Aimal Wali, current chief of the Awami National
Party, has also joined the chorus of those seeking a ban on
PTI, going so far as to call it a `waste that should be
disposed of`.
Among Pakistan`s mainstream political parties, only two
have been formally banned. One was the National Awami
Party, led by Wali Khan, which was proscribed in 1975 but
then came back to life as the ANP. The other was the
Awami League, and the disastrous consequences of banning
it led to the secession of East Pakistan. After usurping
power, the dictator Gen Ziaul Haq attempted to ban the
PPP too, and was instrumental in carving some factions out
of it, but Bhutto`s party also endured.
This history shows that bans simply do not work. All parties
make mistakes, and the state and the citizenry can
sometimes clash in violent ways. But this cannot be used to
justify denying the public their constitutional right to
organise under whatever banner they wish. Instead of
resorting to such arbitrary calls, all parties must focus on
contributing positively towards the country`s political
culture by working to mitigate the divisions that exist
between them and focusing on a negotiated solution.
That is the only viable path forward in Pakistan`s case.
Syria offensive
2024-12-02
FTER several years of relative calm, the Syrian civil war has begun
to heat up again, with Idlib-based rebel fighters A A reaching the
city of Aleppo. The fresh offensive comes at a time of great strife in
the Middle East, and unless there is a peaceful resolution to this
conflict, the flames of war will once again consume Syria, and
spread to regional states. The rebels, led by Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,
an outfit linked to Al Qaeda, launched the assault on Nov 27, and
reports indicate they have made swift progress, with Syrian
government forces suffering considerable losses. Interestingly, the
fresh hostilities were initiated on the day the Hezbollah-Israel
ceasefire took effect, bringing some calm to the Lebanese front.
Syria has been largely quiet since 2020 when an arrangement
between Russia and Iran, which support Bashar al-Assad`s regime,
and Turkiye, which backs the rebels, effectively froze the conflict.
Now, it is being reignited at a time when the whole region is on
knife`s edge, and conflict in one theatre can quickly spread to
adjacent battlegrounds.
The rebels obviously know what they are doing, for they struck at a
time when Hezbollah, which played a key role in defending the
Assad government, has suffered major setbacks, while Iran and
Russia are embroiled in their own conflicts, the former against
Israel, the latter managing its Ukraine war. However, it must be
asked why the well-armed and organised rebels chose to strike the
Syrian government at a time when the Palestinian people are
suffering merciless violence at the hands of Israel. Surely they
could have used their capabilities to send a message to Israel in
solidarity with Palestine. But their guns are firmly trained on Mr
Assad`s forces, and his foreign backers. In fact, further instability
in Syria will only help Israel, as the government in Damascus is a
central pillar of the Iran-backed `Axis of Resistance`. All regional
states and international powers must also consider that if Al
Qaeda`s ideological allies establish a strong foothold in Syria, it
will fuel transnational terrorism. In this respect, the violent rise
and equally violent fall of the self-styled Islamic State group should
be remembered. Efforts need to be made to bring the non-violent
Syrian opposition to the table with the Assad government, and
defeat extremist forces that threaten the entire region.
And then they came for VPNs
BY FA R I E H A A Z l Z 2024-12-02
ON Nov 28, 2024, Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz posted a
video on X via a VPN, of course, since X has been officially banned
by the government announcing Pakistan`s first IT city. One
wonders what an IT city can possibly offer a country that lacks
basic connectivity and regular access to platforms and content on
them.
Digital infrastructure is not about constructing buildings or laying
down roads, but ensuring stable connectivity and everything that
sustains it.
Since the beginning of 2024, internet users in Pakistan have
experienced slow internet speeds purportedly due to damage to the
undersea cables. Then came the ban on X, announcements of an
upgrade to the web-management system, installation of a national
firewall, disruptions in WhatsApp media functions, and the blocking
of VPNs.
Typically, VPNs are used as a privacy measure.
But in Pakistan, VPNs are mainly used to circumvent arbitrary
government bans such as the one on X. WhatsApp has become a
medium of day-today communication for businesses and
individuals. WhatsApp media disruptions the inability to send and
receive audio notes, images, videos and stickers over mobile data
have led many to turn to VPNs. Lately, many users have reported
their inability to access specific content on platforms, such as
videos on YouTube channels. For instance, comments under videos
by court reporters who provided extensive coverage on the 26th
Amendment reveal how their videos do not load on mobile data
without a VPN. And now VPNs are being blocked.
What was initially attributed to a technical glitch, was soon
followed by an announcement by the Pakistan Telecommunication
Authority (PTA) to register all VPNs, accompanied by the usual
narrative of terrorist activity and access to `immoral` content,
including a fatwa by the Council of Islamic Ideology later
withdrawn about VPNs being `un-Islamic`.
But the PTA`s registration process the deadline for which has been
extended is not for everyone. Their registration form provides two
options: company and individual the latter for freelancers only. In
order to register, first an account has to be set up, which requires
the following details: company name, nature of busi-ness, phone
number, address, name of contact person, their email, mobile
number and CNIC, as well as the email of the CEO or head of the
company. Once the account is set up, the VPN registration form
becomes accessible. That form asks for the following information:
service provider, customer ID, phone number, purpose of use, type
of VPN, planned date for establishing communication link, IP
address and static IP address.
Apart from the privacy and traceability issues it creates, here`s the
other problem. The registration requires a static IP, which is an IP
that stays the same and does not change, unlike dynamic IPs which
are more commonly used. There are only so many static IPs. There
is an availability issue as well as a higher cost attached to it. Some
people who approached their ISPs for IP verification were told only
connections on company names could be verified for VPNs. So what
hap-pens to freelancers? Or those who work with various
companies on a short-term basis who will not furnish them with the
required documentation that the registration process requires? Or
clients who refuse such data disclosure requirements due to
privacy concerns? Given the connectivity issues in Pakistan, people
also tend to use multiple ISPs, or switch between broadband and
mobile data, and between official and personal VPNs depending on
where they are working from and what is working at any given
point. Besides, VPNs are used across sectors, and not just in the
corporate world.
What of them? The fact is that VPNs have become an integral part
of daily life across sectors for personal and professional use for
individuals and various organisations due to the arbitrary denial of
access and blocking of content by the government. Students,
journalists, researchers, and small scale home-run businesses, who
work soloor in fluid structures and from different locations and may
not have the ability to meet verification requirements or even
qualify, all rely on them.
Also, in a surveillance state where there is no data protection law,
where the cybercrime and anti-terrorism laws (among others) are
arbitrarily used to construct mala fide cases, coercive powers are
abused to persecute dissidents and arbitrarily restrict access to
platforms, and where there exists no accountability of the
regulator, the executive and LEAs, and whims prevail over rule of
law, more privacy should be the order of the day, not less.
Should it be permissible for the authorities to know every time you
leave your house, where you go, at what time and who you
communicate with? Should it be permissible to have a permanent
tracker on you, in real-time, all the time? A VPN ban allows for
increased surveillance online and diminishes privacy.
In today`s Pakistan, when we will have access to the internet, to
what degree, what will be accessible and what won`t, lies in the
hands of the executive and the regulator, without any guardrails or
recourse. They transgress, and arbitrarily suspend services or
restrict access. The courts provide no remedy either. This,
unfortunately, has become the new normal.
The online world in Pakistan mirrors the offline reality just like
cities are shut down and areas cordoned off, at any given time
networks are suspended indefinitely; and access to platforms and
content on the internet is restricted much like containers are
placed to prevent entry.
No timeline is specified as to how long the disruption will last,
because for that there will need to be acknowledgment and
shouldering of responsibility for the act itself.
Meanwhile, government officials continue to use a platform that is
banned on account of national security and terrorist activity. The
nation would love to know which VPNs they are using, which don`t
get blocked. Have these been registered? Does the use of VPNs by
government officials to access and post on a banned platform such
as X qualify as `legitimate` use? The wúter is a co-founder of Bolo
Bhi, an advocacy forum for digital ághts.
