A First Information Report (FIR) was filed against a Vehari resident over satirical Facebook posts made about Prime Minister Imran Khan, former chief justice of Pakistan Saqib Nisar and Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

The FIR was registered on complaint of Model Town Burewala station ASI Ahmed Kamran Islam against Azhar Hussain, resident of Burewala who was accused of making inappropriate comments against PM Khan, ex-CJP Saqib Nisar and COAS Bajwa. Islam said that he was checking his Facebook timeline when he came across the ‘defamatory’ posts.

He also mentioned the comments allegedly made by Azhar Hussain to defame the dignitaries in the complaint. Some of the comments Islam accuses Azhar of making are following:

“The army has ridiculed itself by its involvement in politics. International Media is making cartoons of PM Khan and Gen Bajwa.”

“Wishing the first traitor lady of Pakistan, Mohtarma Fatima Jinnah, a very happy 125 th ”

” “Imprisonment is better than licking boots.”

“May Allah grant Jannah to Baba Rehmata (Justice Nisar) who used to provide justice to people himself, caught thieves with his own hands and looked after the condition of hospitals when he was alive. Poor him, he died on July 25.”

“Those who brought Imran Khan into power could even make Naseebo Lal the PM.”

Islam said that by using ‘derogatory language’ against PM Khan, ex-CJP Nisar and General Bajwa, Azhar has incited people to violence and spread hatred. Therefore, action must be taken against him according to law.

Naya Daur reached out to expert on cybercrime act Fareeha Aziz for comment. “First of all, the Telegraph has been applied in this case. Moreover, if comes under cybercrime, then the Prevention Of Electronic Crimes Act 2016 comes into play,” she said.

Fareeha said that in case of defamation, the complain must be filed by the person who the messages are subjected to, but the complaint has been made by the ASI and the Telegraph Act has been applied, which is ‘exactly we have been pointing it’.

She also said that there must be a clear distinction between dissent, public opinions and hate speech. “Dissenters are being swiftly arrested, while in case of actual hate speech e.g. TLP, no swift action is taken.”

On Wednesday, Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry announced crackdown on social media to curb ‘hate speech and violence’. “We have made some arrests last week and by the will of Allah, we are launching a massive crackdown against social media users spreading hate speech and violence.”

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