An application has been filed in Islamabad High Court by a citizen Salman Shahid through counsel Tariq Asad advocate against bloggers and administrations of pages on social media allegedly involved in defiling and debasing the names of holy personalities and places of Islam.
Applicant prayed that bloggers including Professor Salman Haider and others through their blasphemous posts on Behnsa, Roshni and Mochi – all three social media pages on Facebook – defiled and debased the holy entities of Islam.
IT Ministry, FIA director general and PTA chairman have been made respondents in the application and it is prayed to the court to issue directions to relevant authorities to take action against the culprits. Furthermore, the applicant has also asked that directions be issued to Federal Interior Minister to not interfere in the investigation against those who are involved.
It is pertinent to mention here that during the first ten days of January, 2017 a total of 5 bloggers including Professor Salman Haider, Ahmed Waqas Goraya and others went missing from different cities of Pakistan. While the bloggers were missing, a ferocious campaign was launched on both electronic and social media denouncing them as blasphemers and admins of various pages on Facebook and blogs that carried posts critical of religion, holy personalities and military establishment among others.
The bloggers did return during the last week of January, three of them left the country within days of their release. No FIR or formal action has been taken against any of the bloggers. Till to date, the identity of their abductors and their eventual reappearance remains a secret.
