Pakistan bans Facebook over offensive page

Lahore, May 19: Amid nation-wide outrage over a Facebook page dedicated for caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed, a Pakistani court has directed the responsible authorities to block the social networking site.

In response to a petition filed by a group of lawyers, the Justice Sajjad Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court on Wednesday, May 19 ordered the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) to block Facebook.

The interim order is effective till May 31, following which the court is slated to begin a detailed hearing on the case.

The Asian country, which has a majority of Muslim population, was appalled to see a Facebook page encouraging users to post caricatures of the Prophet Mohammed.

A Facebook user declared Thursday, May 20 as 'Draw Mohammed Day' and invited people to upload their cartoons on the social networking site.

Taking offense to this, thousands of Facebook users, cutting across border lines, launched an online campaign demanding a boycott of Facebook over the page.

Many protesters even turned up in front of the High Court holding banners condemning Facebook and praising the Prophet Mohammed.

Any depiction of the Prophet Mohammed is strictly prohibited in Islam as a blasphemy.

An example of Muslims' violent protests against depiction of the Prophet can be seen in the continual attacks and terror plots targeted at the Swedish cartoonist, Lars Vilks, whose controversial cartoons on Prophet Mohammed were published in 2006.

OneIndia News