05-19-2010, 03:39 PM
LAHORE: Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry of the Lahore High Court on Tuesday issued notice to the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority secretary to reply until Wednesday (today), on a petition seeking a ban on Facebook, which is holding a competition of caricatures of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). Islamic Lawyers Movement filed the petition through Chaudhry Zulfiqar advocate, who stated that a competition was announced on Facebook on April 20 which would continue until May 20, asking all the members of the website to create their caricatures to participate in the competition. Zulfiqar said under the law no practice against Islam could be allowed in the country. He told the court that the website, having various features against the injunctions of Islam, is banned in various countries. Zulfiqar submitted that there were 45 million users of Facebook in Pakistan, adding that the PTA was responsible for its spread in Pakistan. He said the PTA has already blocked various websites in the country but was reluctant to ban Facebook. He said students and various segments of the society have already started protests in the country, which could be harmful for the public property. He requested the court to issue directions to PTA to put an immediate ban on the use of Facebook in the Pakistan. staff report