Information service of the Pontifical Mission Societies since 1927
Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - Islamic fundamentalist groups in Pakistan have launched a campaign to promote a social network "conformed to Islam", and inviting all the "true Muslims in the country to abandon and boycott the Facebook platform, which spreads profanity and blasphemy contents against the Prophet Mohammed". The new social media platform recommended is called "Millat Facebook" (a sort of Facebook reserved to the Muslim community).
In a public conference held recently in Islamabad, radical Muslim leaders appealed especially to young Pakistanis, inviting them to reflect "on the role of Muslim youth in social media". The speakers stressed their strong aversion to all those who want to abolish or amend the blasphemy law, in force in the country.
The owners of "Millat Facebook" stated that their website was launched quietly in May 2010, in two years its members have increased (currently it has over 1.6 million Muslims), despite "attempts to boycott companies in the United States, Europe or groups of Jews".
According to observers, "Millat Facebook" is very similar to Facebook and it has plagiarized the original idea, structure and design. The Christian lawyer Naeem Shakir, who defends in court many victims of the blasphemy law, told Fides: "With the mask to avoid swearwords and blasphemy, these groups want to impose their way of life and a strict interpretation of Islam to society. They want to undermine the rights and individual freedoms, especially religious minorities and women. They want to challenge even the written law". Currently, the lawyer continues, "the question of the blasphemy law has disappeared from public debate: on one hand because political protagonists have taken no notice of it, as it is not appropriate to touch such a sensitive subject on the eve of general elections, on the other hand because the degree of intolerance in society is so high that it is difficult for the common man or for civil society groups to address these issues without the risk of being seriously affected, to the point of risking one’s life". (PA) (Agenzia Fides 09/02/2012)
