PTA bans official Ahmadi website: Report

The Express Tribune News

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has banned the official website of the Ahmaddiya community, alislam.org, according to a report published in The Nation on Friday. A PTA official, speaking to The Nation, said that the site was blocked because, as per the Constitution, the Ahmadis are not allowed to propagate their religious views publicly. He added that the PTA has already blocked several sites with inappropriate content in the past. ProPakistani had earlier reported that the site was blocked after it was accused of publishing blasphemous content against the Holy Prophet (PBUH). The Nation’s sources add that the Muttahida Ulema Board had demanded that PTA block the website for blasphemous content. After media reports emerged of the site blockade, former MNA Farahnaz Ispahani tweeted saying that she had taken up the issue with concerned officials in Pakistan and is waiting for action. Former ambassador to US Husain Haqqani also tweeted that the blockade “reflects religious intolerance and violates constitutional guarantee of religious freedom.”