Pak bans site showing Governor’s family photos
By Ria Sharma

In Feb, 2010, I had reported on how the Pakistani Government had blocked a YouTube video which showed President Zardari shouting ‘Shut Up’ at some unruly people at a rally.  The ban was almost farcical as Zardari’s speech was about democratic principles. Few in the crowd were heckling but no one was violent or out of control.

Now the Pakistani Government has banned a website makePakistanBetter.com whose motto is ‘lets promise we all will make Pakistan the best place to practice Islam and to Live’.  While makePakistanBetter certainly makes some credible political statements, it does seem to cross a couple of lines.  While makePakistanBetter has published a video of a young man criticizing President Musharraf even as the dictator sat in the same conference, it has also published personal photos of the children of the Governor of Punjab. 

While all of us in the media welcome healthy criticism of those in public office or are public figures, why should anyone publish photos of teenage children at school or at a dance? There is even one innocent photo of the Governor’s daughter with her school class mates.  And why do the people behind makePakistanBetter hide behind anonymity while attacking children?

Which are the all time popular stories on makePakistanBetter?  The first titled ‘For Adults Only’ mocks Miss Pakistan in a bikini during a photo shoot.  The next most read story alleges that Nike wrote Allah on some of its shoes.  The third most popular story is of Punjab Governor Salman Taseer’s family.  The fourth article is titled ‘Is Gen Pervez Musharraf a drinker?’

You get the idea.  It is a political website which does legitimate articles on political and social issues but does not mind hitting below the belt when the targets are female Pakistani models that cannot fight back. As a woman, I cannot see any reason why any website should publish a photo of a girl at her school even if her father is a high profile politician.

The Pakistani Government via its Pakistan Telecommunications Authority has now banned makePakistanBetter.  While respected advocates of free speech have jumped to its defence, no one wants to ask this anonymous website why they are publishing the photos of a school kid?

While the site is banned in Pakistan, you can access it from India.