EDITORIAL: Islamabad was virtually disconnected from the rest of the country by law enforcement agencies because of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leaderships’ announcement that the party will hold a jalsa in Tarnol on Thursday in spite of the administration’s last minute decision to withdraw its earlier approval – an approval that was given subsequent to a court directive.
There was only one entry point open for the public in Blue Area - Margalla Road - with at least a three-kilometer-long queue early morning on Thursday comprising mainly of government officials trying to get to their offices as all secretariats of all ministries are located on Constitution Avenue as is the Supreme Court and Federal Board of Revenue.
The actual economic cost of barricading the capital has been calculated time and again as all previous administrations, barring none, have resorted to such measure to forestall jalsas and the possibility of its transformation into a much more potently explosive dharna - a cost in hundreds of billions of rupees.
Given the proliferation of such activity by political parties, one would have hoped that the stakeholders had by now devised a more effective way to deal with jalsas/dharnas than in completely shutting down the capital at a great cost to the economy, which the current perilous state of the economy can no longer withstand.
The internet service too slowed down in recent weeks with the Chairman of Pakistan Telecommunication Authority, Major-General Hafeezur Rehman (retd), informing the National Assembly Standing Committee on Information Technology that the authority “received a letter from the Submarine Consortium which stated that the fault would be resolved by 27 August” –- a claim that is being challenged throughout the country on the grounds that it is highly unlikely that the Submarine Consortium would write a letter rather than a text message or email.
This is the general perception as the stakeholders in recent months have been referring to social media uploads as digital terrorism and pledging that it will be sternly dealt with –- a pledge that required National Firewall System installation and/or upgrade, which was acknowledged by the PTA Chairman.
This view is at odds with the statement of the Minister of State for Information Technology Shazia Fatima Khwaja on 18 August claiming that the slow internet service is due to excessive use of Virtual Private Networks (VPNs), which by-pass local internet services, slowing down net and mobile internet speed.
Needless to add, the enhanced use of VPN, estimated at over 131 percent this year, is attributed to the government decision to ban social media outlets particularly X, formerly Twitter, though the federal and provincial cabinet members continue to use the platform via VPNs.
Ali Ahsan, Pakistan Software House Association, has warned the government that the slowdown has impacted local businesses that rely on internet to communicate with international clients and to manage operations estimating a loss of 300 million dollars.
He added “we see a careless and reckless implementation of the national firewall that threatens to strangle the IT industry before its maturity. The internet, its reliability, quality, and throughput are of national interest. Anyone acting against it should review their decisions.
These disruptions are not mere inconveniences; but, a direct, tangible and aggressive assault on the industry’s viability – inflicting devastating financial losses estimated to reach $300 million, which can further increase exponentially“. A dire warning indeed.
We earnestly hope that better sense will be allowed to prevail and those implementing decisions without adequate knowledge of the damage that such decisions can have on the economy be compelled to engage with the relevant officials and sector experts before embarking on a policy with disastrous effects.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024