ISLAMABAD: The Senate’s Standing Committee on Interior has called upon the government, especially the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA), to crack down upon mudslinging against candidates online in the run-up to the general election.

“As objectionable material is being uploaded from abroad so it becomes difficult to take action. We are trying our best to investigate the matter and take action against the elements concerned, but there is a lack of coordination between the FIA and the Pakistan Telecom­munication Authority (PTA),” the investigation agency’s cybercrime director, retired captain Muhammad Shoaib, said in a statement before the committee.

Also read: ‘Hurtful’ election campaign posts on social media to be referred to FIA

Dwelling upon the damage being done to electioneering via social media, Senator Ateeq Shaikh said some elements had posted disrespectful pictures of politicians that place their faces on animals such as donkeys and dogs.

“These elements circulating such images on social media want to sabotage election activities and bring unrest to the country,” he said.

The senator expressed alarm over an image of a grave being used as an election symbol. “I asked the Election Commission of Pakistan (ECP) but was told that the grave was not included in the list of election symbols,” Ateeq Shaikh said.

FIA reveals major politicians have lodged complaints over defamation on social media

Mr Shaikh was of the view that stringent measures had become unavoidable to contain abuse of social media by elements out to damage credibility of the election process.

Muhammad Shoaib, the FIA official, said major politicians like Shehla Raza, Talha Mahmood, Pir Sadaruddin Shah, Ayesha Gulalai, Faheem Mughal, Mir Muhammad Sadiq and others had lodged complaints with the FIA that they were being defamed over social media. He claimed that his agency was doing its best to catch the culprits.

Senator Rehman Malik, who chairs the committee, urged the FIA and PTA to hammer out a concerted strategy for redress of complaints. He added that to deal with cybercrime issues effectively, it was crucial that the capacity of the cybercrime cell be augmented.

He suggested that the PTA buy equipment for automatic detection of derogatory remarks and objectionable material on social media because it was impossible to monitor social media manually.

Bahawalnagar minors sexually assaulted

The committee also took up the issue of three girls who strayed into the desert in Bahawalnagar during a sandstorm on June 14 and were found dead the next day.

Earlier reports had suggested that the sandstorm caused their deaths and their families had been paid Rs2.5 million as compensation.

However, the committee decided to look into the matter, saying it was hard to believe that the three girls died the same day and that their families were paid compensation immediately.

Dr Azra Hakeem, the medical officer at Bahawalnagar’s basic health unit, revealed that the children had been sexually assaulted and had not died of starvation or sandstorm in the desert.

“Bodies of the three girls (aged between six and 13 years) were brought to the hospital. During post-mortem I observed that there were a number of blisters on the bodies, skin was ruptured in many places and they had been sexually abused. I have collected the samples and sent them for forensic testing,” she said.

A team of Punjab police from Bahawalnagar was then instructed to return on Monday with details of the initial report, which would be placed before a sub-committee, headed by Senator Rana Maqbool.

Rehman Malik said it was shameful that police had tried to suppress the matter and ordered them to investigate who had provided the money for compensation.

He also issued instructions for protection of Dr Haleem and her family.

Published in Dawn, July 21st, 2018