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Thousands of Pakistani livelihoods will be affected if YouTube banned — IT minister

This photograph taken on July 24, 2020 shows a child surfing YouTube in Pakistan for kids content. (AN photo)
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Updated 25 July 2020
Khurshid Ahmed
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Thousands of Pakistani livelihoods will be affected if YouTube banned — IT minister

  • Government sets $5 billion IT export target for next three years, Syed Amin ul Haque says
  • Prime minister orders setting up committee ‘within 24 hours’ to work on minimizing IT sector taxes
Updated 25 July 2020
Khurshid Ahmed

KARACHI: Pakistan’s minister for information technology said on Thursday the livelihoods of thousands of Pakistanis would be affected if the Google-owned video sharing website YouTube was banned.
This week, the Supreme Court hinted at a possible ban on YouTube over ‘objectionable’ content.
Pakistan banned access to YouTube in September 2012 after an anti-Islam film uploaded to the site sparked violent protests. The ban was lifted in 2016 but digital rights activists and IT experts say tens of millions of rupees in revenue was lost due to the nearly four-year blockade.
“As far as YouTube is concerned, I understand thousands of people’s livelihood is associated with it,” Syed Amin ul Haque, minister for IT and telecommunication, told Arab News in an interview. “It is a source of education, learning and business for people. I think YouTube is a good channel and its activities could be taken forward positively.”
“Banning anything means obstructing its growth,” Haque added. “Ban is not the solution to the problems, instead it [problems] could be improved through filtration.”




This photograph released on April 22, 2020 by Pakistan's Ministry Of IT & Telecom shows federal minister for IT and telecommunication Syed Amin ul Haque in his office. (Photo courtesy: @MoitOfficial/Twitter)

Pakistan’s telecommunication regulator banned live-streaming app Bigo over “vulgar content” this week and issued a “final warning” to Chinese video sharing platform Tiktok on similar grounds. On Friday, the regulator said it had decided to retain a July 1 ban on the popular online game PUBG, though the Islamabad High Court subsequently asked it to lift the block.
Pakistani PM’s adviser on digitization, Tania Aidrus, has also said banning content was “not a solution.” 
“The 3 years when YouTube was banned in Pakistan it held back our content creator ecosystem which has just started to flourish now, creating employment opportunities for thousands,” Aidrus wrote on Twitter on July 22. “Our focus should be on ensuring better curation of content through policy and dialogue.”
“Brute force measures like banning will not serve any purpose and will hold us back from achieving the vision of #DigitalPakistan,” she added.




This file photo taken on April 03, 2018 shows YouTube's headquarters office in San Bruno, California. (AFP)

Pakistan’s IT industry is fast growing. According to a June performance report by the Pakistan Software Export Board (PSEB), an organization that works under the Ministry of IT, export remittances from IT & IT enabled Services (ITeS) surged to $1.003 billion, a jump of 23.42 percent, in the first 10 months of fiscal year 2019-20 (July – April).
In the July-May period of the outgoing fiscal year, ITeS export remittances rose to $1.11 billion, 21 percent higher than the previous year, the IT minister said.
For the next three years, he added, Pakistan had set a five billion dollar target for IT exports.
“We have tried to set a IT export target for the next 3 years, which is the remaining term of our government. It will be increased from the $1.11 billion to $5 billion,” Haque said. “We are confident that the target will be achieved.”
He said the government was taking several measures to enhance IT exports, including reconstituting the Pakistan Software Export Board and improving the tax regime.
Pakistan has exempted software exports from taxes until 2025 but local general sales tax on services has been set at 13-17%.
“Taxation is the biggest issue and for that we have talked to all concerned departments,” the minister said. “Today [Thursday] we had a meeting with the prime minister [Imran Khan] who has issued directives for constitution of an inter-ministerial committee within 24 hours so taxes could be minimized for ease of local industry.”
Shehryar Hydri, an IT consultant and member of the central executive committee of the Pakistan Software Houses Association (P@SHA), said while India, Bangladesh and Philippines provided wide ranging support to their IT sectors, the Pakistani government “fails to support the export potential of this booming sector that is growing 10-15% every year.”
He said Pakistan’s export figure was much higher than the official $1.11 billion, and could be as high as $3 billion, which would double in the next five years.
“Pakistani IT professionals earn millions of dollars which are not reflected as IT exports mainly due to lack of proper documentations at banks, where they are simply counted as remittances,” Hydri said “The IT industry will double in size over the next 5 years, crossing $4 billion, without any major government support.”
Pakistan’s main IT export destination is the United States, where 50% of its software goes. The Middle East gets around 10 percent.
“Major animations and games studios in the GCC [Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf] market are outsourcing work to their Pakistani partners and several large IT firms have entered Saudi Arabia and other markets for major technology projects,” Hydri said.
“Due to the close proximity of the market, Pakistan makes an ideal and cost effective partner for the digital transformation of the Middle East market”.

Topics: Pakistan Youtube social media

Pakistan to launch today second phase of Hajj training for pilgrims

Updated 10 sec ago
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Pakistan to launch today second phase of Hajj training for pilgrims

  • The second phase of training program will include 142 workshops in 72 cities nationwide
  • Overseas Pakistanis will receive training at the relevant Hajj camps after returning home
Updated 10 sec ago
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is set to launch today, Tuesday, the second phase of mandatory training for Hajj pilgrims, the Pakistani religion ministry said, with 142 workshops scheduled to be held in 72 cities nationwide.
Pakistan conducted its first phase of training for Hajj pilgrims in Jan. that continued across the country until late Feb., with intending pilgrims trained via audio-visual devices and other materials.
Pakistani religious affairs minister Sardar Muhammad Yousaf has said that around 90,000 pilgrims are expected to perform Hajj under the government’s scheme this year, promising to ensure the best possible facilities for them.
As part of the second phase, Hajj workshops will be held in Islamabad, Mirpur Khas, Mirpur Mathilo, Qila Saifullah, Chakwal and Pishin districts on Tuesday, while training sessions will be held in Hyderabad, Mirpur Mirs, Zhob, Qila Abdullah, Chaman, Daki, Ziarat, Mianwali and Nowshera districts on Wednesday.
“The second phase of Hajj pilgrim training will continue until April 24,” the Pakistani religion ministry said. “Overseas Pakistanis will receive training at the relevant Hajj camps after returning home.”
Training programs will be held in Tando Adam, Nowshehro Feroze, Loralai, Haripur, Khushab and Kohat districts on April 10, while workshops in Benazirabad, Dadu, Mardan and Dera Ismail Khan districts will be held on April 11, the religion ministry said.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia signed in Jan. the Hajj 2025 agreement, under which 179,210 Pakistani pilgrims were supposed to perform the annual pilgrimage under the government and private schemes.
However, the South Asian country failed to fulfill its private Hajj quota of pilgrims, prompting Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif last week to constitute a three-member inquiry committee to probe why Pakistani authorities had failed to comply with the Kingdom’s Hajj 2025 policy and consequently lost the quota.
Pakistan will begin its Hajj operations on Apr. 29, when the first flight carrying Hajj pilgrims will depart from the eastern city of Lahore to Saudi Arabia.

Topics: Hajj 2025 Pakistan Hajj training

Pakistan issues over 6,500 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims for Baisakhi festival

Updated 07 April 2025
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Pakistan issues over 6,500 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims for Baisakhi festival

  • Baisakhi, the spring harvest festival, marks the beginning of the Sikh New Year and symbolizes spiritual rejuvenation
  • Indian pilgrims will be visiting Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib in Pakistan
Updated 07 April 2025
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has issued more than 6,500 visas to Indian Sikh pilgrims for the Baisakhi festival this month, the Pakistani high commission in New Delhi said on Monday.
Baisakhi, the spring harvest festival primarily celebrated in Punjab and northern India, marks the beginning of the Sikh New Year and symbolizes spiritual rejuvenation, with celebrations centered around Gurdwara Panja Sahib in Hasan Abdal, some 45 kilometers northwest of Islamabad.
Sikhs are a small minority based in the Punjab region that is divided between Muslim-majority Pakistan and Hindu-majority India, but several Sikh holy sites ended up being in Pakistan after the partition of the Subcontinent in 1947.
The annual festival is scheduled to be held in Pakistan on April 10-19, with pilgrims expected to visit Gurdwara Panja Sahib, Gurdwara Nankana Sahib and Gurdwara Kartarpur Sahib.
“The large number of visas issued by the Government of Pakistan is a manifestation of our policy to foster harmony and promote understanding between peoples, cultures and religions,” Pakistan’s chargé d’affaires was quoted as saying by the country’s high commission in New Delhi.
“Pakistan would continue to facilitate such visits to sacred and holy sites.”
The shrine in Hasan Abdal is one of Sikhism’s holiest sites and it is believed that the handprint of the founder of the religion, Guru Nanak, is imprinted on a boulder there.
Baisakhi is also meant to mark the day when Gobind Singh, the 10th and final guru of Sikhism, established the discipline of Khalsa, through which the faithful can aspire to the ultimate state of purity.
Every year, a large number of Yatrees from India visit Pakistan to observe various religious festivals under the framework of the Pakistan-India Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines of 1974.

Topics: Pakistan India Ties Sikh pilgrims Baisakhi festival

Pakistan says US acknowledges issue of military equipment left behind in Afghanistan

Updated 07 April 2025
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Pakistan says US acknowledges issue of military equipment left behind in Afghanistan

  • Pakistan has voiced its concerns over the presence of advanced US weapons in Afghanistan which Washington has sought to be returned by Kabul
  • Last week, Islamabad urged the UN to recover these weapons, warning that militant groups like the Pakistani Taliban were gaining access to them
Updated 07 April 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: The United States (US) acknowledges the issue of US military equipment left behind in Afghanistan, Pakistan’s foreign office said on Monday, days after Islamabad urged the international community to recover foreign stockpiles in the neighboring country.​
The statement came after Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar’s telephonic conversation with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, during which the two figures discussed the issue of US-made advanced weapons in Afghanistan, Islamabad’s counter-terrorism efforts and other affairs of mutual interest.
Pakistan has voiced its concerns over the presence of advanced US weapons in Afghanistan which Washington has sought to be returned by Kabul’s Afghan Taliban rulers. Islamabad last week urged the United Nations to recover these weapons, warning that militant groups like the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and the Baloch Liberation Army (BLA) were gaining access to them.
Last month, a Geneva-based monitor, Small Arms Survey, said in its report that trafficking and illegal sale of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and Soviet arms have continued in Afghanistan and Pakistan’s border regions more than three years after the Taliban’s takeover of Kabul and their seizure of the previous regime’s stockpiles.
“Secretary Rubio agreed on the need to resolve the issue of US Military equipment left behind in Afghanistan,” the Pakistani foreign office said in a statement.
 “Dar and Secretary of State Rubio agreed to remain in close contact and to work together to advance the shared interests of both countries.”
Pakistan has struggled to contain surging militancy in its western regions that border Afghanistan in recent years, with Islamabad accusing Kabul of sheltering and supporting militant groups that launch cross-border attacks. Afghan officials deny involvement and insist that Pakistan’s security issues are an internal matter of Islamabad.
During his conversation with Rubio, Dar highlighted Pakistan’s efforts in fighting terrorism from 2013 till 2018, which caused Islamabad huge economic and human losses.
“Secretary of State Rubio also appreciated Pakistan’s efforts in the fight against terrorism and expressed the US desire to further enhance counter-terrorism cooperation,” the Pakistani foreign office added.
On Friday, Syed Atif Raza, counsellor at Pakistan’s UN Mission, told a UNSC meeting on small arms and light weapons management that militant groups possessed lethal weapons left in Afghanistan that were now used against civilians and Pakistan’s armed forces.
“We know that non-state actors do not have many of the capabilities to manufacture advanced illicit arms, thus raising questions of culpability of certain state actors in these nefarious activities,” he said.​
“Pakistan is concerned at the acquisition and use of modern and sophisticated illicit arms by terrorist groups such as Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, a UN-listed terrorist organization, which operates with impunity from Afghanistan, as well as the so-called Baloch Liberation Army and Majeed Brigade.”
The Pakistani diplomat asserted that militants receive external support and financing from Pakistan’s “principal adversary,” alluding to India.​
He also highlighted that the evolving nature of warfare and new technologies posed challenges in combating the proliferation of increasingly lethal small arms.
The Small Arms Survey report said that as of August 2021, Afghanistan had 258,300 rifles, including M4, M16 and AK-variants, 64,300 pistols, 63,000 sniper rifles, 56,155 light, medium and heavy machine guns, 31,000 grenade launchers, 9,115 shotguns, 1,845 rounds of 60-82mm, as well as hundreds of thousands of accessories and munitions.

Topics: Pakistan US Ties Pakistan Afghan Taliban US Secretary of State Marco Rubio Foreign minister Ishaq Dar

Punjab requests deployment of army, paramilitary troops for security of PSL 10th edition

Updated 07 April 2025
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Punjab requests deployment of army, paramilitary troops for security of PSL 10th edition

  • Top teams shunned the South Asian country after the 2009 attack on a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, forcing them to relocate home matches
  • It took the PCB years to convince foreign counterparts that Pakistan was safe to visit and foreign teams began returning after it staged its own T20 league
Updated 07 April 2025
KASHIF IMRAN

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Punjab province has requested the Pakistani federal authorities to deploy army along with paramilitary Rangers troops for the security of Pakistan Super League (PSL) 10th edition matches in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi, it emerged on Monday.
Top teams shunned Pakistan after the 2009 attack on a bus carrying Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore, forcing them to relocate home matches, mostly to the United Arab Emirates. It took the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) years to convince foreign counterparts that it was safe to visit.
The PSL 10th edition is scheduled to commence from April 11 at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium and will conclude on May 18, with the final taking place at the Qaddafi Stadium in Lahore. The six-team tournament will feature 34 matches across four venues, including Karachi, Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi.
“This will be a high-profile event with the participation of international cricketers, match officials, foreign dignitaries,” the Punjab home department said in a letter to the interior ministry, dated April 5.
“Troops of Pakistan Army, Pakistan Rangers (Punjab) and Army aviation/assets may be requisitioned for protection and security of teams during their stay, travel and movement in Lahore, Multan and Rawalpindi from April 6 to May 19.”
Touring sides began returning to Pakistan after the PCB successfully staged its own T20 league in the form of PSL on home soil in 2017.
Since then, PSL, which features city-based franchise teams, has become a major event in Pakistan’s cricket calendar and grown substantially in value and popularity.

Topics: Pakistan Super League (PSL) Pakistan Super League 2025

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Over 13,500 Afghans deported as Pakistan ramps up expulsion drive against ‘illegal foreigners’

Updated 07 April 2025
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Over 13,500 Afghans deported as Pakistan ramps up expulsion drive against ‘illegal foreigners’

  • Islamabad last month set the deadline for some 800,000 Afghans carrying citizen cards to leave the South Asian country
  • The move is part of a larger repatriation drive that began in 2023, with over 800,000 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since
Updated 07 April 2025
SAIMA SHABBIR

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has repatriated more than 13,500 Afghan nationals since the expiry of a March 31 deadline set by Islamabad, Pakistani officials said on Monday, amid intensifying efforts to return all illegal foreigners and Afghan Citizen Card-holders to their home countries.
Pakistan last month set the deadline for some 800,000 Afghans carrying ACCs to leave the country, another phase in Islamabad’s campaign in recent years to return foreigners, mostly Afghans, living in Pakistan. The move is part of a larger repatriation drive of foreign citizens that began in 2023, with over 800,000 Afghans expelled from Pakistan since. The government initially said it was first focusing on expelling foreigners with no legal documentation and other categories like ACC holders would be included later.
According to the United Nations (UN) data, Pakistan has hosted more than 2.8 million Afghan nationals who crossed the border in a desperate attempt to escape decades of war and instability in their home country. Around 1.3 million of them are formally registered as refugees and hold Proof of Registration (PoR) cards, which grant them legal protection. Another 800,000 Afghans possess ACC, a separate identity document issued by the Pakistani government, that recognizes them as Afghan nationals without offering refugee status.
“As per the government’s decision, the operation against illegal foreigners and ACC-holder Afghans is continued with full intensity since April 1,” Qadir Yar Tiwana, a senior official at the Pakistani interior ministry, told Arab News.
“All those who are confirmed after checking are being sent to the holding centers for further processing to be repatriated.”
Although Pakistani federal authorities have not released details of recent detentions, provincial governments in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) and Balochistan, which border Afghanistan, have confirmed repatriating 11,134 individuals through the Torkham border crossing and over 2,500 via the Chaman border crossing, respectively.
“After the expiry of the deadline from April 1 till today, more than 2,500 individuals have been deported, which includes illegal and ACC card-holder Afghans,” Habib Ahmed, the Chaman deputy commissioner, told Arab News.
“In the latest deportation drive, a total of 11,134 illegal immigrants have been deported via KP, including 1,573 from Islamabad, 3,905 from Punjab, 38 from Azad Kashmir, one from Gilgit-Baltistan and 44 from Sindh,” the KP home and tribal affairs department said, adding that this included around 3,053 ACC-holders.
“Only on Monday, a total of 1,437 illegal Afghan nationals were deported through Pak-Afghan Torkham border.”


Anwer Shehzad, a KP government focal person for repatriation centers, said both holding centers in Peshawar and Landi Kotal were working hard to “ease the repatriation process.”
“We are sending them back to Afghanistan after completing all the processes at the Landi Kotal holding centers, including the finger-print scanning for the record,” he told Arab New.
“There is no extensive operation going on in KP but we are receiving individuals from other parts of the country.”
Shehzad clarified the KP government had initially focused on encouraging voluntary repatriation, but they were now launching search operations in the province.
A spokesperson of the Punjab police said the government’s campaign for the deportation of illegal immigrants continues “without interruption” in the province.
“So far, 4,111 individuals have been deported from the province with the assistance of relevant agencies during the ongoing deportation campaign,” a police spokesperson said, adding a total of 46 holding centers had been established across Punjab.
“Over 5,950 illegal foreign residents have been sent to holding centers during the campaign and currently, 1,839 illegal foreign residents are present at the holding points.”
In Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, a total of 307 illegal foreigners and ACC-holders have been repatriated since April 1, according to Sohail Ahmed Jokhio, a spokesperson for the Sindh home minister.
“Of these, 187 were undocumented illegal foreigners, while 120 were Afghan nationals holding ACCs,” he told Arab News.
Jokhio said the Sindh government has established two holding centers: one in Karachi and the other in Jacobabad.
Shahid Rind, a spokesperson of the Balochistan government, said the provincial administration has started arresting illegal foreigners and Afghan ACC-holders as per the federal government’s direction.
“Police and other agencies are acting on the information to arrest the individuals falling in the category defined by the federal government and they are sent to the holding centers for further processing,” he told Arab News.
Rind said provincial law enforcement agencies and the administration were facilitating the repatriation of these individuals.
Afghan refugee ministry spokesman Abdul Mutalib Haqqani has said that “more than a million Afghans might return” to their home country under the repatriation drive, urging Islamabad to ensure their dignified return.
“We are urging Pakistan authorities not to deport them (Afghans) forcefully — there should be a proper mechanism with an agreement between both countries, and they must be returned with dignity,” he was quoted as saying by AFP news agency.
Speaking to Arab News, UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) Pakistan spokesperson Qaiser Khan Afridi expressed concerns over the deportation drive and reports of arrests of ACC holders.
“We believe that among the Afghan Citizen Cardholders, there may be individuals requiring international protection. In that light, we are urging the Government to see their situation through a humanitarian lens,” he said.
“We also call for engagement between Pakistan and Afghanistan to so that returns can be dignified and voluntary. It is imperative that returns is voluntary and dignified so that reintegration in Afghanistan is sustainable.”
Ties between the neighboring countries have frayed since the Taliban takeover, with Pakistan accusing Kabul’s rulers of failing to root out militants sheltering on Afghan soil, a charge the Taliban government denies.
“The government and people of Pakistan have a commendable, decades-long history of hosting Afghans who fled conflict and violence in the past,” Afridi said.
“UNHCR reiterates its call and urges Pakistan to continue to protect those seeking safety, as it has done for many decades, recognizing the ongoing human rights situation in Afghanistan and noting that there are people whose lives might be at risk if they return, regardless of their status.”

Topics: Afghan migrants Pakistan Afghan Refugees Afghan refugee in Pakistan

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