Social media not more important than religion and faith: Nisar

ISLAMABAD: Federal Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Wednesday warned those spreading blasphemous content on social media of harsh action against them.

Addressing a press conference in Islamabad the federal minister said, “social media is not more important than religion and faith,” adding that the issue of blasphemy is not limited to one country but rather one that affects the entire Muslim world.

He added, that while Pakistan was taking steps to tackle the problem in light of court orders, a joint agenda defined by Muslim countries will produce effective results.

The minister also came down hard against players involved in the spot-fixing scandal and said that we need stop incidents that affect Pakistan image negatively.

He said the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) probe has not yet revealed who was involved in the scandal.

Nisar told journalists, that the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) and FIA should cooperate and decide how to proceed with the investigation, adding that the PCB has certain powers that the FIA doesn’t.

The FIA doesn’t need permission and does not need to inform anyone in writing to start an investigation, the minister clarified.

Nisar said spot-fixing issue can be traced to foreign countries, adding that the government will go against bookies whether they are in Pakistan, India or Dubai.

Responding the statement of Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah on Sharjeel Memon's arrest, Nisar said that no province is personal property of a chief minister, who may decide as to which institution can work and which cannot.

The Sindh CM, while reacting to the arrest of former Sindh minister and party fellow Sharjeel Memon, had warned of not letting a few institutions work in the province, if the arrests did not stop.

The interior minister said had that statement been made by a chief minister in another country, then its every single word would have been autopsied.

"The constitution has defined the ambit of federal institutions and they work within their constitutional framework," he said, adding that when they [Sindh government] do not have any explanation, they say they would bar the accountability institution.

"No one has the authority to restrain the accountability institution," the minister asserted.

Nisar questioned, "Where was Sharjeel Memon for the last two years ago and why it took him so long time to think and present clarification?

Slamming Sharjeel Memom for 'posing as a hero while being flanked by provincial ministers, he questioned him to explain where was he for the last two years and why it took him so long to think and present his explanation.

The former provincial minister is levelling allegations against me rather than presenting his explanation, he criticised.