In what appears to be a major decision, and one that points to cracks within the cabinet of Prime Minister Raja Pervaiz Ashraf, almost all big decisions taken by the interior ministry to check the use of mobile phones as a tool of terrorism have been reversed. After a meeting with CEOs of all cell phone companies, the PM quashed the ban on the sale of cell phone SIMs at franchise counters (they were to be delivered at registered addresses only through postal carriers) but the ban on portability (keeping the same number while changing companies) was also removed. Although the Pakistan Telecommunications Authority was present at the meeting, surprisingly the interior minister was not.
The two measures by the interior ministry, which now stand reversed, were touted as key elements in the strategy to check massive proliferation of cell phones, which were projected as being the main tool of terrorism. A total shutdown of mobile phone services on sensitive days was used as an urgent measure, but these overturned decisions were long-term measures to control what the interior ministry sees as a growing, and potentially devastating, weapon in the hands of terrorists.
While official details of the decisions taken at the meeting are awaited, two things are alarming. There appears to be a serious disconnect between the prime minister and his interior minister. The minister’s absence from such a critical meeting was mysterious and ominous.
The manner in which his key decisions were overturned does not sound normal. The second issue is the credibility of what has so far been claimed by the interior ministry in terms of the misuse of cell phones for criminal purposes. The PM’s decision, in effect, rejects the notion that mobile phones pose such a big threat or are the main reason for terrorists succeeding in their plots. If the PM does not agree with his interior minister, would it not have been right to sort out this issue before a meeting with the CEOs? In this way the impression of something fishy within the cabinet ranks might have been avoided. But who is right and who is wrong is yet to be determined.
