PESHAWAR: The Peshawar High Court on Tuesday directed the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) to inform it about how to permanently block the Android app Baby Kaba in the country for ‘carrying blasphemous content’.

The directions were issued by a bench consisting of Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan after a petition challenged the app insisting it is meant to desecrate the holy Muslim sites.

A bench consisting of Justice Roohul Amin Khan and Justice Mohammad Ibrahim Khan also asked counsel for the PTA Jehanzeb Mehsud to inform it about the steps taken by his client to block the downloading of the child app in the country.

It fixed Nov 2 for next hearing into the petition filed by lawyer Sara Ali Khan and some other citizens seeking its directives for the PTA to permanently stop the downloading of Baby Kaba in the country.

Petitioner claims ‘Baby Kaba’ meant to insult holy Muslim sites

Ms Sara informed the bench that the petition was filed last year leading to the court’s orders for the PTA to take measures to stop the app’s downloading.

She said while the PTA had removed that app from the Google Play Store blocking its direct download, but the people began downloading it through the virtual private network (VPN).

The petitioner said the app creator claimed that it was a game meant to introduce Muslim children to their holy sites, but actually, it was aimed at desecrating the Holy Kaaba and other sacred Muslim places.

She contended that the app ‘hurt the sentiments of millions of Muslims across the world, especially in Pakistan and that it was misguiding Muslim children about their religion in the guise of gaming’.

When the bench asked Jehanzeb Mehsud where the VPN was controlled from, he replied that it was a technical issue and the VPN was out of the PTA’s control and even hackers couldn’t do so.

He said on the court’s orders, Baby Kaba was blocked and removed from Google Play Store, which gave a wide range of apps to download on Android devices, last year.

The lawyer, however, said if the PTA was informed about any downloader of that app, it as well as the Federal Investigation Agency could take action.

He said the PTA had earlier filed comments in the case explaining the entire situation regarding the app.

Mr Mehsud said that as the VPN was used to download the app, it had become technically difficult when it came to the blocking of the app downloading.

He added that technically, the VPN wasn’t controlled by the PTA.

The lawyer said the VPN provided an encrypted server and protected identity of a user and hid an IP address from government agencies.

The bench observed that the people should get themselves involved in positive activities on the Internet instead of downloading prohibited apps.

It asked the PTA’s lawyer to come up with a report about the latest on the matter and tell it on how the Baby Kaba app could be permanently blocked in the country to stop its downloading by the people.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2022