Pak militants force ban on songs, videos on cellphones
5 March 2013 6:52 AM IST
Traders in the restive Peshawar city of northwest Pakistan have stopped selling mobile memory cards loaded with music videos and songs after receiving threats from militants, who have described such forms of entertainment as ‘un-Islamic’.
The management of two markets have closed shops frequented by people wanting to load songs and music and dance videos on the memory cards used in mobile phones.
The shopkeepers were ‘directed to pack up or change their business,’ according to a report. The militants issued a threat to shops dealing in memory cards, said a shopkeeper at Muslim Market in Peshawar Cantonment who did not want to be named.
‘They were mostly dealing in transferring ringtones, songs and various kinds of videos,’ he said.
The shopkeeper said the owners of these shops were told by traders dealing in mobile phones to wind up their business since they were posing a threat to other shops. The shopkeeper claimed these shops were involved in ‘spreading pornographic videos’. Police have stepped up patrolling in the area to avert untoward incidents after threats from the militants.
The management of two markets have closed shops frequented by people wanting to load songs and music and dance videos on the memory cards used in mobile phones.
The shopkeepers were ‘directed to pack up or change their business,’ according to a report. The militants issued a threat to shops dealing in memory cards, said a shopkeeper at Muslim Market in Peshawar Cantonment who did not want to be named.
‘They were mostly dealing in transferring ringtones, songs and various kinds of videos,’ he said.
The shopkeeper said the owners of these shops were told by traders dealing in mobile phones to wind up their business since they were posing a threat to other shops. The shopkeeper claimed these shops were involved in ‘spreading pornographic videos’. Police have stepped up patrolling in the area to avert untoward incidents after threats from the militants.
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