Pakistan has banned mobile phone services statewide as voters in the world’s fifth most populous country prepare for a stormy parliamentary election marked by violence and allegations of irregularities.
A statement from the Ministry of Interior released on Thursday morning in Urdu stated that, in reaction to “recent incidents of terrorism” in the country, cellular networks had been turned down “to maintain the law and order situation and deal with possible threats.” (On Wednesday, more than two dozen people were murdered in two blasts on candidates’ offices in the southwestern area of Balochistan; the Islamic State claimed responsibility for the assaults.)
NetBlocks, a global online freedom watchdog, reported internet outages in several places across Pakistan, citing “months of digital censorship targeting the political opposition.”
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party condemned the cell service closure on X, calling it a “severe assault on democracy” and a “cowardly attempt by those in power to stifle dissent, manipulate the election’s outcome, and infringe upon the rights of the Pakistani people.” The party also advised those with WiFi to disable password security on their personal networks so that others in the area may use the internet on election day.
The Pakistan People’s Party’s Prime Minister candidate, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, asked on X that cell phone connections “be restored immediately across the country” and stated that his party will take the issue to the Election Commission and the courts. The Interior Ministry stated that the suspension of services would be temporary, but did not specify when it would be restored.
Polls started at 8 a.m. local time and will shut at 5 p.m. (7 a.m. Eastern). The Election Commission stated in a press statement issued hours after the suspension of mobile communications that their monitoring is completely functioning and that the polling process is “going on peacefully” with “no complaints from anywhere.”
But this did not last long, as local police reported attacks around the country, according to the Associated Press. In two separate incidents in Dera Ismail Khan and Kot Azam, suspected Pakistani Taliban militants opened fire on a police vehicle and troops, killing at least five policemen and one soldier. Meanwhile, unidentified assailants fired grenades at voting places in Balochistan, where the previous day’s horrific Islamic State bombings took place, generating fear but no casualties, according to the Associated Press.
Around 128 million Pakistanis are registered to vote, and approximately 650,000 security officers have been deployed to guarantee a peaceful process, with the nation also sealing its borders with Iran and Afghanistan as an extra security precaution. However, even without violence, the election was far from free or fair.
Former Prime Minister Imran Khan, Pakistan’s most popular politician, has been imprisoned and prohibited from voting, and his PTI party has been deliberately targeted by the country’s military rulers, clearing the way for former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s projected triumph.
Maria Ghanchi