Mobile internet service suspended again in Balochistan

QUETTA: Mobile internet services were suspended once again in several cities of Balochistan, including Quetta, ARY News reported on Saturday.

The services had been restored last week on the orders of the Balochistan High Court (BHC) after remaining suspended for three weeks. However, sources in the Balochistan Home Department said the suspension has been reimposed due to security concerns.

The disruption has caused serious difficulties for users, particularly students and people engaged in online businesses and services, especially in an era when most smartphone users rely on WhatsApp for calls and connectivity.

Officials said there are 8.5 million cell phone subscribers in Balochistan, Pakistan’s largest province by size, which borders Afghanistan and Iran. But it is thinly populated, with just 15 million from a national population of 240 million.

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Earlier, the Balochistan High Court on Wednesday admitted a constitutional petition for hearing challenging the suspension of mobile internet services in the province, issuing notices to the Attorney General of Pakistan and the Balochistan Advocate General.

A two-member bench, comprising Chief Justice Rozi Khan Barrech and Justice Sardar Ahmad Haleemi, heard the petition filed by Consumer Society Chairman Khair Muhammad Shaheen.

After hearing the petitioner’s arguments, the court directed the authorities to submit a written reply before the next hearing on August 15.

The court warned that if a written response was not filed, the federal interior secretary and the secretary of telecommunications would be summoned in person.

In the petition, Khair Muhammad Shaheen argued that the government’s suspension of mobile internet services was a violation of fundamental human rights, disrupting education, daily life, and business activities in the province.

He further stated that the services had been cut off without providing solid reasons, and that inter-district and inter-provincial public transport had also been suspended.