• Says ban on VPNs, slow internet doesn’t affect ‘babus, politicians in Islamabad’; vows to table draft law in parliament following public consultation
• Calls for abandoning regressive approaches of the past, warns Pakistan not prepared for climate change challenge

HYDERABAD: PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari on Monday distanced himself from the government’s policies on two important fronts — internet governance and climate change — as he floated the idea of a ‘bill of rights’ for the digital age, and called for revisiting the country’s development spending to align it with the challenges thrown up by the unstoppable march of climate change.

In wide-ranging remarks covering an array of topics at the convocation of the University of Sindh, Jamshoro, the PPP chairman made a case against the six-canal project that has become a bone of contention between Sindh and federal government.

He also declared that neither Pakistan nor the world was ready to face the threat of climate change, and called on the youth of the country not to repeat the mistakes of previous generations and fail to plan for the impending challenges that this phenomenon would bring with it.

Historically, he said, people were controlled in different ways in the past. “Now, a similar attempt is being made in the shape [of controlling] bandwidth, optical fibre and wireless internet.”

This, he maintained, showed how much power the youth have in their hands. They are scared that if you start using the internet collectively, you will be demanding your rights, he said.

“I am seeking your help because your and my rights are being robbed,” he declared, saying that it was time to draft a ‘digital bill of rights’.

“Our infrastructure used to be roads, highways motorways,” he said. “In today’s age, I believe it’s our bandwidth, our fibre optic cable, our wireless internet services.”

Students and the youth should write its draft, he said, adding: “Let’s do it collectively… I don’t want to write all alone. Share your suggestions with me on Instagram, Facebook, and X”.

Clarifying that he didn’t mind security protocols being put in place to tackle misinformation or address mental health and safety concerns, he regretted that “babus and politicians sitting in Islamabad do not understand” the internet.

It doesn’t bother them if [virtual private networks] are blocked or internet speed is slowed down, since they do not use the internet to its full potential, he said.

He added that once a draft of the ‘digital rights bill’ was prepared following a thorough consultative process, he would table it in the National Assembly.

“I will believe access to the internet should be declared a fundamental right, like [the right to a clean] environment was declared a fundamental right in the 26th amendment. Affordable, equitable access to high speed internet should be a fundamental right,” Mr Bhutto-Zardari said.

“We will keep demanding our rights, like our elders did,” he said, recalling how Zulfikar Ali Bhutto and Benazir Bhutto stood with students to advocate for their rights. “That’s why student unions remain banned to date, because they fear the power of students,” he said.

Climate change concerns

Describing climate change as a real danger for Pakistan and the entire world, he said it was a serious threat to future generations that was not considered as much a threat for our elder generations.

He said Pakistan was located in a region that is most threatened by climate change. “The largest collection of snow and ice anywhere in planet after Antarctica is seen in Himalayas,” he said, adding that when this snow melts, it would trigger unprecedented floods and create a dangerous situation for Sindh.

“We need to ready ourselves to face this situation, as it will cause natural disasters in the Indus basin. We will have to convince our colleagues to make preparations on war footing, right from Gilgit Baltistan to the Indus basin,” he said.

He also didn’t miss the opportunity to indicate his opposition to the six strategic canals’ project, saying that the issue had angered the people of Sindh.

He pointed out that it was important to take into account water availability to create climate-resilient irrigation infrastructure “instead of taking decisions to build six or seven canals”.

Expressing dissatisfaction with current climate change allocations in the country’s Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP), Mr Bhutto-Zardari told students that it was prepared by people who were 60 to 80 years of age.

“But are they really thinking of the next five or ten years? Are they thinking of the future and are they thinking of your children’s future? Honestly, they are not thinking, as they just dispose of the budget and plan their projects on paper without realising their repercussions,” he observed.

He maintained that it was time the young generation made decisions for the future.

Published in Dawn, December 24th, 2024