Daily Times

Minister for Information Technology and Telecommunication Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui on Monday said everyone had the right to protest in a democracy, however, the constitution also provided for governor’s rule as the last resort.

Talking to the media after attending the 33rd annual conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) 2019 at a local hotel, he said that everyone had the right to stage a protest. He said one should only limit oneself to the mandate he had been given. He said the prevailing circumstances should be duly considered before initiating any march as the government was striving hard to raise Kashmir issue at the international level.

It was time to show solidarity with innocent Kashmiris and expose Indian atrocities in occupied Kashmir, he said.

Dr Khalid Maqbool Siddiqui said when the incumbent government came into power, it had to face a number of challenges including inflation and the government has been working day and night to address all challenges. To a question, he said that Karachi’s mandate could not be changed as it contributed 65 percent share to the revenue of the country.

Earlier, addressing the conference, the minister appreciated the role of AAOU in promoting telecommunication education worldwide and said that this organization can play an effective role in promoting IT sector in Pakistan.

The minister said that there was a need to learn from experiences of other countries to advance telecommunication and IT education in Pakistan, adding that 5G technology was being introduced in the country which would further enable the users to swiftly access the internet. IT Federal Secretary Shoaib Ahmad Siddique, Virtual University Rector Naeem Tariq, representatives of various universities from Philippines, Malaysia, China, Turkey and others.