A petition demanding the ban on exporting electronic voting machines and biometric machines from India has been filed in the Lahore high court.
Advocate Azhar Siddique has filed a writ petition on behalf of a citizen, and said the Pakistan Election Commission (ECP) opened bidding to acquire the electronic voting machines (EVMs) since it intended to hold the next general election on biometric system.
The petitioner said, “Three Indian companies – Indra Kamra, Reliance and Morpho – have also submitted their bids and ECP is likely to approve bids of the Indian companies and choose one of them. It will be dangerous for Pakistan’s security if electronic voting and thumb impression machines are purchased from Indian companies.”
He also contested that the electronic voting system should not be acquired from any Indian company for security concerns and appealed the court to stop the ECP from acquiring the system from the Indian company. A court official confirmed that the court will fix the date for hearing next week. An ECP spokesperson, however, said no Indian company has been shortlisted for the project so far. “The biometric machines will be acquired after security clearance,” he said.
He also sought a ban on the exhibition of Indian movies in the country till the Kashmir issue is resolved. The petition also alleged that Indian forces are carrying out “innocent killings” in Kashmir and the Pakistan government has allowed Indian movies to be exhibited in local cinemas and the act is hurting the sentiments of Kashmiris and Pakistanis.
It said the Indian movies are opposed to Pakistan’s Kashmir policy and are a ‘big hurdle’ in freedom movement of Kashmiris.
