MATTERS tend to move so fast in Pakistan that headlines appear always to be pushing others out of the way before being replaced themselves. Old issues, once they`re out of the running news, get left by the wayside. A case in point is the ban on YouTube imposed last September. Over seven months have passed, the issue at the centre of the blockade has been relegated to history and the damage done by rioters in major cities has long been forgotten. Even the government that imposed the ban as a placatory gesture to douse inflamed passions has gone. But the video-sharing website remains inaccessible.

What justification is there for this? The provocation, an offensive movie trailer, behind the shutdown is hardly recalled.

The caretaker set-up now in place would do well to turn its attention to this matter, not least because the interim minister forinformation, Arif Nizami, is a seasoned journalist who has often reiterated the importance of citizens` right of free access to information. A reversal of the ban falls within the mandate of a caretaker government, which is also free from the sort of political pressures that resulted in the shutdown of YouTube in the first place.

This is an opportunity for the administration currently in charge to leave behind a lasting legacy by putting in place a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty with the US under which, amongst other matters, an internet company such as Google can be directed to comply with the laws of other countries and through which method countries including Egypt and India, rather than putting in place a blanket ban, were able to have the offending YouTube material rendered inaccessible.

Really, it`s been long enough; it`s time to take action and move on.