Darwaish
UPDATE: Nov. 3, 2007: Emergency Declared in Pakistan.
UPDATE: Nov. 4, 2007: Media Gagged. Listen to Geo News here.
In my last post, I mentioned that Electronic Media is under siege and many programs are likely to be banned. But I was not expecting it to happen so soon. Geo News transmission have been completely shut down in most parts of the country and Aaj TVvhas disappeared from my cable at least (WorldCall Cable, Lahore).
I don’t know if Aaj TV has been completely banned or not. It happened while I was watching Dr. Shahid Masood’s Mere Mutabiq. Muslim League (Q)’s own Vice President Kabir Wasti was strongly criticizing General Musharaf, holding him responsible for the judicial crises when suddenly Geo News was shut down. I thought that its a temporary ban and transmission will be back as soon as Dr. Shahid’s program is over but its been several hours now and still no signs of Geo or Aaj coming back on my cable. A friend of mine sent me this SMS from Karachi that Geo News disappeared from most parts of the Sindh around 8 o clock too during Imran Khan’s interview in another program Jawab De.
Geo News website has this to say:
The government has blocked the transmission of the Geo News TV channel across the country due to the reasons best known to them. The viewers calls flooded the Geo office to ask that why the transmission of Geo News TV channel was suddenly suspended when the famous programme, “Meray Mutabik” was going on air.
The calls from the viewers were received from various parts of the country. According to Geo News sources the government has blocked the transmission of the Geo News. Geo transmission was blocked in various parts of Islamabad, Lahore, Hyderabad, Karachi and other areas. The citizens, social and political circles have condemned the ban on transmission of Geo News and they have demanded of the government to immediately lift ban on the transmission of the Geo News and give complete freedom to media in the country.
I am unable to understand why this step has been taken but lets wait and see the official reason which will surely be Afwaje Pakistan ke khilaaf baat ki gaye hai. I suspect the title of Dr. Shahid’s program Idaro Ka Takrao – Fatah Kiski Ho Gi (Clash of Institutions – Who Will be Victorious) must have caused concerns among people sitting in Information Ministry aka Mr. Ghalat Biyani.
Whatever government says but I thought it was a very interesting program and a healthy discussion going on when some wise men decided to shut it down. I hope the ban is lifted soon and government shows some common sense. Like they say in Urdu, Kuch Hosh Ke Nakhun Lo Bhai. Whatever happened to those free media and freedom of press claims :). This is yet another direct attack on freedom of expression and truly a shameful act and should be strongly condemned. I am afraid Dr. Shahid Masood will be in trouble once again for not being afraid, for speaking his mind and saying what is in hearts of millions of ordinary Pakistanis.
[quote comment=”51697″]what happened to Musharraf? He used to be a courageous, intelligent fellow. Now he has degenerated into a foolish despot, damaging institutions and hurting people just to keep himself in power.[/quote]
That is the problem with us pakistanis. we make heroes out of boots and are then surprised to see that they have no brains. people all over the world decided a long time ago that if they had to have idiots as leaders, it was better to have representative idiots rather than despotic idiots.
Good point Ahmad! Then I guess the only beneficiaries will be overseas Pakistanis and there are millions of them in Europe, US and Middle East.
Plus it will again highlight the hypocrisy of Musharraf, he claims to be an enlightened moderate but is following in the footsteps of Saddam, Karimov and Mugabe.
If he were to just let the media say whatever and not interfere then people will stop paying attention. By doing these silly things like bans and everything he is making this even bigger than it is
[quote comment=”51708″][quote comment=”51675″]think following steps can be taken to fight the PEMRA / CABLE MAFIA
1. Buy a Dish Antena and a Reciever(a unit costs less than 5000 Rs) and share it with Mohalla / neigbours. Even better is to inject the signal in your cable connection :)
2. Geo / Aaj / ARY may make available the hourly news and all talk shows in a format where people can download them to their mobiles and share with friends via bluetooth etc.[/quote]
Good ideas. I also think that lawyers should start recording the CJP’s visits to the bar associations themselves and upload them on video google. It is quite simple. There are a lot of people who’d be willing to do this if the lawyers make a video recording of their bar meetings.
The viewership will be limited, but still the message will get out.[/quote]
What if youtube is banned in Pakistan like it was in Turkey and Thailand?
This is becoming big news.
New controls on media in Pakistan
President Pervez Musharraf has signed into immediate effect measures to increase control over the media.
Current regulations related to television have been extended to the internet and mobile phones.
Some regulations on who is allowed to be licensed to broadcast in Pakistan have been extended to cover “any foreign non-governmental organisation”.
Gen Musharraf has been highly critical of the media in recent weeks over its coverage of opposition protests.
Correspondents say Gen Musharraf is facing the most serious challenge to his rule from a coalition of opposition parties and groups.
Their frequent street demonstrations mark the first big protest movement in Pakistan to take place as the country has entered an era of rapidly expanding, live TV news coverage.
The protests were sparked off by Gen Musharraf’s suspension of the chief justice of the Supreme Court on 9 March.
Threat to premises
The amended media regulations were changed on Monday because “circumstances exist which render it necessary to take immediate action”, a government statement said.
from beebeecee