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=”51728″]I wonder if there is a way for all of us that are outraged by the increasingly oppressive policies of Musharraf/Army to organize ourselves into a focused web campaign?[/quote]
Mujnoon, I just finished writing a letter to Nancy Pelosi which I will fax to her office. Also intend to send copies of the letter to Sen Clinton, Obama, John Edwards, Secretary Rice.
The gist of the letter is:
– It is not Musharraf vs the extremists as he has been trying to hoodwink the west. Pakistanis have never supported extremists.
– The best line of defense in the war on terror is a democratic Pakistan where democratic institutions are strong and the consitution is supreme, not an army general
– This is a historic occasion. If the movement spearheaded by lawyers is successful Pakistan will be the first true democracy in the Muslam world which is plagued by dictatorships. Isn’t this the reason why Bush invaded Iraq, to have model democracy in the Muslim world? Well this can be done in Pakistan by supported the “black-coat revolution”.
I’d encourage you and others to write to people in Congress, government and the presidential hopefuls for 2008.
Curbs of Media – Live with Talat (Not so live anymore, since the show was pre-recorded)
Part-1
Part-2
[quote comment=”51606″][quote comment=”51551″]I confirm this from F-7 sector in Islamabad. This is sad and ridiculous.[/quote]
Actually its neither. As much as i dislike the guy (Mushaffar i-e), the blame for this cannot be attributed to him alone. Our media has gotten out of hand and has stooped to biased tabloid jouirnalism, clearly taking sides in a quixotic fit of righteousness. Nowhere in the world, America & UK included, can any network give so much coverage to the oppositions POV or bash the govt or country like Geo does here. Its high time these hacks were stopped. If you think i am taking a side, just stop to think for a second that their transmission goes to 40+ countries…what do you think they would think when sensationalists like Kamran Khan bellow hoarsly ‘khuda ka wasta hai apnay aap ko bachain’.
Rant over[/quote]
I have a humble request to you, please stick to the bright and examplory FOX News and CNN, who obviously hold a lot higher moral stature than any of our local news channels. At least for once, I feel like hitting your head for showing lack of any sense or brain and drawing parallels between extremely biased and full-of-lies Corporate Media of the west and an infant media of Pakistan.
Apparently, you are the one who knows it all by himself and has presented us with a rhetoric we just so don’t want to hear. If the world would get to know how senseless and mindless military generals are in our country, let the world be known, for it was the same western media (get back to archives of CNN and your FOX news) who was praising Musharraf for his hawkish attitude, it was the same media and same world governments who felt Musharraf was a great ally. Is that the whole “IMAGE” and “NATIONAL INTEREST” all about?
You certainly made me so sick I could hardly feel any interest of showing you the right from wrong.
Cynic: I disagree that this his purely a belief-in-the-boots phenomenon.
Musharraf had a message 8 years ago that resonated with the people who had seen enough horse-trading and lota-baazi in the assemblies. He, as a person, seemed to represent more than just the boots that brought him to power. It was an opportunity to create institutions and frameworks for true democracy to find some roots in Pakistan. We needed a technocratic government at the center to set up the right organizational frameworks and setups.
But he lost his path and ventured towards all too familiar power-hoarding. He realized that the task before him (that he had promised the nation) was too difficult to achieve, partly because the people he assembled around him were all too eager to get the power they could not easily get with other governments.
Musharraf bit more than he could chew, and kept digging himself into a deeper hole. The only way out for him seemed to hold onto power with the hope that miraculously good things would happen to save him from disgrace like those he had replaced a few years earlier. There is a pattern in all of this. He started with initiatives that had national support: decentralization of government, NAAB, police reforms, education reforms…Later he pandered and tried desperately to find big-hitters to get the confidence back: women’s rights, Kashmir policy, tribal feuds etc.
He really needs a crisis manager who can advise him on how to get out of the hole has buried himself in. Unfortunately those surrounding (and isolating) him are the same people who failed to advise Nawaz and Benazir in similar situations and have no new ideas for Musharraf. Musharraf and his band of followers are so distant from the reality over which they rule that they have no idea how much it would help to simply be honest for a change. We will find a decent place for them to ‘retire’ to.
All this is made more certain for me when I see who the Pakistanis are rallying around. Notice the absence of any political leaders: because we know them all too well to be corrupt. They are rallying around an unknown chief justice because they do not know much about him. Imran Khan is another one of those – at least we don’t know how he would be when he in the government, or TV talk show hosts. Where is the leadership? The leadership vacuum is identical to the one that brought Musharraf into power and allowed him to be accepted by people. I seriously think that if he left and even if the next in line General took over again, the nation would calm down for a while. We seem to need somebody, anybody but those in charge, now.
I wonder if there is a way for all of us that are outraged by the increasingly oppressive policies of Musharraf/Army to organize ourselves into a focused web campaign?