Mast Qalandar
Geo News is back on cable TV in Pakistan! It was banned along with two other popular TV channels on November 3 last year when Emergency was imposed in the country.
We don’t know on what conditions the channel has been allowed to operate again. We also don’t know how much dent the 77-day ban must have made in the profitability of the news company — it must be pretty huge — or to the livelihood of the journalists working for it.
But we do know that the ban made a huge dent in the government’s credibility and the image of “enlightened moderation” that it was so eager to project. It also left in its wake numerous angry messages and slogans on the wallboards outside the Geo office in Islamabad. They do give you a flavor of the general feelings prevailing at the time in a large segment of the civil society.
The photos with this post are here for you to decipher them, enjoy them, add to them, or ignore them.
Photos for this article are taken by the author himself. His full collection can be seen here.
Meray Mutabiq and Capital Talk disappeared from Geo…so General did get his way in the end…no?
zakoota
What your opinion is about Musharraf . I would say only two kind of people can do what Musharraf has been doing. One who is in line with what you have said. Other who is truly sincere with Pakistan. I believe he is sincere and wants to establish strong foundation for Pakistan does not care if breaking some rules here and there. Many leaders in Past has broken rules but never left any good legacy behind. I believe he will leave strong foundation behind,Although all haters are making it tough for him to finish it on time.
I pray I am right in trusting him.
Its ‘OK’ for Musharaf to allow anti-Pakistan programs and movies boldly aired by indian channels to be shown on all cables networks in Pakistan, also portraying overdosage of hindu culture and rituals but its not ok for him to allow any kind of criticism that can effect his highness or anything that can make people think how worst his government has performed.
I don’t think there would be another such self-centered person in history, this man has destroyed almost every aspect of life in Pakistan starting from army to judiciary, from everyday peace to everyday commodities, and just to save his seat. What a shame!
Salim Bhai Musharraf wanted to talk to all the parties but few accepted the invitation.
salute to the rahmans - shakeel and ibrahim
they must have lost close to 700-800 million in revenues but they stuck to their guns
maybe it is a harbinger of good tidings
Adil Sahib;
Gen Musharraf lost 2 fans( MY WIFE AND ME) when he started wheeling and dealing with the Mullahs, MQM, AND FINALLY PPP. His inviting BB and forgiving her deeds of cash and kind(extra-judicial stuff in Karachi) was the last straw in our disillusionment in his person.
We still felt what is fair is fair. Exactly one week before Geo was banned we wrote them(GEO) that their news reporting was slanted. We said they had a right to their op-ed, but their news needs to be balanced. We said their love for BB was their business but their Qaseedas cannot be part of news without balancing them with her misdeeds.
Mir Sahibs discussions and Dr.S’ s interviews we said were crossing boundaries of etiquette and were argumentative,neither of the two behaviors we have seen in the US,which was often used as a reference point.
So when GEO was banned, it was one more disappointment in Musharraf but it definitely was not a surprise for us.
Regards;
Salim.
Geo khud bhi geo aur doosroon ko bhi genay do.
Im sure GEO finally agreed to Musharaf’s proposal of airing his buddy Altaf Hussain 4-5 minutes everyday in their headlines, showing what he did since he got up in the morning along with his manhoos face.