Adil Najam
News is that GEO Network is closing down. I hope the news is a false alarm, but I am told that this has been announced on Geo TV itself. An email making the rounds from someone at GEO itself reads:
At this moment we here at Geo are extremely SAD as Geo network is forced to shut down due to Govt pressure on UAE our base country.
Insha Allah we will fight. We are proud that the management of Jang Group never made compromise and prefer to fight till death.
I would rather wait to hear more details and to see reaction to this from the government, from the people of Pakistan and also the rest of the world before I comment in detail. But my first reaction is, yet again, one of disgust. The things that we coudl have been most proud of in recent years and months – an assertive judiciary, a free media – are being snatched away one by one. I hope it turns out not to be so. But if so, then who next?
Original Post (Nov. 4, 2007):
The emergency declared by Gen. Pervez Musharraf yesterday was not surprising. But that does not make it any less disturbing. Amongst the many unspeakable actions that have resulted from this is a clampdown on the media, especially the electronic news media. In response, GEO News has made the audio stream of its transmissions available on line.
You can listen to GEO News by clicking on image below.
Windows Media Player or VLC is required to play this live audio.
@ Now all the comments are beating what ? :
Sanmp bhag gaya, abb app lakir peet rehay hein,
Out of 103 comments, 98 are similar useless
bashing against the wall.
Excerpts from an article by Mohammed Hanif
“The case of Musharraf and the drunk uncle”
http://www.rediff.com/news/2007/nov/06guest.htm
“I am not even remotely suggesting that Musharraf was drunk when he addressed the nation. No, it was something far more sinister. He seemed to be having an out of body experience, there he sat in his sherwani reading an order written by his uniformed alter ego, wagging a finger at himself, accusing his own government of spreading terrorism.
And let’s not forget that when I say Pakistani government, I mean General Pervez Musharraf.
Here are some random things he said. And trust me, these things were said quite randomly:
Yes, he did say, “Extremism bahut extreme ho gaya hai (extremism has become too extreme).”
“Hum se koi darta hi nahin (nobody is scared of us anymore).”
“Islamabad mein extremist bharay houay hain (Islamabad is full of extremists).”
“Hakumat ke andar hakumat bana rakhi hai (there is a government within government).”
“Har waqt bas court ke chakkar lagatey rehtay hain (officials are being asked to go to the courts every other day).”
“Officials ki beizzati kartay hain (officials are being insulted by the judiciary).”
At one point he appeared wistful when reminiscing about his first three years in power — “mera total control thha (I had total control).” You were almost tempted to ask: What happened then, uncle?
But obviously, uncle didn’t need any prompting. He launched into his routine about three stages of democracy. He claimed he was about to launch the third and final phase of democracy (the way he said it, he managed to make it sound like the Final Solution). And just when you thought he was about to make his point, he took an abrupt turn and plunged into a deep pool of self pity.
This involved a long-winded anecdote about how the Supreme Court judges would rather attend a colleagues’ daughter’s wedding rather than just get it over with and decide that he is a constitutional President.
As I said, I have heard some dictator speeches in my life, but nobody has gone so far as to mention someone’s daughter’s wedding for imposing martial law in the country.
Sorry, I paraphrased it a little bit. Sohail has the exact quote.
Sohail, Not only the confession, he is also starting to ask the right questions.
“Have I suddenly gone mad”? There is only one answer.
He also knows the implications of this illegal act, outlined very clearly in article 6 of the constitution.
The complete interview…A must watch…
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/709956 7.stm
Click on to….
”Did I go mad? Or suddenly, my personality changed? Am I Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde?
President Musharraf
Musharraf interview ”