Pakistan: Media Under Siege

Beena,

Can somebody provide a list of these jounalists

still in custody? They should all be released shortly.


The "Siege" is not supposed to last very long.

Musharraf is not Zia (Thank God for small favours).


Pakistanis today will not put up with nonsense.

I expect Geo to be back on soon. But the Pakistani

Channels need to report more and concentrate less on

creating public opinion and trying to help in regime

change. That should be left to elections.

Never in recent memory has a Pakistani ruler done so much damage to his credibility and to his possible legacy in such a short time frame! The Mushy's vacillating ways (including those related to his treatment of the media) provide more clear an insight into the muddle-headed thought process of the individual than any amount of scholarly analysis could ever had yielded. With each passing day, his pathetically plaintive exclamations of "It is not about me but about the country!" sound hollower still. The man is a walking caricature, a stick figure made entirely of lies who lives in his bubble world of make-believe carefully shielded by sycophants hankering after a few crumbs of power and determinedly propped up by a barely-covered line of bayonets held by the strongest mafia in today's world - the Pakistani khakis. Muzzling the media in this day and age is so inconceivable that no individual with an iota of the touch of reality would expect to get away with it in any corner of this world - but the Mushy's grasp of what is and what is not real seems to have slipped away into a world of his own making.

Re: # 2

bj,

....... you can post all the pictures you want !....... i couldn't agree with you more ......

Re: # 2

Well said. And unfortunately his is the liberal, moderate, secular face of Pakistan. At least Taliban practice what they preach.

Ras -- what about Aitzaz Ahsan -- first to be arrested last to be released?

Re: # 4

urstruly,

...... be thankful for small blessings - at least he is not blowing up video stores, burning audio cassesttes, and beheading journalists after jumaa prayers ..... we are caught between the devil and mo of mecca .........

#2 bjkumar: In other words, he would fit right in here on chowk with the rest of us weirdos. :-)

Re: # 6 Posted by hamidm2 on November 23, 2007 4:37:08 pm

[we are caught between the devil and mo of mecca .........]

sorry, but there is no need for such a comment.

Re: # 8

bubba,

.... i was just trying to illustrate the dilemma of choosing between two equally bad options ........ you can pick your own metaphor

hamidm #9 Hobson's Choice perhaps?

Hopeful words from the Kayani (addressing Staff College, Quetta): “Ultimately it is the will of the people and their support that is decisive. It is critical that Pakistan Army’s efforts are backed by the nation,”.

Pressure from within the military, more than anything else, may be putting an end to Musharraf's insane quest to remain military chief and president indefinitely.

tahmad #:" Pressure from within the military, more than anything else, may be putting an end to Musharraf's insane quest to remain military chief and president indefinitely..."

i don't know of any pressure, ever, from within the miliary of ending martial law.....why would the military want to end it, when all of a sudden, it becomes the ruling class.....

.......the only pressure, from within, would be to end the bombing of waziristan and swat and to stop supporting the americans so outrightly.....in fact, even the second is somewhat debatable, as supporting the americans, results in a lot of gains for the military......but the first is a definite.......

........you need to understand the training and psyche of the military......i will write about it later......but briefly, the financially corrupt amongst the military like martial law, because it consolidates the financial holdings of the military.......the financially honest like it because, they geninunely feel that it is only the army that can save pakistan........

i think musharraf falls into the second category, though he is now starting to really enjoy the benefits of the first category also, in terms of prestige and privelage.........i think he is psychologically convinced that only he can save pakistan and is unable to see the damage he is doing.....

there is a cultural mindset that is developed from day one in the military.......you are taught that civilians are useless opportunists, who will take everything from pakistan and will then move to michigan at the drop of a hat.....and that they cannot be trusted......by the time a person becomes a general he is totally brainwashed.......

.......you need to notice that (other than hamid gul) not one general or air marshall, serving or retired, has protested or resigned........

so i wouldn't count on general kayani, too much........musharraf has chosen him from one hundred generals.......kayani will only change directions, if he feels there is a mutiny brewing in the military due to waziristan and swat actions, or if the political and corporate interests of the military are being affected, i.e. musharraf is becoming too weak and a liability.......

the first could happen........for the second, the judiciary and the political parties had to remain united.......the judiciary did remain united.........however, the political parties are totally broken and opportunistic........all benazir has to do is to boycott elections and it is curtains for musharraf.......if fazl joins in, it is totally curtains.......but i doubt that will happen.....

so the hosni mubarak scenario is looking likely........the army, maulvis and feudals just want power......as long as they have it, i really don't think it matters much to them, what happens to democracy........nawaz sharif is speaking up, because he has nothing to lose........the guy barely has a few seats......ppp has a lot to lose, if it boycotts......the cases against bb won't get dropped and ppp will lose out on a majority of seats.....mqm will lose out of control on karachi, if it boycotts.....and jui for the first time having tasted power, will lose it.....

only the lawyers and media in pakistan are truly a democratically based group with clear direction.......

Re: # 5 Nasah

Has Aitzaz Ahsan been released finally. I haven't heard it on any nws channel.

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I may be wrong in my presumption.
Debacle of East Pakistan happened because of democracy, without regard to the situation on ground. What does that mean? Bengalis were in numerical superiority. But Industrialist, Beaureaucracy and Army were derived from West Pakistan. Bengalis felt exploited. Although West Pakistan has been able to keep its hold on East Pakistan. In a situation like this, the best solution would have been to realize the situation and rather than continuing to keep a hold by Army rule, a form of confederation would have prevented the debacle. Or East Pakistan should have been told to part way peacefully when West Pakistani elite had exploited it for nearly 23 years already.
What is the current situation. Mohajir and Punjabi is not at a loss. Nor is NWFP. It is mainly the infight between between ruling elite. For example between Nawaz Sharif et al and chowdry brothers et al with no change in situation of common man whether one comes or another. It is more like taking sides and deciding who is less corrupt. The same situation exist in rural Sind. It is only a matter which party platform the same people would be elected. The people mainly at loss are Sardars in Baluchistan who feel their hold is getting weak and incursion by army. It is very important that common Baluch need to be given more autonomy in their internal affairs so that they feel part of Baluchistan and Pakistan.
The problem appears to me mainly in NWFP. As far as I can see Pathans have been integerated somewhat and felt comfortable in Pakistan as they saw the advantage. But the other influences right now there are Taliban/ AlQaeda, American interest in the region and Indian influence through Karzai. In my opinion, and it depends upon the perspective which side you are, Taleban needs to be told in a clear term that they would not be allowed to foment secession from Pakistan.
In this scenario, last thing we want is anarchy. Moreover as I have tried to analyse the situation before. This infighting between have and havenots among ruling elite, meaning people's party, Muslim League (Q) and PML (N) is not going to change the situation in a dramatic way.
I will agree in current situation with the dispensation that whoever wants to serve their constituency, let them serve, rather than take the fight on street in which nobody seems to be interested. Rather than opening the door for further problems in Baluchistan and NWFP where there is main problem let the elected people there be involved and given chance to serve their constituency.
As far as media. Its hold needs to be broken where it can only create anarchy with the help of few people. Giving the impression in the whole world as if the common man is behind them.
Important thing at this point would be to build the institutions. What the CJ was doing was to bring the revolution, without any realities on ground. That means all that exercise would have resulted in no change in overall situation until and unless someone is interested in breakup of Pakistan.
What about the human rights, independent press, independent judiciary etc. That is a long fight. CJ was told that he need not be proactive and that was precisely the reason he was sacked. (Moreover CJ himself was having some baggage with him). 1977 has changed a lot of things. If democracy was not derailed at that time we would have been much advanced. Neither am I against people demonstrating or struggling for these. But anarchy is the last thing we want.

#15 Posted by krashid1961

Taleban needs to be told in a clear term that they would not be allowed to foment secession from Pakistan.

Haha. If there was an ROTFL icon, I would post it here.

The 'enlightened' ones still don't know how far their little iceberg they're happily riding on has melted beneath their fat asses, and soon it will be gone altogether leaving only water to drown-in underneath.