The Price of Journalism

Sethi`s Crime



Pakistan on the eve of

the new millenium



India International Centre, April 30th, 1999

by Najam Sethi, Editor, The Friday Times, Pakistan



Mr I K Gujral, Prof Satish Kumar, ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured to be here among such a distinguished gathering of Indian policy makers, scholars, senior journalists, analysts and keen Pakistan watchers. I will keep my lecture short so that we can spend time on questions and answers and benefit from an informal dialogue at the end of the lecture. I assume that most people here today are broadly familiar with political developments in Pakistan.



At the start, I should like to inform you that the gist of this lecture has been made at various Pakistani forums already. Indeed, the part relating to Pakistan was published almost word for word in my newspaper as an editorial some months ago. So it should not come as a surprise to my Pakistani compatriots here and at home. I do not practice double-standards, as will be evident in due course. I am deeply and passionately concerned about what is going on in my country and I am not afraid of speaking the truth at any forum in my quest for posing the problem.



Pakistan`s socio-political environment is in the throes of a severe multi-dimensional crisis. I refer to six major crises which confront Pakistan on the eve of the new millenium: (1) the crisis of identity and ideology; (2) the crisis of law, constitution and political system; (3) the crisis of economy; (4) the crisis of foreign policy; (5) the crisis of civil society; and (6) the crisis of national security.



These crises haven`t suddenly emerged out of the blue. I have been talking and writing about the inexorable germination and development of these crises for many years. Now they are all upon Pakistan simultaneously, with greater or lesser intensity.



1. The crisis of identity and ideology refers to the fact that after fifty years, Pakistanis are still unable to collectively agree upon who we are as a nation, where we belong, what we believe in and where we want to go. In terms of our identity and our demands, are we Pakistanis first and then Punjabis, Sindhis, Baloch, Pathan or Mohajirs or vice versa? Do we belong - in the sense of our future bearings and anchors - do we belong to South Asia or do we belong to the Middle-East? In terms of ideology, are we Muslims in a moderate Muslim state or Muslims in an orthodox Islamic state? In other words, are we supposed to be like Saudi Arabia or Iran - which are orthodox Islamic states - or are we supposed to be like Jordan, Egypt, Syria, Algeria etc which are supposed to be liberal Muslim states? And if none of these fits the bill, what then? Whose version and vision of Islam do we follow? The Quran and Sunnah, say some people. Well, if the Quaid i Azam and Allama Iqbal both had their own interpretations of how the Quran and Sunnah were to be applied in the real life of a modern state like Pakistan, the problem has been compounded by the myriad interpretations of their interpretations of an Islamic state. And the problem doesn`t end there. The Jamaat i Islami, the Sipah i Sahaba, the Jamiat i Ulema i Islam and countless other Islamic parties and Islamic sects all have their so-called exclusive Islamic axes to grind. So there is no agreement, no consensus on this issue. Indeed, there is so much tension, violence and confusion associated with this issue that it has begun to hurt Pakistan considerably. It has assumed the form of an identity and ideological crisis.



2. The crisis of law, constitution and political system refers to the fact that (a) there is not one set of laws in Pakistan but two - the Anglo-Saxon tradition which we inherited from the past and the Islamic tradition which we have foisted in recent times. Most Pakistanis are trained and experienced in the former but some Pakistanis hanker for the latter. The two traditions co-exist in an environment of fear, corruption and hypocrisy. Increasingly, they seem to be at serious odds with each other, as for example on the question of how to treat interest rates in a modern capitalist economy, what status to grant to universal human and fundamental rights, how to treat women and minorities; etc. (b) The crisis is also reflected in the nature and extent to which the constitution has been mangled by democrats and dictators, lawyers and judges, all alike. The reference here is to several highly controversial constitutional amendments, past and pending; but it is also to highly contentious, even suspect, decisions by the courts acting as handmaidens to the executive; and to the motivations and actions of certain judges in pursuit of personal ambition, pecuniary gains or political advancement. Indeed, many lawmakers do not obey the law and some of our judges are perceived in contemptuous terms by the public. (c) The crisis is manifest, above all, in the rapid public disenchantment with the political system of so-called democracy. Democracy is supposed to be about the supremacy of the law and constitution, about the necessity of checks and balances between the different organs of the state, about the on-going accountability of public office holders, and so on. But it has degenerated into a system based exclusively on elections which return deaf and dumb public representatives to rubber stamp parliaments. So we have the form of democracy but not its essence or content. We have the rituals of democracy but not its soul. I don`t know what this system is, but it is certainly not democracy.



3. The crisis of economy refers to the fact that (a) Pakistan is well and truly bankrupt - indeed if the international community had not bailed out Pakistan recently, the country would have succumbed to financial default. (b) Worse, we appear to have no means left by which to lift ourselves up by our own bootstraps without a massive convulsion in state and society. This is manifest in our total dependence on foreign assistance. Indeed, the crisis of economy is so severe that it has begun to impinge on our sovereignty as an independent state and is eroding our traditional construction of national security. The economic crisis is reflected in a crisis of growth, a crisis of distribution, a crisis of production and a crisis of finance. It is threatening massive and violent dislocations in state and society.



4. The crisis of foreign policy is now coming home to roost. We are not only friendless in the region in which we live, we are being blackballed and blackmailed by the international community to which we are indebted up to our ears. If foreign policy is supposed to be rooted in and geared to domestic objectives and concerns, we have reversed the order of things. Our foreign policy seems to have a life of its own. It dictates our domestic policies rather than the other way round. This is why there is no long term consistency or strength in it. One day, we say that Kashmir is the ``core issue without whose prior settlement none of the other contentious issues with India can be resolved``. The next day, we say that progress on the other issues can be made without a settlement of the Kashmir issue. One day we say that Kashmir is a multilateral issue, the next day we emphasise the urgency of bilateral dialogue with India. One day, we are quick to recognise the Taliban government in Kabul and exhort the other nations of the world to follow suit; the next day we give our blessings to the idea of a broad-based, multi-ethnic, multi-religious ``consensus`` government in Kabul. One day Iran is our historic and strategic friend, the next day we stand accused by Iran of unmentionable actions. One day, Central Asia is billed as the promised land. The next day, it is arrayed against us in hostile terms. One day, the United States is our Godfather. The next day it is the ugly American. The worst has now come to pass. For fifty years we worried about the threat on our eastern borders with India. Today we are anxious about our western front with Iran and Afghanistan.



5. The crisis of civil society is demonstrated in many ways. In increasingly low turnouts for elections. In continuing deterioration of law and order. In rising sectarianism, ethnicity and regionalism. In the breakdown of civil utilities and amenities. In the erosion of the administrative system. In violence and armed conflict. In mass criminalisation and alienation of the people. In a rising graph of mental disorders, suicides, drug abuse, rape, kidnappings and outright terrorism. The rise of criminal and religious mafias, kabza groups, extra-judicial killings etc testify to the breakdown of social connections and civil compacts between the Pakistani state and the Pakistani people.



6. These crises have all culminated into a severe crisis of national security. Pakistan`s political system, its political leadership, its structure of law and constitution, its administrative framework, its economic stagnation, its ideological hypocrisy and its friendless foreign policy are no longer tenable. They have all contributed to a comprehensive erosion of National Security. If the tide is not reversed quickly, it will engulf Pakistan in its wake. Indeed, the argument that Pakistan is a ``failing state`` made by some people is based on perceptions of this multi-dimensional crisis.



7. So, if Pakistanis know what the hell is going on, and if Pakistanis know where the hell they are going, the question remains: how the hell do Pakistanis get out of this hell?



8. This question has two parts. First, what sort of agendas are required to be implemented to get out of this hell? Second, who will implement such agendas?



9. The answer to the first question is simple enough. Or at least it is simple enough for me. I ask my fellow Pakistanis to look at each of the crises referred to above and then I demand that the factors which have led to the crisis should be swiftly addressed. Let us take each of the crises and remark on how to resolve the crisis.

(a) Crisis of ideology: In my view, there is only one modern day ideology over whose application there can be no bitter or divisive controversy and which will be acceptable to all Pakistanis, irrespective of caste, creed, gender, region, ethnicity, sect, etc. And that is the ideology of economic growth, the ideology of full employment, the ideology of distributive justice and social welfare. I say Pakistan should make this ideology the ideology of the state and thereby bury all false consciousness and false ideologies. (b) Crisis of Law, Constitution and Political System: I say Pakistan must revamp the political system and revise the Constitution so that the political system and the constitution are made to serve the people below instead of the corrupt elites above. (c) Crisis of Economy: I say that the Pakistani state should honour its international contracts; enforce its domestic loan repayments; tax the rich; dispossess the corrupt; live within its means; vitalise its human resources; export the value of its scientific talents; establish and enforce a genuine private-public partnership in which the private sector produces efficiently and the public sector regulates effectively. (d) Crisis of civil society: I say enforce the rule of law; disarm society; disband militias; decentralise decision-making and power; establish accountability; protect minorities and women; create social nets for the disadvantaged, poor and destitute; provide decentralised and quick justice (e) Crisis of Foreign Policy: I say make friends not masters or enemies; bury cold-war hatchets; renounce post-cold-war jihads; negotiate terms of trade not territorial ambitions; redefine strategic depth to mean emphasis on internal will rather than external space; (f) Crisis of National Security: I say redefine security to mean not only military defense but also economic vitality, social cohesion and international respect; and I say Pakistan should determine its minimal optimal defence deterrent but shun an arms race.



10. The answer to the second question - namely, who will pursue and implement this agenda - is difficult only for one reason: I cannot see even one leader or institution in Pakistan who or which personifies National Power and has the three virtues or elements which are required to get Pakistan out of this mess. These are: vision, courage and integrity. The vision to chart a particular course; the courage to implement it ruthlessly; and the integrity to ensure that it doesn`t get derailed. My hope, of course, is that someone or some institution will throw up such leadership in time to come. My fear is that if this doesn`t happen soon enough, it may be too late later.



I would now like to turn briefly to one factor that impinges greatly on Pakistan`s past, present and future, one which should concern all of you who are assembled here today. That is Pakistan`s relationship with India. In one crucial sense, India remains a determining factor vis a vis Pakistan. The Pakistani state has come to be fashioned largely in response to perceived and propagated, real and imagined threats to its national security from India. The mentality and outlook of the Pakistani state is therefore that of a historically besieged state. That is why conceptions of national security, defined in conventional military terms, dominate the Pakistani state`s thinking on many issues. Indeed, that is why state outlook dominates government policies. That is why Pakistan`s foreign policy runs its domestic policy rather than the other way round. That is why Pakistan`s economy is hostage to Pakistan`s cold war conceptions of ``national security`` rather than being an integral part of it. That is why Pakistan is more a state-nation rather than a nation-state.



This has had far-reaching implications for the lack of development of a sustainable and stable democratic political culture in Pakistan. Indeed, and more critically, it has directly spawned extra-state institutions espousing Islamic fundamentalism and jehad. And it is these forces which are undermining the compact between the state and people of Pakistan, thereby adversely impacting on political discourse in the country.



Pakistan`s obsession with India hurts Pakistan deeply. But the roots of this obsession cannot be shrugged away by India. Indeed, India may be said to be the root cause of Pakistan`s insecurity. Apart from pre-partition history, there is the fact of a great injustice done to Pakistan by India over Kashmir and the dismemberment of Pakistan in which India played a critical and leading role. For precisely this reason, one of the fallouts of this obsession is the decade long low-intensity-conflict in Kashmir. Another is the tit-for-tat nuclear and missile tests by Pakistan and its refusal to sign a no-first-strike agreement with India which in turn means that Pakistan cannot get a no-war pact from India.



In this way, if Pakistan`s past is umbilically linked to that of India, its future cannot but be shaped by India`s future, as well as have an impact on it. If the rise of fundamentalist Islam threatens Pakistan`s body-politic, India cannot expect to escape its negative fallout. If a nuclear arsenal is assembled in Pakistan, India`s security cannot be vouchsafed by all the nuclear weapons at its disposal. If Pakistan fails as a nation-state and becomes a rogue regime marked by social anarchy and upheaval, India`s army will not be able to contain its disruptive and destabilising impact. If Pakistan is drawn into an arms race with India, the logic of the situation will fuel the sources of conflict between the two countries rather than provide security to either country.



Of course, this does not mean that India should constantly look over its shoulder while seeking to determine its own national security policies. But it does mean that India cannot ever be a great power or great nation if its own backyard is seething with resentment and turmoil. Indeed, as long as India`s quest for great powerdom is based on its strategy of military outreach, it is bound to be thwarted in its ambitions by tit-for-tat Pakistan. Therefore India will be recognised as a great power in the new millenium not on the basis of its numerical military superiority in the region but by the extent to which the countries of South Asia, including Pakistan, are economically inter-dependent on each other and take their lead independent of super powers. A pre-requisite for this is that India should make enduring peace with Pakistan on principled and honourable terms and resolve the Kashmir dispute, thereby helping the forces of civil society in Pakistan to fashion a new state which is subservient to the Pakistani nation instead of the other way round.



By way of concluding, I should just like to remind everyone one lesson of modern history: vibrant and stable democracies are less likely to go to war than authoritarian states which live and survive on the basis or threat of war.



Thank you very much for your patience. I would be happy to take your questions now.



Q: If Pakistan is in such a crisis, why should the Kashmiris want to join it?



NS: That is a question which you Indians should ask the Kashmiris. But you know what they will say, that is why you don`t ask this question of them. At any rate, if 100 million people in Pakistan are in a bad way, over 400 million people in India are worse off. So let us not try to score points over each other. Let us try and address the real issues.



Q: Will Pakistan accept the LOC as an international border?



NS. No, never. It is only in India`s interest to legitimise the status quo. We want to change it because it is illegitimate.



Q: Is the Lahore Summit a historic event?



NS: The Lahore Summit will only go down in history if it is an anti-history event, if it succeeds in burying the history of the last 50 years. But that is the great challenge. And this is not the first time that the ball is in India`s court. In 1989, both countries agreed in Islamabad to resolve the Siachin dispute. An agreement was drafted and settled. But then Rajiv Gandhi went back to India and resiled from it. Again, in 1997, Nawaz Sharif and I K Gujral were said to have made a ``historic breakthrough.`` Eight working groups on eight outstanding disputes, including Kashmir, were supposed to be set up. But India resiled from setting up the Kashmir working group some months later. This time, Nawaz Sharif and Atal Behari Vajpayee have agreed to the same agenda as in 1997. Will India start discussing Kashmir seriously with a view to finding a solution? On Pakistan`s side, this is the best opportunity for progress because Nawaz Sharif has gone out of his way to start the dialogue by implicitly making two informal concessions: there is no mention of Kashmir as the ``core`` issue in the Lahore declaration and there is no reference to the UN resolutions. This means that Pakistan is prepared to start talking with India over all issues simultaneously, something it was not prepared to do for many years. So the ball is in India`s court yet again. Unless India makes an enduring and honourable settlement with Pakistan over Kashmir, there will be no peace in the sub-continent. If this dialogue doesn`t take off, a great opportunity will be lost. No PM other than Nawaz Sharif could have gone so far, so quickly, reaching out to India. Will India reciprocate?



Q: Why doesn`t Pakistan accept a no-first-strike agreement with India?



NS: Pakistan`s conventional defense capabilities have been greatly reduced since the Americans cut off all assistance to Pakistan in 1990. Its reliance on the nuclear deterrent is therefore all the greater. That is why India should be cautioned about considering ``hot-pusuit`` into Pakistani territory. Our retaliation would be swift and massive. My question to all of you is: why doesn`t India agree to a no-war pact with Pakistan if its intentions are honourable?



Q: Is Nawaz Sharif trying to Islamise Pakistan via the Shariah Bill?



NS: No. The 15th amendment is a horrendous piece of pending legislation. It has nothing to do with Islam. Its sole purpose is to make Nawaz Sharif an absolute dictator. If that amendment is passed, it will lead to bitter strife and instability which will worsen the crises I have been talking about.

Forwarded by Pervez Hoodbhoy:


This is 9:30am Islamabad time on Saturday, May 8.

Around 2:00am today intruders broke into the bedroom of Najam Sethi, editor of the Friday Times. They beat him badly and took him away. His wife Jugnu was also attacked but succeeded in fleeing. She is currently in hiding in Lahore
and communicated the above incident. Najam is missing.

In the last week there have been several such attacks on the press. Hussain Haqqani is still missing, Imtiaz Alam`s car was burnt, plus several others attacked or harassed. NGO`s
are being targetted on PTV. The government`s going berserk.

Forwarded by Beena Sarwar


Pressures on the Pakistani press by Beena Sarwar

LAHORE: On May 3, the official Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) creeded a lengthy report titled ‘British media’s anti-Pakistan drive’. The news agency’s story, carried in full by various newspapers, eulogised Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s ‘bold decisions’ to put the country’s economy on track and refuted reports on stories of corruption in Pakistan by British newspapers under subheads like: ‘The Observer Story’, ‘The Independent Story’, and ‘The (Sunday) Times Story’.

The report concluded with ‘The Benazir Connection’, stating that Benazir Bhutto’s ‘’wild accusations against economic and foreign policy agenda (sic) of Nawaz Sharif have provided another excuse to the British media to pile up all kinds of abuses against Pakistan and its leadership… To make Benazir’s predictions (about the downfall of Sharif) come true, BBC has joined the band.’’

The attempt to discredit the British media by an official news agency was an indication of what was to follow. Since then, journalists have been detained, harassed, and threatened for having granted interviews to a BBC television crew, in Pakistan to produce a program for their ‘Correspondent’ series on high-level corruption in Pakistan`s government.

The team had been given permission by the government itself for the filming, and has also interviewed various senior political leaders, both from the government and the opposition.

On May 2 Mehmood Ahmed Khan (M.A.K.) Lodhi, who heads the investigations bureau of the Lahore edition of the English-language daily The News was picked up by the Intelligence Bureau (IB), and harassed and interrogated for two days about his involvement with the BBC team. He was released on May 4, following the intervention of Punjab Law Minister Raja Basharat. Basharat, after journalists covering the Punjab Assembly boycotted the May 4 session in protest.

‘’All I did was to guide the BBC people to some contacts for their programmes,’’ says a bemused Lodhi, adding, ‘’Even if I had actually worked with the team or granted them an interview, which I didn’t, that would have been well within my rights.’’

A columnist who did grant an interview was Hussain Haqqani, also an opposition leader. On the night of May 4, he was offloaded from a flight to Dubai and told that his name was on the exit control list. ‘’I was not given copy of the official orders, nor could the lowly officials at the airport explain the reasons for this extraordinary decision,’’ he wrote in his column for popular Lahore-based weekly The Friday Times (May 7-13).

Writing that the decision to offload him came ‘’at the heels of the government being visibly incensed’’ at the yet-to-be-aired BBC documentary, he said: ‘’If the BBC can be thus vilified, I am sure there will be much to malign me with. The British journalists will, however return home… I, on the other hand, will remain within the government’s reach. I am on the exit control list today. I wonder what other lists I will be placed on tomorrow.’’

Prophetic words. The next day, just after sending in his column, he was picked up in Rawalpindi city along with his brother Hassan Haqqani, a colonel in Pakistan`s army, by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA).

Col. Haqqani was taken in a separate car, and released the same day after his captors realized he was an army officer. He is believed to have been tortured and interrogated for several hours before being released. Hussain Haqqani is still incommunicado.

The New York based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has sent a strongly worded fax regarding pressures on Pakistani journalists to Nawaz Sharif. It says that senior government officials have privately confided to several of CPJ`s sources that Haqqani was detained for questioning related to his interviews with a BBC team

‘’Officials have also indicated that there are plans to charge Haqqani with sedition and high treason, using columns published in the English-language weekly newspaper Friday Times and the Urdu-language daily Jang as evidence of his subversive tendencies.’’

Another journalist being publicly pilloried by the official media as a ‘traitor’ is Najam Sethi, chief editor of the Friday Times, who also gave an interview to the BBC team. At a press conference in Lahore on May 6, he gave details of threats and harassment he has received since, before a packed hall of about a hundred journalists and human rights activists.

A senior government official told him that his open criticism of the Sharif government is viewed by as part of his attempts to ‘’destabilize the country, overthrow Sharif and install a national government’’, said Sethi, amused at being considered so powerful.

The efforts to publicly discredit him started on May 4 with a morning transmission programme on state-controlled television during a discussion on accountability – the buzzword these days in Pakistan – and how journalists should also be held accountable, ‘’especially when people like Najam Sethi go to India and talk against Pakistan’’ – a reference to his recent lecture in Delhi at the invitation of the Indo-Pakistan Friendship Society headed by former Indian prime minister I.K. Gujral.

The allegation of unpatriotic behaviour was repeated the next day in the same programme, and the next morning, a ‘’distorted and false news item about my lecture in India was published by two Lahore newspapers, The Nation and Nawa-e-Waqt, without bothering to ask for my version although I know the editors personally.’’

Asked about his previous relations with Sharif, he explained that in 1994, Sharif, then in the opposition, had come unannounced to his residence and ‘’asked forgiveness for the excesses committed when he was Prime Minister. I told him that his coming to my house was enough and all was forgiven. When he was elected this time, he asked me to join his team as a Senator and advisor; I refused. Now they want to arrest me on charges of being a traitors,’’ said Sethi.

He said that if anything happened to him, his family, or his staff, the government of Pakistan would be directly responsible.

Ejaz Haider, news editor for the Friday Times, has also been threatened. On May 4 he received a warning to ``Put up bullet-proof windows on your car.``

‘’I was expecting something,’’ says Haider, a defence studies expert outspoken in his criticism of Pakistan’s nuclear policy who has recently returned after giving a series of talks in the USA. ‘’I’m just surprised it came so late.’’

Talking about the situation, he said,‘’In my talk at the Middle East Institute about state-society relations in Pakistan, I mentioned the press and how it had institutionalised itself, with the caveat, however, that it was still under pressure not only from non-state actors but also from irresponsible governments that have the tendency to declare themselves
synonymous with the state.’’

‘’This comes in handy both to the governments as well as non-state actors because the country is claimed to have been begotten in the name of some ideology -- theodology is more like it -- it is an ideology tempered with the fire of theology.’’

Given that, coupled with the prime minister’s low IQ and ‘’the kind of power he has amassed and the ritualistic piety that he believes in, and we have a monster to contend with.’’
Haider caustically reminds Information Minister Mushahid Hussain, a former journalist himself, of the old saying that you can do anything with a bayonet except sit on it. ‘’So don`t even attempt it.’’

But Hussain, in a statement on World Press Freedom Day, asserted confidently that his government was ‘media friendly’.

After all, incidents like a journalist’s car being pushed out of his house into the street and being set on fire in the middle of the night is not necessarily something that will necessarily be seen as a threat to the free press. But when the incident takes place, as it did on the morning of May 5, with Imtiaz Alam, current affairs editor for The News in Lahore, who has been receiving threatening phone calls for some time for his dissenting columns, the government’s protestations are hard to believe.

‘’I wish they’d burnt the old car,’’ says Alam, scratching his beard and trying to salvage some humour from the situation, thinking of the charred remains of his brand-new, un-insured Suzuki Khyber..
Like Haider, Alam too had been expecting some ‘action’. ‘’Maybe they held off because of the conference,’’ he says, referring to the ground-breaking Pakistan-India Parliamentarians Conference that he organised recently, in which the government also participated. He has recently been particularly vocal about the accountability process directed by Sen. Saifur Rehman.
The CPJ has protested to the government for its apparent conducting of ‘’an orchestrated campaign to intimidate the independent media in Pakistan’’ and preventing them ‘’from collaborating with journalists working for international news organizations.’’

Peshwar based publisher of the English language daily The Frontier Post and Urdu-language Maidan, Rehmat Shah Afridi has never worked for an international news organisation. He was arrested last month for the possession of charas (grass) and is currently in Lahore’s Camp Jail where he is not being allowed visitors.

But journalists believe that the charges against Mr Afridi are fabricated. He has for some time been under pressure from the authorities, for his publications’ reports over the last few months on corruption in the ANF (anti narcotics force) and government.

A source close to Afridi confided that since November ‘98 the pressure had been mounting and he had been repeatedly summoned by the Ehtesab (Accountability) Bureau and ‘’told to implicate Asif Zardari and other big names like Aftab Sherpao in drug cases’’.

It has been learnt Afridi was intercepted at a Lahore hotel by armed men in plainclothes with silenced revolvers, and according to a source, ‘tied and blindfolded and told to cooperate in implicating Sharif’s political opponents. He was tortured with electric currents and made to talk into the telephone and ask for a consignment. He thought that he was about to be killed.’’

Afridi was later taken to the ANF office and ‘’told that his voice was on tape settling a heroin deal, and he could get out of it by implicating Zardari, Sherpao etc. in it.’’

Like Sethi, and earlier, Mir Shakilur Rehman of the Jang Group of newspapers which clashed with the government a couple of months ago, Afridi too was publicly denounced on the state-owned television, and reports printed in sections of the press.
‘’He was remanded to 14 days custody, but never interrogated about the charas. Instead, he says, he was continuously asked to cooperate about implicating Zardari etc. in drug cases,’’ says Afridi’s lawyer, who feared that Maidan may be forced to close down. Journalists in Lahore, Nowshera, Mardan, Islamabad and Peshawar have protested about Afridi’s arrest and the Khyber Union of Journalists is continuing a token hunger strike in protest.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan in a press release of April 6 also denounced the sensational arrest of Afridi. ‘’ While the law should take its course, strong misgivings have been caused due to the manner in which
this was done and the government`s record both of selectivity in the choice of its targets and its demonstrated desire to curb freedom of the press….

‘’There is also no reason why the court proceedings should have been sought to be delayed if the ANF had such a cast-iron case against Mr. Rehmat Shah Afridi as it claims.’’

Meanwhile, in the southern province of Sindh, journalists in remote rural areas continue to be threatened for reports that reflect unfavourably on the police. Dharki-based journalist Sikandar Bhutto told a recent meeting of human rights activists in Lahore about the arrest and torture of a journalist Abu Awais, who has been left deaf in the process.

Awais, the correspondent of Sindhi-language daily Koshish, had reported the kidnapping of 13 men on the night of Jan 1, 1999, and consistently followed the story until Jan 18. However, the police refused to file a report saying that no such kidnapping had taken place. The complaint was only admitted after pressure from human rights activists.

On Jan 24, the bodies of two of the kidnapped men were found with ransom notes and the story was picked up by other newspapers. The remaining men were freed after a ransom of Rs 700,000.
The area police filed a false case of sodomy against Awais, who was arrested and tortured. After a great deal of pressure from local journalists, the case was dropped on the orders of a Judicial Magistrate on March 10, ‘on the ground that no evidence whatsoever has been collected against the accused’.
Bhutto himself has been threatened with false cases, and many other journalists are proceeding more carefully with how they report on the police, he said.

This is another example of state sponsored terrorism against the journalists. We are still

living in martial law regime. Lately I have realized that opposition appears to have cold shoulder now a days or they went under ground.

This government is pushing the country towards anarchry, record levels of corruption and dictatorship.

..YZ

Pakistanis wake up!!!
It is back to the dark days of the Zia Regime.
CHOWK is one of the last ``Free`` Forums left.
Najam Sethi, Haqqani, Afridi and Benazir.
The shoring up of the mediocrity from Raiwind
by silencing the Judiciary, the Presidency and
moderation in the Military needs our attention.

Ras

I hate to say this, but it seems that people who still believe that Pakistan is a democracy need to wake and take a stock of their situation before it is too late.

I have said it before and I will say again; Nawaz Sharif`s government is a dictatorship and it is determined to stifle democracy in Pakistan at all costs to preserve and propagate its own power!

I would add a post-script to the above, but I am too disgusted and revolted at the situation in Pakistan to say anything!

Najam Sethi will be released in a few weeks.
Chastened or Shaheed! Decency will be victimised yet again.

How can we be associated with this Pakistan? Is there a limit to this terrocracy (terrorism+democracy)? Is there God? Is there sanity? Is there regard? Why am I not surprised? Will Pervez Hoodbhai be next? Maleeha Lodhi? Asma Jahangir? Shandana? You? Me? Edhi?

Najam Sethi was playing with fire. He knew that. His is a classic case of Intelligent v Ignorant. Is it too difficult to guess what the Ignorant will turn to when he is losing so humiliatingly? Physical violence, of course. The Ignorant knows no other recourse.

I hope to God that Najam Sethi is not killed on false charges. Not that it will not be tried. Najam Sethi is one of the very few bright lights that has illuminated the way in Pakistan. If he is silenced, Pakistan`s future will be darker than ever.

I want Najam Sethi to run Pakistan.

This is taken from CNN`s webpage. I hope sanity prevails in this case.

--

Asia:Pakistan

Government Arrests Prominent

Journalist

AP

08-MAY-99

LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) -- Pakistani police stormed the home of a prominent

journalist on Saturday and took him into custody, accusing him of links with an

Indian spy agency.

A dozen officers broke the gate of Najam Sethi`s home in the Punjab provincial

capital of Lahore, barged into his bedroom and arrested him, said his wife,

Jugnoo Mohsin. She said there were 100 more policemen and 25 police vehicles

outside their home.

``We were expecting he would be arrested, but they conducted the arrest like the

mafia, like gangsters,`` Mohsin said.

Sethi, who owns The Friday Times, a weekly English-language news magazine,

was being interrogated by the Pakistan`s Inter-Services Intelligence, a

government statement said.

His arrest follows several recent attacks, threats and arrests of journalists.

His publication has been critical of the government of Prime Minister Nawaz

Sharif, and Sethi had issued public statements saying he feared arrest.

``Basically this is an attack on the freedom of the press,`` said Mohsin, who also is

a journalist.

Mohsin filed an appeal to the Lahore High Court on Saturday, challenging

Sethi`s arrest.

The government statement said Sethi had made a ``very damaging`` and

``derogatory`` speech about Pakistan during a recent visit to India.

He drew a ``dismal picture of Pakistan to create despondency and doubts in the

minds of Pakistanis`` at the behest of the Indian spy agency, the statement said.

In the latest issue of The Friday Times, Sethi said in an editorial that his

comments had been taken out of context.

Pakistan and India are traditional enemies, and have fought three wars in the past

52 years. Both countries exploded nuclear devices last year, declared

themselves nuclear powers and generated fears of another confrontation.

Re: Beena and Shandana

Disgusting behaviour from the govt. I hope and pray that you guys take care of yourself . Be safe and healthy. Nothing is worth the price of freedom, not even political freedom.

Take care guys

Rishi

Re: Scrouge

-- What are you trying to say ? I am unable to understand what your statements mean. Maybe i am plain dumb...but can you illuminate further on your arguments....please

Rishi

Intolerance is a trait which is deeply imbibed in we Pakistanis irrespective of our background and social status. Given the opportunity we, off-course with few exceptions, are the most intolerant people around. What happens with Mr. Sethi is nothing new - it is just a playback of the happenings we have witnessed innumerable time in our short ``chersihed`` history. Rest assured incidents like these will be repeated again and again. However that shall deter us to support likes of Mr. Sethi who are flicker of hope in our soceity.

It does appear as though matters are reaching some sort of a boiling point in Pakistan. The media in India has been quite up to date on the reportage over this incident, and for once there seems to be none of the usual ``India-line`` or ``Paki-line`` in the analysis, simply straight information.

What needs to be known, however, is:-

-the importance within Pakistan of the English media, do such magazines have vernacular (Urdu?) editions which carry the population? (LIke we have India Today, Delhi Press and a host of other South Indian publishing houses in India) If they do have vernacular editions, can they stir popular sentiment?

-Is the electronic media, from Pakistan or outside, considered sufficiently `correct` especially by the vernacular speaking people, again?

-what are the support arms the media has in Pakistan, can the media involve the people the treue on the ground people of Pakistan or has the media become a haven of the elite in Pakistan like it WAS in India a decade ago?

-How smart are the media in `perception management`, or are the Pakistani Government/Armed Forces smarter?

-What weight do Pakistani Net publications have, like REDIFF in India?

As an Indian I feel really sorry for what is happening to MY people in Pakistan, they are as much MINE as are MY people in India. I think, now more than ever before, the responsibility on those of you Pakistanis settled abroad and blessed with the powers of information technology comes to the forefront. It is high time you guys out there, driving on the smooth roads of your adopted lands, thought of things like pirate radio and television stations (free to air) and got closer to the unfortunate people in your (our) countries to whom information is still a denied substance . . .

The colonials never left our countries, but it seems they are making a comeback with a vengeance in Pakistan. And we in India know only too well that our future IS linked with yours, so we would gain if you shape up, and that responsibility, my friends on CHOWK, is now more than ever on the shoulders of the non-resident Pakistani intelligensia.

Move it, friends, and realise who your friends are. Do not let Kashmir be a sore where one is not needed, all they do is rob the tourists anyway...

The murderers of Samia Imran go scot free, while a man is beaten up and kidnapped for speaking his mind.

What does this mean? Apart from the reality that women kind are the weakest and lowliest of the lows in Pakistan and their abuse does not merit state agitation, it shows that truth hurts the Govt. more than outright murder in a `democratic` state.

It is tragic that the GoP has resorted to suppression to cover its failings. Whatever Mr Sethi has written in his speech is his free opinion. The paranoia of the state reflects its utter ignorance and lack of vision in handling the many crisis of Pakistan.

It is with deep sadness that I read of Mr. Sethi`s fate. One cannot but put some blame on a culture which, even fifty years after ``freedom``, remains too submissive and condoning of the establishment. While it is Nawaz Sharif`s police which did it, such actions have been taken in every decade under the guise of national security, protection of Islam, or some other similar excuse. Whether we like it or not, the mindset of the kinds of SCOURGE is the prevailing one in the South Asian hinterland.

Speaking of SCOURGE, sir, since you hate the West and its values so much, why don`t you do the manly thing and take off to ``daarul Islam``? It is a sad irony that the freedom of speech of radicals like you is protected by the very system that you loathe and would love to destroy. These folks have never understood the concept that what goes on between God and man is no third party`s business, not even the so-called ``ulema```s. And thank God for the few remaining courageous souls like Asma Jehangir and Hina Jilani, or else I`d be already a complete believer(as opposed to a partial one) in what my late grandfather said many years ago:

``Hai! Quaid-e-Azam ka Pakistan

Lootke legay chor beimaan``

Call for countrywide protest against Sethi`s arrest

LAHORE (IPS): The arrest on Friday night of Najam Sethi, Chief Editor of the popular Lahore-based English-language weekly The Friday Times has once again galvanised Pakistani civil rights activists into launching a protest against what they term as the Nawaz Sharif government`s increasingly fascist tactics against dissent.

An emergency meeting convened by Committee for Free Press at the Lahore Press Club on Saturday condemned what it termed as Sethi`s illegal arrest, and demanded his immediate release. The meeting also feared for his physical elimination.

There was a consensus among those who attended, including dozens of leading journalists, civil rights activists, lawyers and politicians, that Sethi`s arrest and victimization was part of the process to dismantle democracy.

A resolution was passed at the meeting expressing complete solidarity with the arrested editor and his publication and condemning the highhandedness of the unlawful arrest. Vowing to continue the struggle for the freedom of press and expression, the meeting called for a country wide protest on May 13.

May 13 is traditionally observed in Pakistan as Freedom of Expression and Press Day by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and its member bodies and supporters, to commemorate the `black day` under Gen. Ziaul Haq`s dictatorship when three journalists were flogged in 1978 for protesting against the forcible closure of an opposition newspaper by the military government.

More than twenty years later, there is freedom of the press. ‘’But it is selective freedom,’’ as the veteran politician Nawabzada Nasrullah, president of the Pakistan Awami Ittehad party, said at a meeting called by the Committee for Free Press at the Lahore Press Club on May 7, in the same hall where Najam Sethi had addressed a press conference the day before to reveal how he was being pressurised for having given an interview to the BBC.

‘’The press is free to write anything about the opposition, but that is all. This is naked dictatorship,’’ observed Nasrullah, widely respected as a long-time upholder of democracy. ‘’This government has passed the 14th Amendment which disallows members of parliament from voting against their party’s decisions, and the 13th Amendment which strips the president of his powers. The attempt to pass the 15th Amendment failed; that would have given the government the powers to decide what is morally and religious right or wrong. ‘’What they want is kingship, Mughal-style.’’

‘’There is freedom of the press, but journalists are not allowed to enjoy it,’’ commented President of the PFUJ, I.H. Rashed at the same meeting. He reminded the participants that it was just a couple of months ago that they had all gathered at the same venue to protest against the government’s high-handedness against the Jang Group of Newspapers.

‘’That arm-twisting had brought journalists from all over the country on one platform along with human rights organisations, trade unions and politicians,’’ he said. ‘’Once again we are going through the same process.’’

Over a hundred participants from all these sections of society who were present at the meeting strongly condemned the arrest of Frontier Post’s Rehmat Shah Afridi, the detention of The News’ M.A.K. Lodhi, and of columnist and political activist Hussain Haqqani and decided to strategise about the next move. They didn’t have a chance to proceed in any systematic manner: that night, Najam Sethi was arrested as he had feared, bringing them all together again at the Press Club the next afternoon.

The government, while refusing to reveal his whereabouts, has said that Sethi was arrested because of his ``traitorous`` tendencies and ``involvement with (the Indian secret agency) RAW``, as evidenced by a lecture he gave in New Delhi recently on the invitation of the Indo-Pak Friendship Society headed by former Indian premier I.K. Gujral.

Ironically, the salient points of the offending lecture in Delhi have been published several times in Pakistan in TFT, in the form of editorials as well as an article on Jan 1, 1999 titled `What is to be done`. In addition, this lecture has also been delivered by Sethi to the country`s premier defence institution, the National Defence College, which earned him accolades for his intelligent analysis and patriotism, from the Commandant and other senior army officers.

``If the army has no doubts about Sethi`s patriotism, who are these people to doubt it?`` asked a furious Jugnu Moshin, Sethi`s wife and TFT`s publisher. ``Have they got a monopoly on patriotism?``

Addressing the packed library of the Lahore Press Club at the CFP meeting of Saturday, she described how some twenty plainclothes men accompanied by two senior policemen in uniform, all armed, had broken into their Gulberg home at about 2.30 am. ``They beat up our private security guards, barged into our bedroom and dragged Sethi off without even letting him put on his glasses and shoes.

``They beat him with a handcuff chain and batons, took our mobile phones and smashed a regular telephone set on my bedside with a rifle butt. When asked for a warrant, they threatened to shoot,`` said Ms Mohsin, who was also tied up and locked into a dressing room.

Vowing to fight on for press freedom, she said that she feared that Sethi might be physically harmed or killed. And if happened ``I will hold Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif personally responsible.``

Ms Mohsin also expressed apprehensions about possible attacks on the TFT office and Vanguard Books (a publishing house run by Sethi). ``I could also be arrested. But if anything happens to me or to Sethi, it is up to you to continue the struggle for full freedom for expression, regardless of

what happens,`` she concluded.

The meeting was also addressed by former foreign minister Sardar Assef Ali of the Pakistan Muslim League (Chattha group), as well as senior advocates, economists, and journalists, including Editor of The News Islamabad Dr Maleeha Lodhi, a former ambassador to the USA who has herself been threatened several times over the phone over the last few days, including by a federal minister.

At the close of the meeting participants spontaneously marched to the Governor House to present a memorandum demanding that Sethi`s whereabouts be disclosed and that his physical safety be guaranteed. After about half an hour, four of the processionists were allowed in to meet the Governor`s Military Secretary, who assured the delegation that he would locate Sethi`s whereabouts and attempt to guarantee his physical safety.

May 9, 1999

FYI the following statement is being faxed the Prime Minister of Pakistan and is being released to the World Media and Peace movement inititatives everywhere. Please circulate widely



8 May 1999, Amsterdam

We fellows of The Transnational Institute, scholars and activists from different parts of the world attending this international meeting strongly condemn the systematic harrasment of journalists, specifically those who have been opposing nuclearisation of Pakistan. We are deeply concerned at the recent spate of abductions and arrests of senior journalists like Najam Sethi and the ransacking of the house of Imtiaz Alam a noted columnist.

We also condemn the decision of Pakistani and Indian governments to celebrate the anniversary of Nuclear tests conducted on May 11 and 28 last year. We call upon the two governments to refrain from proceeding with Nuclear and Missile development. We demand that the five official

Nuclear weapons states immediatly initiate negotiations on complete Nuclear disarmament in accordance with their obligation under Article Nuclear disarmament in accordance with their obligation under Article 6 of the NPT, the mandate of the World court and the repeated request of the UN General assembly.

Signed by:

1. Karamat Ali (Pakistan)

2. Ari Sitas (South Africa)

3. Theo Roncken (Bolivia)

4. Karel Koster (Netherlands)

5. Danial Chavez (Uruguay)

6. Roger van Zwanenburg (Britain)

7. John Cavanagh (U.S.)

8. Daphne Wysham (U.S.)

9. Dot Keet (South Africa)

10. Peter Weiss (U.S.)

11.Amrita Chhachhi (India)

12. Phyllis Bennis (U.S.)

13. Praful Bidwai (India)

14. James Early (U.S.)

15.Cristine Estrada (Spain)

16. Mariano Aguirre (Spain)

17. Hilary Wainright (U.K.)

18. Howard Wachtel (U.S.)

19. Walden Bello (Philippines)

20. Joel Rocamora (Philippines)

21.Alex Weldhof (Netherlands)

22. Pauline Tiffen (U.K.)

23. Marieme Helie-Lucas (Algeria)

24.Ricardo Soberon (peru)

25.Coletta Youngers (U.S.)

26.Margarita Nanda Schulz (Argentina)

27.Martin Jelsma (Netherlands)

28. Oronto Douglas (Nigeria)

29. Tom Blickman (Netherlands)

30. Susan George (France)

31. Harsh Kapoor (India)

Matt Schillings

TNI - Office Manager

Paulus Potterstraat 20

1071 DA Amsterdam

the Netherlands

phone: +31-20-6626608

fax: +31-20-6757176

e-mail: tni-office@worldcom.nl

Re: Feroz

I see an urgency of tying Western aid to Pakistan government`s deplorable behavior, as you said in another discussion of ours.

Maybe it`s a blessing in disguise that Pakistan government has brought the country to a point where without the foreign charity in Pakistan`s extended begging bowl, Pakistan cannot survive.

I say use this begging bowl to force Pakistan government to act in a way that is best for the country. Pakistan leadership has no self-respect or shame. I say don`t drop a nickel in its begging bowl until it changes its behavior. To start with, the government must let Najam Sethi go.

I hope a message like this one is being sent to the Western donors. Ironically, They are Pakistan`s last hope.

What Najam Sethi said in his lecture in India is an absolute truth. All thinking Pakistanis know that. The government of Pakistan is using that lecture as an excuse to legitimize killing him. Those Pakistanis who have an iota of love for Pakistan must not let that happen.

Najam Sethi loves Pakistan more than all those running Pakistan combined.

Interview with Najam Sethi:

All times Indian Std Time.

First tx of Sethi interview (excerpts) on CNBC 2030-2100 Monday 10 may 99, and then repeated, as part of India Business Week.

Full text of Sethi interview planned for Thursday 13May`99, 40 minutes, time yet unfixed but likely 2100 hrs and then repeat again maybe 2300 hrs? But this was decided on Friday before all this happened!

Another incident to really show how ``sharif`` Nawaz

Sharif is. What is more disturbing and sad is the fact that when most of the world is preparing to enter the new millinium looking forward and hoping that the next century will bring in peace and more mutual understanding the ``sharif zadas`` of Pakistan have done all they could to drag the country back rather than forward.

I will irk many people by saying this , but I am glad in a way that the founding fathers of the nation are not around today to look at the state of the affairs.

After the Jang Group, the frontier Post, it`s now Mr Sethi. Benazir can be accused of many things , but even she did`nt take up on the press the way our ``sharif`` prime minister is doing.

Mr Sethi has been accused of tarnishing the image of Pakistan in India. As yet I havent heard of the Indian media giving importance to this issue. On the other hand the arrest of Mr Sethi will bring out this incident. And what Mr Sethi is supposed to have said in India ( if he even said it ! ) can hardly be objectionable to us Pakistanis. He would be merely stating the facts!!!!

I hope the journalist community of Pakistan makes the strongest protest againsr Mr Sethis arrest, and we the public support them fully.

beena!!

i think its high time that we all start doing something positive for our country...

a country which has given us so much...

please stop acting on your hidden and now not so hidden agenda...

every one in lahore knows who you are and what your priorities are...

NS`s comments to India reflect an open and profoundly passionate analysis of Pakistan`s problems. In contrast some of the questions posed by the Indian audience reflect the same tit-for-tat mentality that Pakistani/Indian psyche has made us so suspicious of each other - pretty much what NH was critiquing.

I agree completely with a reponse below. For all your SCOURGING cirticisms of the West, and all your exalting of nations of Islam, have your liberties suspended before you inspect a nations` corrupt and hypocritical exploitation of Islam which has taken away the very essence of what your religion calls supreme the, equality of ``mankind`` and equal people have equal rights of speech.

Clearly, there is no equality in Pakistan - the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments of the constituion of the United States signify the end of slavery and the period of reconstruction (at least on paper); while in no way do I hold the US as the upholer of democracy and human rights, what are our constitutional amendments but blind, desperate gropings od retarded idiots like Nawaz Sharif, his stooges, to grab as much and whatever they can lay their hands on -

dear temp

let me assure you that i am very pro democracy and pro all kind of rights...i obviously do not appreciate this step by the nawaz government...i cant understand why can they not let journalists in particular and everyone else in general perform independently...

I am also extremely liberal in thr true sense of the word...but i have serious reservations when the jounalists start critisizing the government right from the beginning...be it nawaz or bb...we want a strong government right now...pakistan is going thru a very crucial phase and we cant afford to have a weak prime minister...all journalists like beena should be asked just one question...who do they want to bring in as the alternative PM...when najam sethi spoke in delhi...he also referred to some institution bringing in the replacement...so i wonder which institution was he referring to...we have already seen a PM like that when Moeen Quereshi was brought in but to everyone`s utter dismay...he was a total faliure...Actually Nawaz is doing a good job specially when he has already been there and done that...if you would bring someone new how can you be sure that he/she would be a strong leader and one thing is for sure that a country like ours which has no mechanism of efficient administration can not survive without a leader...if you ask me i would say that instead of changing faces...change the system...the new self functional system should be based on the american model maybe with heavy reliance on academia(universities, profesors, research institutions)to control the policy matters and the day to day administration should be completely decentralized on zilla and tehsil levels...maybe i answered your question...maybe i could not but i tried...

Mr./Ms. sfa:

Pls inform us of whatever hidden agenda you are alluding to.

These interacts are ostensibly about our views on the dastardly abduction and terrocracy of the Pakistan Adminstration. Or are you the one who believes in shooting the messenger?

Veeresh:

I wish you had not written about the ``pirate`` radio station. I know somebody who has been working on an off-shore radio station to beam the news to Pakistan like it is. If this project materialises, the Knee-Jerkers would easily claim it is an Indian effort to sabotage the existence and integrity of Pakistan. For this very reason the Radio Azad Pakistan will not be based on Indian soil.

regards

Dawn report



The Friday Times Editor Najam Sethi arrested

Dawn Report

LAHORE, May 8: Senior journalist and editor of The Friday Times, Najam Sethi, was taken into custody by plainclothesmen at his Sir Maratab Ali Road residence in Gulberg in the small hours of Saturday.

A spokesman for the federal government, confirming the arrest in Islamabad, said Mr Sethi had been taken into custody for interrogation by Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for his alleged connections with the Indian intelligence agency, RAW (Research and Analysis Wing).

On Saturday around 2:45am several dozen officials of ISI stormed into his house and held up the two armed watchmen. Some of them were in police uniform while the others in plainclothes. All of them carried automatic weapons. They severely beat up the watchmen and forced them to lead the way to Mr Sethi`s room.

Talking to Dawn Jugnoo Mohsin, wife Najam Sethi, said she heard her watchman shout that the police had raided the house. She said: ``As I opened the door at least eight persons forced their way in pushing me to the ground. Mr Sethi was in the bed and the intruders went straight to him. They attacked

him with batons inflicting heavy blows on the head, neck and shoulders.``

Ms Mohsin said: ``Two intruders were in police uniform while the remaining persons in plainclothes. One of the intruders was holding handcuffs and he used their chain to hit Mr Sethi.

``When I asked them to produce the warrants for arrest and entry into a private property, one of the intruders said, `we will kill him (Mr Sethi) instead of showing the warrants`,`` she added.

The intruders dragged Mr Sethi out of the room while continuously hitting him. One official grabbed hold of Jugnoo`s hands while the other tied her hands with a rope. Later, she was locked up in a dressing room.

Ms Mohsin said after a brief struggle she managed to free her hands and came out of the dressing room by breaking the lock. She said the watchmen told her that the intruders had come in at least 20 vehicles, some of them were police vans while others were private vehicles.

She said the intruders were operating under the command of an officer sitting in a white car bearing a government registration number plate. During the whole operation the officer did not came out of the car.

Ms Mohsin said while leaving the officials had also locked the main gate of the house with chain apparently to prevent anybody from going out or following them.

The arrest of Mr Sethi was being feared for the past few days. In a press statement issued on Friday he had expressed the apprehension that some miscreants belonging to Pakistan Muslim League might attack his offices situated on The Mall. Mr Sethi had stated that the Punjab chief minister, Shahbaz Sharif, and PML Youth Wing chairman, Khwaja Saad Rafiq, would be directly responsible for any harm to his property or person.

It could not be immediately ascertained who had taken Mr Sethi into custody. The police concerned were contacted but they expressed their ignorance about the raid. The police and FIA officials were contacted soon afterwards but they denied any involvement in the raid or the arrest of Mr Sethi.

Talking to reporters, the Lahore SSP, Saud Aziz, said he was not aware of any such operation and denied any involvement with the raid or the arrest.

He said: ``Police have nothing to do with this raid and I have no information who conducted the raid and where they had taken Mr Sethi.``

FIA officials, too, expressed their ignorance. The FIA Lahore Zone`s deputy director, Javed Noor, told reporters that no official of the FIA had participated in the raid.

The confusion as to who had conducted the raid cleared late in the evening when a spokesman of the federal government in Islamabad made a statement saying that Mr Sethi had been arrested by the ISI.

The spokesman said Najam Sethi`s recent statement in India was very damaging for the image of Pakistan and had not been expected from a journalist of his calibre. ``It is unexpected that he would deliver such a derogatory speech about his own country unless there is a nefarious motive behind it. He has been trying to endanger the sovereignty of Pakistan and has been condemning the creation of Pakistan.``

The spokesman said it was suspected that the journalist had some nexus with RAW. To unearth such links, it was imperative to investigate him in the matters of national security. Consequently, the ISI had taken him into custody.

Produce Sethi, HC directs Sharif Govt

From PTI

ISLAMABAD, MAY 9: The arrest of the editor of an English weekly in Pakistan threatened today to turn into a full-blown war between the Nawaz Sharif government and media even as police and intelligence agencies denied their role in his detention.

The government had claimed that Najam Sethi, Editor of Friday Times, was arrested in Lahore by the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) on Saturday on charge of trying ``to endanger the sovereignty of Pakistan`` by making ``some statements`` at a seminar in New Delhi recently, and to inquire into his alleged links with the Indian Agency, Research and Analysis Wing (RAW).

As mystery surrounds the journalist`s whereabouts, the Lahore High Court has issued a notice to the government on a petition filed by Sethi`s wife, Jugnoo Mohsin, seeking production of Sethi in the court. The hearing will come up before the court on Monday.

``I am not aware of Sethi`s arrrest,`` a senior military official working in ISI`s Internal Security Wing was quoted as saying byEnglish daily The News.

Similarly officials of the civilian Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) also expressed ignorance about the raid at Sethi`s House and his arrest. The Lahore police also denied their involvement in his detention.

``Police have nothing to do with this raid and I have no information who conducted the raid and where they had taken Sethi,`` the Lahore SSP was quoted as saying by The Dawn newspaper.

Copyright © 1999 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.

re sfp,

we need a strong govt, not a strong opressive dictatorship.

shandana

re sfa

Exactly how does Moeen Qureshi a failure? That he fulfilled his obligation and didn`t steal from the country. Can you name one other Pakistani leader in recent times that has not been accused of corruption? Also, the strength of a government is measured by its ability to effect meaningful change not to shamelessly silence its critics. That you think everyone who criticizes the government has an agenda, ie someone else they want to bring is appalling. Having read the Friday Times for a while now, I can assure that they are not partial to any political faction in the country.

Faraz

PS. DOWN WITH THE TIND!!

Re: Godot

I agree. Pakistan will be saved by outsiders and not by Pakistanis themselves. I am already taking steps to contact people and see if this a possible as a policy option.

If each InterActer! call or e-mails Amnesty International, there would be enough grassroots support to warrant AI to act on the matter!

Re Ferozk and Godot

I realize this is a tangent but I disagree that ``Pakistan will be saved by outsiders and not by Pakistanis themselves.`` While, contacting Amnesty International and Senators may be worthwhile; you should be careful about the implications of involving foreign entitities in a political problem of this nature. I honestly feel that Mr. Sethi will be released soon...I think the government miscalculated how popular he is within the educated sections of society. However, if the goons in Isloo are getting pressure from foreigners to release a guy that they are eviodently portraying as a ``foreign agent``; you might inadvertantly help them sell their lies to the general public.

At the end of the day the only people that can force meaningful change in Pakistan are people with a vested interest in the survival of the country...and that are the Pakistani themselves and not NGOs and foreign governments.

faraz

your last comment is good enaf to reveal your bias..well whatever i wrote did not base on any personal bias...the very fact that mr qureshi left was evident that he was not able enough to survive in an extrememly complex political environment like pakistan...he tried tho...he also indulged in nepotism when he brought in his younger brother sulman qureshi as his advisor and it was a common knowledge that sulman qureshi in turn was giving lucaritive assignments to his own friends in the federal government...

This incident is deeply disturbing.
Ibne Insha comes to mind.....hope some more Najam`s and Insha`s are born in Pakistan.

Insha ji utho ab kooch karo, is shehar meiN ji ko lagaana kya
Vehshi ko sukooN say kya matlab, jogi ka nagar meiN thikaana kya
Phir hijr ki lambi raat yahaaN, sanjoog ki to bus aik ghaRi
Jo dil meiN hai lab per aanay do, sharmana kya ghabraana kya
Is dil kay dareeda daaman meiN, daikho to sahi, socho to sahi
Jis jholi meiN sau chaid huay, us jholi ka phailaana kya
Shab beeti chaand bhi doob chala, zanjeer paRi darvaazay per
KiyooN dair ga`ay ghar aa`ay ho, sajni say karo gay bahaana kya
Rehtay ho jo hum say dur bohat, majboor ho tum majboor bohat
Hum samjhoN ka samjhaana kya, hum behloN ka behlaana kya
Jab shehar kay log na rasta deiN, kiyooN bun meiN na ja bisraam keraiN
DeevaanoN ki si na baat keray, to ohr keray deevaana kya

Re: Faraz, #33

Faraz, I bet 90 percent of those living in Pakistan haven`t a clue as to what`s going on in the country. The other 10 percent are utterly helpless for fear of reprisal. An enlightened revolution is a far fetched fantasy for Pakistan. That Najam Sethi got his ass kicked is a stark reality of Pakistan: the Pakistani citizens have no say whatsoever in the working of their country. Pakistan`s alms givers are the only agents of change for that country. As for those Pakistanis with vested interest, well, they are the ones who have the piece of the pie and they will make sure nothing changes. Survive the country will alright, for those with vested interests and for the countless poor souls making subsistence living, but not for you and me

I do agree with you, though, that the government grossly miscalculated in its handling of Najam Sethi. It is my secret wish that this miscalculation would be the spark they would ignite the fire of change for the better.

so one thing is for sure that everyone is looking forward to change...

how and when that change will take place is still the main question n specially when the group with vested interests is strong n powerful...but thats what i said earlier that we as a nation have to be very careful that- that very change does not bring in some new faces with the same or even worse vested interests...

Another attack on Journalism. The Fascist pakistani government has banned a Sindhi monthly magazine.

Government has imposed ban on ``Subuh Theendo`` (Dawn Will Dawn) Monthly
Magazine and its circulation has been prohibited with immediate effect.


According to daily Kawish and Information Department spokesman Subuh Theendo
has been banned due to it contents and articles published in November 1998,
December 1998 and January 1999 issues.

List of the articles published in those 3 issues:

List of the articles published in those 3 issues:


1- Education, IT and 21st Century-----Ashraf Rind
2- Peace or War-----Faiz Ahmed Faiz
3- Dreams Never Die, China LEAD Conference-----Ayaz Latif Palijo
4- Social Justice-------Robert Green Ingersol / Prof. Ameer Ali Qadri
5- Falsehood (Punjabi Short Story)------Mensha Yad
6- Rasool Bux Palijo`s Interview-------Translated from Daily Osaf Islamabad
7- Doomsday in Hiroshima-----Trans: Nawai Insan Lahore, Irfan Siddiqui
8- Handicapped-----(Pashto Short Story)------Sayeda Haseena Gul
9- Lahore session on Provincial Autonomy-----Irshad Ahmed Haqani
10- Basti Ghareeb Abad (Punjabi Short Story)-----Faruq Nadeem
11- G. Plekhanov-----Pratab Lal
12- Socialism & Revolutionary Romanticism-----Karam Kaloi
13- Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement-----Sareer Sahto
14- Ishq is an Art------Zuber Rana
15- Deputy Commissioner`s Diary, Pagree------Qudrat-ul-Lah Shahab
16- PNRDP, Kalabagh Dam & NDP (Drainage Program)-----Maqsud Memon
17- Legends of Shah Latif-----Mamur Yousfani
18- Nadar Log------Abdullah Malik / Pervez
19- Free Legal Aid-----Ayaz Latif Palijo
20- Sustainable Development, Meetings & Workshops-----Abid Shah Oxfam Sindh
21- Education Workshop-----Shahab Abro

These acts of state terrorism are alarming and in complete violation of basic human rights.

Winter has brought hardships
The boots in uniform,
The heavy steps,
Audible from a distance.
Their march pauses at my door --

Intimidated hearts, impatient fools!
All the inhabitants tremble --

At my door is a persistant
Knock, knock
Knock, knock!

``I was telling you, Sir!``
And then the deaf shed their tears--
``Why do you write such poetry,
``That they put you in chains!
``They call you a secessionist,
``The liars tell tall tales about you`` --

At my door is a persistant
Knock, knock
Knock, knock!

--Sheikh Ayaz

re Ferozk & Godot

I am a little hesitant to pursue this discussion on this replies section, because I do not want to deflect attention from Mr. Sethi`s current ordeal. However, because we are talking about the best ways for concerned citizens like ourselves to exert some influence in such cases I think this discussion is worth while.

``Contary to your sense of a bright outlook for Pakistan``

I would not categorize my outlook as bright. While you seem to think that Pakistan can only be saved from the outside, I think IF Pakistan can be saved it has to come from within.

I also agree with you guys that a spontaneous revolution, or any meaningful grassroots action, in Pakistan is highly unlikely. But it is the only hope. Tieing aid to human rights is just not practical. Western governments and agencies have their own agendas (as they should) and cannot impact policy in Pakistan in the long run nor should they. For example, should all aid be stopped until Mr. Sethi is released? What qualifies as a gross violation and what qualifies as only a `regrettable` action by the Pakistani government. Not to mention, as Godot pointed out, the public`s lack of education makes them very easy to manipulate. Foreign pressure on governments has always been very effectively used by the right and the mullahs to delude the public. By bringing western policemen to enforce human rights, we lose a lot of legitimacy with the general public.

Pakistanis living in the U.S. and elsewhere can only do so much with phonecalls and faxes to senators. The real need is for more leaders on the ground. What we need most are not more Ferozks, Godots and Farazs ..but more Najam Sethis.

Faraz

Re: Farz #33

Contary to your sense of a bright outlook for Pakistan, I do not share your argument. Pakistanis have not saved themselves for over fifty years and there is no indication that they will now.

The question I was attempting to broach with the idea of linking foreign development aid in Pakistan with its human rights improvement was to impose a regime of accountability on the government of Pakistan. Foreign aid is a political leverage which can, and should, be used to force Pakistani government to pay attention to these matters. If this is what it takes to make the corrupt leaders of Pakistan be accountable, then be it so!

The Pakistani government has to be accountable to someone and if that entity is western nations and they have the means to force that accountability on Pakistani leadership, they should!

Re: Faraz, #39

You make a good argument that the responsibility for change in Pakistan lies with those living in Pakistan, and not arm-chair analysts like us, or the Western donors. Pakistan needs more Najam Sethis. Very true. However, we saw what happened to him. Feroz is correct. Nothing that has happened in Pakistan in the last 52 years indicates that something better will happen in the next 52 years. It is a hopeless country and it appears that the leadership there is making sure it remains that way for a long time to come. Good for India.

Just had this forwarded to me by a friend:

___________________

FYI............

TFT is back on the web and can be accessed at

http://www.dawn-usa.com/tft/

The original website was hacked at the behest of the government.

Ejaz

News Editor,

The Friday Times

_____________________

Re: Godot

You say, ``Good for India``.

I don`t think so. No country wish to have a country in perpetual chaos as its neighbor.

Re: maliani, #37

Hi - could you confirm where you heard the news about the banning of the Sindhi paper? I`ve heard that Dawn sources were unable to confirm the news. There is no mention of it in today`s papers. I received an almost identical posting about the banning (complete with index of articles) by email yesterday from a separate email list. Yet the similarity of the two postings suggests they came from the same source and one does not necessarily confirm the other.

Re: Chowk editors` link to Sethi`s speech at beginning of Sarwar`s article

Please update the link to reflect the new TFT website (although i`m not sure if the new pages have put up the text yet?). Your link still leads to the old, now defunct site. Thanks.

Re: Kant Patel, #42

Kant, it is difficult to deny that India and Pakistan are enemies. People like you and me, among other Chowk wahlas, wish to see relations between India and Pakistan not any different than the relations between the US and Canada. But, given the leadership of both countries, that is only a fantasy.

Given the reality, isn`t it better to see your enemy chaotic and hence weak, and hope that it remains that way? Me think that since Nawaz Sharif is making sure that Pakistan remains chaotic and bankrupt (both financially and morally), and hence weak, he`s the one who is working for RAW! He should be the one put on trial for treason, not Najam Sethi.

Re: subuhi Reply #43

The news came to me directly from the Editor of the magazine. I will still confirm.

Re: Farz # 39

First of all, I agree with you that the likes of myself will not alter the reality in Pakistan. My most basic intention is to not change the reality in Pakistan over night for the better, but to suggest that Pakistan needs help. I am not suggesting western policemen in Pakistan enforcing human rights. Even if I did that, the western governments would be loathe to risk being embroiled in a Pakistani mess.

This is the bare bones of my idea. Pakistani government and its political leadership has to be made accountable to the people. It has to respect and encourage basic human rights for the people of Pakistan such as a decent living condition, a sense of personal security and a freedom from hunger and poverty and access to a standard eduation. It must be stressed upon the mind-sets of the Pakistani political leadership that it`s purpose is to serve and protect the people of Pakistan and not to subjugate them to its power.

Given the state of Pakistan and its high ill-literacy rates, the people of Pakistan can not do this. Hence, we have to force a standard of accountibility on the government of Pakistan. The use of foreign aid could achieve this goal, because it is a force-multiplier; that is it can leverage a political situation to a certain advantage. Pakistan is a bankrupt nation which needs foreign monies to pay the interests on its debts. Remember, the sanctions against Pakistan, for its nuclear tests, will be re-imposed in October of this year after a year`s waiver and the question is, what has Pakistan done to deserve another waiver! It has practiced policies of denying press freedoms, it has continued with economic mis-mangement and its sense of security has not been attained for which it tested nuclear weapons.

Pakistan`s security is not threatened from outside, but from its own lack of crediable policies internally. The road Pakistan is determined to journey on will end in a disaster. The reality is that given its past performances, the re-imposition of sanctions will not be waived again and Pakistan will be in the same economic melt down that it was after the sanctions were imposed. Then Pakistan begged and cried and promised its western donors that it be given monies to help its economy. Those sanctions were lifted, conditionally on Pakistan agreeing to a nuclear non-proliferation regime, and Pakistan seems to working towards that end.

Thus, the question is, why can not the economic aid to Pakistan be made conditional on its human rights and democratic record. Pakistan is the begger in this situation and it can not choose which policies it wants to follow, because it is mortaged to the hilt to western nations. Pakistan`s affairs have to managed by western nations as a trusteeship of a bankrupt corporation and Pakistan has to be administed as a business enterprise. Pakistan needs western money to survive and in the past, the example of sanctions has shown a weak point in Pakistani government`s ability to resist political demands when the issue has been monetary assistence. Consequently, this weakness should be leveraged for maximum benefit of Pakistan in a general sense.

Hence, pressure must be leveraged against Pakistani governments to amend their ways and if this course of action, western aid for human rights, works it could be tried, because there is no down side to it!

re: Godot

Extremely narrow minded and myopic view vis-a-vis India, reflected even in your politicians you despise.

It is in India`s interest to see an independant, self suffiecient, and prosperous Pakistan which will mind its own business while keeping itself busy constructively. The same applies to Pakistan`s interests in India. India`s ideology is completely different from Pakistans and it needs to remain that way. The biggest fear a lot of Indians have is, if there is `social unrest` in Pakistan, they will involve India (just as you are), afterall, it is always the kafir pigs fault !!!!!! You blame your politicians of creating `Indian scapegoats`, in the process distracting the general public from other issues, yet you yourself indulge in it.

Just look at the arms situation. In Pakistan automatic weapons are commonplace (most manufactured in Dera). These weapons have been pouring into India. Forget all the `holy warriors` and other irregulars. I am not blaming `Pakistan` for any of this, yet the link is there. If Pakistan is in a state of confusion, all these activities will only increase. It is besides the point whether Pakistan `officially` approves or disapproves of it.
Just read all the effects of having a porous border between Afghanistan and Pakistan, while Afghanistan was going through its civil war. Didn`t lawlessness, armed conflict, Islamic radicalism infiltrate into Pakistan.

You are making the same mistake your leaders are vis-a-vis your attitude to India.

Re: Rana Ransher # 47

Rana, I agree it is in India`s interest to see a stable Pakistan, but the problem is that Pakistan is so focused on India-centric issues and how to keep up with India that it is ignoring its own problems. India is a Pakistani problem, because unfortunately our politicans play the India card to mask and generally ignore Pakistani domestic problems. India is a scapegoat of Pakistani politics which allows our so called political leaders to avoid making hard choices and admitting their own failures by blaming India and anti-Pakistan-Islamic western conspiracies for the misery that haunts Pakistan. India, as a nation and an idea, dominates Pakistani thinking and we, Pakistanis, are fixiated on Indian actions and all our thoughts, actions, intentions and accomplishments have been nothing more than a reflection of what India does!

I agree with you completely on this matter. Whatever happens in Pakistan will have a direct impact on India. The present nightmare in Pakistan is not in Indian interests, but the question is how can India help Pakistan become more economically and politically stable? I can not speak for Indians or for India, but I would bet that there is willingness in India to tolerate a status quo with Pakistan and that implies a desire to settle the question of Kashmir by translating the Line of Control into an international boundary. An even harder task towards the political and economical stablization of Pakistan is how to convince its political leadership that it should divorce its India specific myopia and instead it should concentrate on its own problems.

That is the challenge India needs to address if it wants Pakistan to be stable and the odds are against it, because the Pakistani leadership, for self-expedident reasons, will resist this logical approach to solving Pakistan`s problems.

Re: RanaRansher, #47

Can`t disagree. However, I hold to my belief that it is better to keep your enemy confused, chaotic and weak. A prosperous Pakistan is far more dangerous to India than a weak Pakistan: more money, more influence on the world stage, more confident, more spending on the army and new advanced weapons, etc. And that Kashmir issue! A prosperous Pakistan would not have tolerated, what is it, 200,000 Indian troops in Kashmir busy raping, looting and pillaging.

What it is, my friend (if I dare to call you that knowing that we don`t see eye-to-eye), that both Pakistani and Indian leaders do not care about the abject poverty their respective countries are mired in. They use each other as tools to advance their own domestic political agendas, and keep their countries hostage to nationalistic motherland this and fatherland that. Unless the leaders in both countries have vision and, yes, balls, Pakistan and India will remain enemies.

I don`t know why you keep talking about India`s ideology and Pakistan`s ideology. Who cares! From your other responses I`ve read, it appears that you despise Pakistan more than I despise Pakistan`s leaders. That is saying quite a lot, my friend (oops!).

Re: subuhi Reply #43
Source: http://www.dawn.com/daily/19990514/index.htm

Sindhi Magazine ``Subho Thendo`` banned
Updated at 13:20 PST (08:20 GMT)
In a fresh attack on Journalism, the Sindh Government has banned a Sindhi monthly ``Subho Thendo`` published from Hyderabad, Sindh.

The Home Department, Government of Sindh, vide letter No. XII (10) SO-I, dated May 6, in exercise of powers conferred on Home Secretary under Section 99-A of the code of Criminal Procedure, 1898, imposed ban upon further circulation of the magazine in the province of Sindh and declared that all the copies of the same, if found in circulation, be forfeited to the Government of Sindh.

The Magazine ``Subho Thendo`` (DAWN will DAWN) is published by Gul Hassan Karano from Hyderabad. According to Home Department, it contained material against religion, the Federation of Pakistan, the Army and Intelligence Agencies. The copies of the notification have been given to the interior ministry and the Director General ISI, Islamabad.

Re: Godot

--- Projection ?

Rishi

Re: Godot

This is not an India-Pakis