An Urgent Appeal to all Pakistanis

#23 by omar_r_quraishi

We are not here to discuss CoawasJee’s largesse or his credentials as a businessman or how much influence he has with the high ups in every military government.
I am afraid CoawasJee is not a working journalist s so he can’t ask for the same privileges.
He may be a very good writer and he does write about Karachi issues with an insider’s knowledge but has he ever supported working journalists’ cause in Pakistan? Let’s look at the recent history. Musharaff went on record to scold journalists in public and CoawasJee never said a word about it or did he?
About a year ago some Sindhi journalist were arrested by the army for just doing their duty and reporting some uncomfortable stories about the situation in Sindh-I am talking about couple of Journalists from Daily Kawish- and I hope you know the case. Sehbai’s family was harassed in Pakistan; a so called independent channel was stopped from broadcasting younger Sharif’s interview and many more incidents that I can quote here. Did CoawasJee ever even raise an eyebrow? You work and live in Pakistan and even though we live outside and are loonies per your post, yet some here do know what goes on in Pakistani Newspaper industry and have a very intimate knowledge about media in Pakistan.

Unfortunately, most of the Pakistani journalist, columnists and other public intellectuals –especially the ones who write in English press- have spent too much time in cushy jobs with the army owned newspapers and their sense of press freedom is when they don’t get the advice from ISPR or the local information Office.

The distinction here is; when CoawasJee actively supports an army govt. that is responsible for gagging newspapers and controlling the media and he never raises his voice about it then what right he has to ask for the privileges that working journalists deserve in a country where press freedom is guaranteed and is not dependent upon the whims of the Generals!

CoawasJee can’t sail in two boats simultaneously.

With that in mind, I condemn the provincial minister for threatening a Pakistani citizen for expressing his views.

Shame, shame! But I doubt they`ll ever get to do anything than just talk and shout.

wajahat,

everyone here is able to defend themselves. i don`t believe i was defending what feroz said, merely pointing out that he is not an expatriate.

my apologies however, for intruding on your board. and i do admire your defense of cowasjee (who can also defend himself, and has), since i`ve read cowasjee for years, and admired him as well. there was a time when i greatly respected your opinions, and the stands you take. i hope the time will come when i can do so again.

all the best,
ana

The Sindh Minister of Industries Mr. Siddiqui is attacking a person`s freedom. Such abuse of governmental powers is deplorable. That in and of itself is reason enough to protest regardless of the credentials (or lack thereof) of the victim.

One doesn`t have to like Javed Hashmi to protest the unjust jail sentence. That same logic flows to Cowsjee being threatened by an unjust government.

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Where was the urgant appeal for this?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/3580600.stm

Never mind, I know the answer.

Needless to say, Mr. Cowasjee must NOT be touched.

Omar why state the obvious, let the louts learn for themselves

Well why for Cowasjee?? He is a blackmailer himself. Ask any builder in Karachi or any high ranking officer in KBCA (Karachi Building Control Authority) they will tell you the real stories about him. Let the culprits deal each other.

re: tintingem # 22

Whether I am living in Pakistan or else where, it does not lessen the fact that military rule no matter how enlightened, will always be wrong. Musharraf may be best option for Pakistan in the immediate sense, but the results of the military rule will be far worse in the long term. As to the ground realities, each day the military stays in power, the nation is heading towards a systematic crisis of political illegitmacy.

Those, like yourself who convince themselves, and who give up a little of their freedoms in exchange of some sense of security end up with neither. A military rule is no substitute for democracy and even a good military rule does not in any way offers a substitute for a bad democracy. You talk about the mullah and the hate filled rhetoric in the mosques, but have you ever wondered who tolerated and encouraged this sort of expression? ``Need of the hour`` is another side of appeasement and the need of the hour may be beneficial, but it not always the right choice.

Ciao

re: omar. r. quereshi

LOL

Incidently, do know the year Cowasjee was in jail and secondly, can you confirm if Ellahi Bux Somooro was also jailed by Bhutto in the same period? Was it 1974 or 1975?

Ciao

10-urstruly

You are right. I as an Attocky feel this broad day light rape all the more as this has been made possible by Eeman Waseem, a young daughter of Attock, who was so shameless as to support a `gher mehram` alien to disgrace Attockies. This is a shear thuggary of `Matarruaism` which has used Gujrati, Arbabi `dhaggas` to disgrace themselve and the nation as a whole. What a pity! It reminds us of Ustad Imamdin Gujrati, a comic poet of Gujrat. Once he was reciting his poetry in a gathering when a piece of brick fell on the srage. The Ustad immediately blurt out the following couplet extempore:-

Eh mehfil ae sharifan di, koi dhobi ae koi naai ae
eh itt bahron naeen aai, kise wichon maan yawai ae

#28-ana
No ana, I was not including ferozk in the list of expatriates. I just wrote the first line for him!
But don`t worry, we have many non-expatriates as well who are not aware of the ground realities-atleast i meet a few everyday.

teshah

hala te Maluk hori Attock ne han. wat dil khush kita ne maluk saib.

I think ImamDin Gujrati was a sage. May God bless his soul. Here is another gem by another sage Ustad Daaman:

(about political leadership)

eh apneyaN de vairi ne
dam doosriaN da bharde ne

eh matt kisse di lainde neeN
jo mann ich aawe karde ne

kiyoN aqloon baahr na awaan maiN?
hun rabba kithe jawaN maiN?

digit # 39

I think Cowasji is gonna write his next column about the extra-judicial murder of Qari Mohammd Noor in police cutody or about 5700 political prisoners who are rotting in jails since 2001 without a charge and access to an attorney. These people were apprehended by a draconian law that was passed then which empowers police to hold anyone it likes for one year without a charge and excess to an attorney or family. The said law also authrorizes police to raid any residence without an authrization from magistrate. It can also pick up any person from street without charging him. Ironically the law is called Police Reforms Act. Or I think Cowasji is currently writing a column against the newly passed legislation by ``Musharaf`s assembly`` that muzzels the freedom of press for good in Pakistan.

re: the appeal
My appeal to Pakis would be to recognise the danger they are in by allowing crap like Farzana bibi to write articles in their own reputed e-news like the TFT. My guess is most Pakis do not know what a crap this woman is. Anyway, she shows her class (or shall i say, lack of it) in this weeks edition.
Pakis, beware.
Sridhar

#26 by wajahat on August 19, 2004 6:10am PT
Quite a few chowkies here are up in arms about Mr Cowasjee, but nobody is saying anything about the actions of an Active Provincial Minister who his using/abusing his position to undermine a leading newspaper and its senior journalist. If you want to have a debate than lets talk about that...

exactly wajahat -- good you pointed this out but there`s a very simple answer for this -- u r on chowk !


hp: the army owned newspapers????
which ones hp -- please let me know -- cant be the ones which wrote very critical editorials against the military govt on the okara farms -- something that affects and interests the armed forces directly -- i hope u know what im talking about -- and i didnt see any of these editorials even in the english press tho one urdu journalist is in detention for continuing to report -- some of the most strident critics of the armed forces like ayaz amir, i a rehman and pervez hoodbhoy all write in the english press -- i think you`re a bit wrong in assuming that people in the english press have cushy jobs -- quite a myth -- speaking english or writing it doesnt mean that you have automatically a cushy job hp -- anyways hp im afraid he is still better than a lot of people who say and do nothing (i.e. most people on sites like this)


hp again: ``You work and live in Pakistan and even though we live outside and are loonies per your post, yet some here do know what goes on in Pakistani Newspaper industry and have a very intimate knowledge about media in Pakistan. `` -- why yes of course hp -- u sit in the US while i sit on my butt here and work in the press for 10 years and of course you know more than me or any of my colleagues -- why, you could very well be chowk`s pakistani version of shri veeresh jee who does the same -- pass judgment on the media in pakistan -- sitting in delhi -- in any case HP jee lets not digress from the issue, which is threats hurled at a writer by a provincial minister -- if u want to have a discussion on your ``intricate knowledge`` of the Pakistani newspaper scene we can do that some other time --

feroz sahib -- itna zor say naheen hasein varna gir hee jaein gay -- im pretty sure it was the 70s -- next time he comes to the dawn office i will ask him again for your sake -- as for ilahi bux soomro im sorry i cant really do that feroz sahib -- im sure someone you know can corroborate your information on mr soomro --

er ana -- i know feroz lives in lahore -- i said `most` people -- as far as him being aware of the `ground realities` im not sure if a school teacher would be, even if his father happens to be a former IG or even if he meets well connected people socially -- actually i think he was the one who believed that thing about maulana fazlur rahman`s dad, who incidentally died quite a while back --also if i recollect properly, another of feroz sahib`s gem was that ch. shujaat had a role in the attack on shaukat aziz -- yes, ana, he seems very `aware` of the `ground realities` --

hellbound kya karoon yaar -- i have met the guy and known him for quite a few years and yes he does support the military but so do many others who dont do anything -- and those who criticize the military also dont do anything than rant and rave - so he actually does something and given his personal wealth he really doesnt need to -- and frankly quite sick and tired of some of the self styled arm-chair intellectuals on chowk --

imran: ``Well why for Cowasjee?? He is a blackmailer himself. Ask any builder in Karachi or any high ranking officer in KBCA (Karachi Building Control Authority) they will tell you the real stories about him. Let the culprits deal each other. ``

hahaha good one imran sahib -- ask the KBCA, which most karachiites believe to be the den of corruption and where files dont move unless you pay officials, ask them for cowasjee ????? u seem to another very well informed chowkie -- thats like asking sharon for an opinion on arafat -- jeez this place surprises me all the time