How Free is ’free?’

Here`s where we indians are at.Maybe, paks should learn from india`s example??.Press freedom is a start.After all, Mr.Singh was born in Pakistan.His speech to the US Congress should be a matter of pride for Paks too.In the same token, i dare say your present dictatorship is the most enlightened , `cause Mr.Musharaf was born in India, and freedom and openness is part of our indian psyche.Here`s the BBC take on Mr.Singh`s speech....

Last Updated: Tuesday, 19 July, 2005, 16:36 GMT 17:36 UK

BBC News

India assures US over nuclear aid

Mr Singh is being treated as an honoured guest in the US

India`s Prime Minister Manmohan Singh has told the US Congress his country can be trusted with nuclear technology.

US President George W Bush said on Tuesday he would push for Congress to lift sanctions on supplying civilian nuclear technology to Delhi.

Mr Singh told Congress that India and the US must draw on shared democratic values to boost trade and fight terror.

Correspondents say Mr Singh`s US trip is set to cement a major alliance in the new diplomatic landscape.

The Indian leader on Tuesday became one of a small group of trusted allies invited to address both houses of the US Congress.

He told US lawmakers the ``field of civil nuclear energy is a vital area for co-operation between our two countries``.

We are at a juncture in history where we can embark on a partnership that draws both on principle and pragmatism

Manmohan Singh


Breakthrough in India-US ties

India has obeyed all international laws aimed at checking the proliferation of nuclear technology, Mr Singh said, even though ``we have witnessed unchecked nuclear proliferation in our own neighbourhood`` - an apparent reference to neighbour Pakistan.

India and Pakistan conducted tit-for-tat nuclear tests in 1998, sparking sanctions and condemnation from the US.

President Bush`s willingness to share nuclear technology with India marks an important shift in US foreign policy, correspondents say.

UN reform

Mr Singh told Congress that India and the US had much in common: ``You are the world`s oldest democracy, we are its largest.``

He said the ``openness of our societies makes us more vulnerable`` to terrorism.

He urged the US to invest in India`s development, particularly in information technology.

``We are at a juncture in history where we can embark on a partnership that draws both on principle and pragmatism,`` Mr Singh said.

Congress also cheered as Mr Singh spoke of the need to reform the United Nations, arguing the case for India to be included on the Security Council - a proposal President Bush has opposed.

``The voice of the world`s largest democracy cannot be unheard on the Security Council,`` he said.

#14 Miriamk (part)

The corporations you mention are generally so large that their interests cover too many diverse areas – they do not protect or project any one particular point of view on ANY issue. They are profit-driven and they mostly do not interfere with the day-to-day operations of news organizations – they mostly leave it to the judgment of the day-to-day operatives – not so much because it is the “right” thing to do, but because it is simply the most practical thing to do – why would anyone do something oneself when one has more experienced brains available (and one is paying them) to do the same work.

(An important exception when higher level ownership DOES get involved in a lower-level decision is when an issue can mess up the corporate image of the larger entity. Examples from the past would include R.J. Reynolds on tobacco, many corporations on disinvestment from the (then apartheid-practicing) South Africa, etc. The bottom line rule is – it is just not good business to be controversial if you are trying to enlarge your market base to the whole population. This is also the reason that many corporations would withhold advertisements from “controversial” programs.)

Because of the curiosity raised by your remarks regarding James Madison ([solution: well, the founding fathers (especially james madison) thought it was important that the public and not the merchants own the media. hmmm…wonder why?]), I felt inspired to go back and read on him some. (As you know, Madison made a major contribution to the ratification of the Constitution by writing, with Alexander Hamilton and John Jay, the Federalist essays – which eventually proved to be one of the triggers that led to U.S. independence.)

The problem I see is you make statements and attribute to Mr. Madison without any basis. Freedom of press was just one (relatively minor) issue in Madison’s drafting and supporting the “bill of rights” – what we would call the dangers of a rough-shod majority appears to have been the main driving force. Madison never said anything regarding private ownership of press – the argument advocated by you, which clearly appears to be a product of YOUR idle imagination. Here is what I see is the bulk of the story regarding Madison and the freedom of press.

In introducing the draft of what became the “bill of rights”, here is what Madison’s version of the speech and press clauses (introduced in the House of Representatives on June 8, 1789) said: “The people shall not be deprived or abridged of their right to speak, to write, or to publish their sentiments; and the freedom of the press, as one of the great bulwarks of liberty, shall be inviolable.” The final language (“Congress shall make no law respecting … abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; ….”) was agreed upon in conference.

Madison, like other American founding fathers, was probably heavily influenced by the model of common law set forth by William Blackstone in the 1700s, who stated: “The liberty of the press is indeed essential to the nature of a free state; but this consists in laying no previous restraints upon publications, and not in freedom from censure for criminal matter when published. Every freeman has an undoubted right to lay what sentiments he pleases before the public; to forbid this, is to destroy the freedom of the press: but if he publishes what is improper, mischievous, or illegal, he must take the consequences of his own temerity. …Thus, the will of individuals is still left free: the abuse only of that free will is the object of legal punishment. Neither is any restraint hereby laid upon freedom of thought or inquiry; liberty of private sentiment is still left; the disseminating, or making public, of bad sentiments, destructive to the ends of society, is the crime which society corrects.”

An interesting trivia: “Madison wrote 24 of his 29 Federalist essays in seven weeks, at the remarkable pace of three essays a week. Many of these essays rank among the best political thought ever produced.” Some people – when they get going – there is no stopping them!

(Unsought advice:) Please use initial caps appropriately in your remarks (and thus not “belittle” the U.S.)

Mohar 11 and YLH #23,
Both of you are so right. Sad, but it`s true that the US news organizations, especially Fox and even CNN, not to mention ABC, CBS, NBC, and inclluding the printed stuff is so jingoistic ever since the First Gulf War. I have been relying more and more on BBC for moderately unbiased news coverage. We just have to wait and see if the London terrorist attacks affect their objectivity. Funny thing, in Pakistan the most liberal environment for the press occurs during military dictatorships and the worst oppression is during the so-called democracies dominated by the ``liberal and progressive`` parties - PPP, PML, ML, and so on.
Chowk, of course, is a shining example of unbiased and fair environment - HA HA HA HA.
Salim

Re: # 12
``the families of the three Leeds-based bombers were originally, in all likelihood, from Mirpur, part of Pakistani Kashmir. Mirpuris form 70% of the British Muslim population, and the figure is even higher in northern towns``

This is from guardian quality newspaper. A classic case of stereotyping a community

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the reports are bombers and plotters background are very to what she writes--jamica

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faiselabad

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biochemist from egypt etc

Re: # 23 ylh

That`s true. Actually, post 9/11 media situation in US has been an eye-opener. The abject dereliction of duty on part of US media organizations is unprecendented........ Lack of professionalism is astounding ....... Display of mindless servility is just pathetic....

In some ways, it`s worse than what would have happened in a third world country under similar situation ....... Which is why Jon Stewart [of commedy central] is so popular these days :)

#25 by omar_r_quraishi on July 19, 2005 5:49am PT


it`s free enough for me to write this in my newspaper


It`s one thing to write in general terms...Try writing on specifics...Then you`ll know what abid ullah jan and shaheen sehbai went through...


well if you consider the guardian a rag,


The guardian has on it`s staff, a member of a brit-Pakistani terrorist group, the Hizb-ur-tahrir...nuff said...

it`s free enough for me to write this in my newspaper -- (arjun_M -- well if you consider the guardian a rag, then obviously we know who the moron here is -- )

http://www.dawn.com/2005/07/19/op.htm#5

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Towards a shackled society, perhaps

By Omar R. Quraishi


THE controversial Hasba bill passed by the NWFP Assembly on July 14 has already forced the federal government to seek the opinion of the Supreme Court regarding its constitutionality. Passed in the face of stiff opposition from the opposition MPAs and after an amendment which exempts all members of the provincial assembly from its applicability, the Hasba bill could well push the province into a process of Talibanization.

A day after its passage, the NWFP senior minister, Sirajul Haq, in his sermon at Peshawar’s Mohabbat Khan mosque, told the audience that the NWFP government had only done what it had promised its voters to do. These sentiments had been repeated a few days earlier by the secretary-general of the MMA, Maulana Fazlur Rahman, who had attended the assembly session as a visitor when the bill was initially tabled. Both said that the religio-political alliance was elected precisely on an Islamization platform and that the MMA government in the NWFP was only keeping the promise that it had made at the time of elections.

This line has been used consistently by Akram Durrani’s government, and from a strictly technical point of view, cannot really be challenged. The six-party MMA has a majority in the NWFP assembly and hence it can get any law passed. Passage of such a law would in fact, on the face of it, seem to be a step in line with democracy because the MPAs are the chosen representatives of those who elected them.

Clearly, the passage of any bill by a legislature is supposed to represent the will of the people after which the legislation acquires the force of law. Nobody can take away this right of law-making from them, and certainly not in a democratic dispensation. The problem, however, is that sometimes actions which may be technically faultless can be very retrogressive, even ruinous for society. One cannot find a more telling example of this from history than Adolf Hitler who was put into power by massive electoral majorities, and rose to become the chancellor of Germany.

The point here is not to compare the MMA with the Third Reich but to emphasize that sometimes even elected governments can make terrible mistakes, and the MMA-led one in the NWFP may well be on its way to that. It has made the unfortunate assumption that being elected to public office allows it to make laws that are tantamount to gross interference in the private lives of the people, which is precisely what world happen if the Orwellian Hasba bill is signed into law by the NWFP governor (who, thankfully, has said that he will resist any such move).

Under the law, the governor, in consultation with the chief minister, will appoint a religious scholar as an ombudsman or mohtasib. This official will have powers to “reform society” in accordance with the teachings of Islam and whose main job will be to “discourage vice and encourage virtue”. He will be vested with the power to “reform society” in accordance with the teachings of Islam.

The office of the ombudsman — which will be set up at the district and tehsil levels — will have the power to issue directives to ensure that those living in an area under his jurisdiction adhere to the tenets of Islam and to ensure society is indeed being ‘Islamized’. To discourage vice and encourage virtue and to enforce his directives, the proposed law sanctions a police force to be at the ombudsman’s beck and call.

Even more worryingly, no person will be able to challenge in court any action “taken in good faith” by the ombudsman. Critics — and these include the federal government and the PML which has warned that it will challenge the law once it is passed — have argued that in the presence of the Objectives Resolution in the Constitution there is no need to have a particular law to ensure that people live their lives in accordance with Islamic teachings and that the system proposed under the Hasba law will create a parallel system of justice, dependent on the notions and interpretations of one individual with immense powers to interfere in the people’s private lives. Besides, apart from being a parallel system, of justice, the Hasba bill places the office of the ombudsman above the law.

The powers of the ombudsman include “ensuring Islamic values at public places, discouraging business activities or playing during prayer times, begging, misusing loudspeakers, preventing corruption in government departments, protecting state property, creating a

spirit of public service among government servants and ensuring parents’ obedience by children”.

The vague and ambiguous provision of “ensuring Islamic values at public places” is bound to open a Pandora’s box because it would be safe to assume that the person whom the NWFP government will appoint as ombudsman will share the MMA’s rigid and retrogressive interpretation of religion, and of Islamic values in particular.

A situation can well be imagined in which police will stop and question all men and women walking or driving together to check if the man is ‘mehram’ or not. ‘Ensuring obedience of parents by children’ seems all right and is a worthy goal but a government-appointed official ensuring this is not only absurd but also seems unworkable and far fetched.

Implementation of the Hasba bill could well take the NWFP back to the Dark Ages. Helped by the police — who will assume the role of the dreaded mutawwa or religious police of Saudi Arabia — we could well see business and shops being forcibly shut down at prayer times and people being coerced into going to the mosque. This is quite contrary to the true spirit of Islam which relies on a direct and personal relationship between the believer and the God and emphasizes that there should be no compulsion in religion.

Unfortunately, the religious alliance in power in the NWFP fails to appreciate this precept and its logical corollary, believing that religious, moral and ethical values are in need of being enforced through coercion and threat of coercion. In fact, the MMA government has repeatedly said that enforcing such a system is precisely its goal. Its leaders, and many ministers in the NWFP, have openly expressed their admiration for the Taliban and some of the MMA’s component parties, especially Maulana Fazlur Rahman’s JUI, have had very close links with the Taliban. However, that should be of little comfort to many people residing in the province who will soon face the consequences of the proposed system of Islamization forcing religion down people’s throats.

For instance, under the MMA government, women have been at the receiving end of discrimination and other forms of unjust treatment. Discriminatory policies have been followed by the provincial government such as a ban on male doctors treating women, forced segregation in government colleges, prohibiting male coaches from teaching women and so forth.

Then there have been MMA-backed or affiliated groups, such as the Shabab-i-Milli which have acted as vigilantes and gone about exercising a very misogynist agenda of forcing women out of public life. This they have done by indulging in activities like blackening female faces on advertizing billboards or forcing men to stop women from voting in local and provincial elections.

In fact, in one highly publicized case, one such group in Haripur in Hazara district — known to be traditionally less conservative than the rest of the province — forced the local administration to ban the hiring of women in public call offices. The reason for this ridiculous action was that the presence of women in PCOs was promoting immoral practices when in fact women saw it as a much-needed opportunity for them to augment their family’s income.

Other than women, all creative individuals and groups such as musicians and artists were driven out of the province after their activities were banned.

The situation is bound to get worse because under the proposed new law, the ombudsman will have the power to imprison or fine anyone who listens to music or takes photographic images. The NGOs, too, should prepare themselves for some rough times ahead.

Working in the more backward areas of the NWFP, they have been routinely harassed, criticized and herried and have had to deal with a very hostile environment in the province. This has led to some tragic incidents in which some NGO activists have been physically harmed, and for some cases even killed, as happened recently in the case of a woman, who was working for the Aurat Foundation, and her daughter. One can well imagine what will happen once the Hasba bill begins to be enforced, because senior MMA leaders in the past have repeatedly called most of the NGOs ‘un-Islamic’.

Other than making the NWFP a joyless and shackled society whose residents will probably go through the vigorous process of legally enforcing religion (and

a highly retrogressive interpretation at that) the Hasba bill also has the potential to snowball into a confrontation between the provincial and federal governments, with far-reaching legal and political implications.

Email:omarq@cyber.net.pk

It`s all about `control`.About who will `control` whom.Pak-mullah-istan is not unusual from any other society in this regard.

I am afraid the War in Iraq and its coverage in the American Media shows conclusively that the establishment controls the media in even the ``Freest`` countries...

It is always something or the other... in every society....

Pakistani printed media is pretty free. Also Pakistani government`s drive against terrorism is fairly genuine now.

What happens is that journalists and anti-terror functionaries are expected to stay away from digging too deep about `certain areas` of government`s functioning. Those who do not impose that amount of self-censorship take very large personal risks.

Mr. Amir Mir is a typical example of a journalist who has not been sufficiently careful. He has been consistently following a couple of stories that most other Pakistani journalists now hint at, but have never dared make the focus of their writing.

#20, Mr. Dillidost,
Thank you for the compliment, but Pakiland is not ready for a PM named Chauhan. :)
AlKayda would forget everything else and concentrate on yours truly.
Salim.

Re: # 18
Well Said,
I have been saying all along you should be Pakistani PM.

Aha,
Careful she is, not too much, not too little.
It must be hard for Pakistani writers to make a point without attacking the present day rulers. Examples chosen are always of the past.

Good Job Beena Sarwar!

miriam:

thanks for reminding us:

A popular Government without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy or perhaps both. Knowledge will forever govern ignorance, and a people who mean to be their own governors, must arm themselves with the power knowledge gives. James Madison

we indeed live in Farce and Tragic times;

there are also dangers inherent in the other end of the pendulum...we know what happens in the totalitarian regimes where the media is state owned...

to play with fellow torontonians famous words it is not anymore true that the medium is the message

increasingly this is evident everywhere...control of the medium is the message

lve

t

Re: # 13
arjun-m
i am dissappointed well informed person like you has got the answer wrong.