How Free is ’free?’
Beena Sarwar July 18, 2005
#14 Posted by miriamk on July 18, 2005 10:53:12 am
beena:
i am glad to see this article. freedom of speech and the related issue of censorship are certainly key in any society. hats off to you and other journalists in pakistan who continue to push the envelope even at great personal cost.
temp:
#10
point taken about journalists’ subjectivity and pre-occupation with “breaking news”, and the ensuing one-up-manship. but journalists (in the u.s.) also answer to a higher power; the corporation that owns the respective company they work for. there are but 10 conglomerates in the u.s. which own most of the media. a few of the largest being aol time warner, news corp. (rupert murdoch’s) and viacom. news today (in the u.s.) is not just a public service but also a profit-making initiative. and the bottom line dictates what is newsworthy and what isn’t. i would also imagine the ethos of the corporation and even the news team interferes with objectivity.
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?
miriam
i am glad to see this article. freedom of speech and the related issue of censorship are certainly key in any society. hats off to you and other journalists in pakistan who continue to push the envelope even at great personal cost.
temp:
#10
point taken about journalists’ subjectivity and pre-occupation with “breaking news”, and the ensuing one-up-manship. but journalists (in the u.s.) also answer to a higher power; the corporation that owns the respective company they work for. there are but 10 conglomerates in the u.s. which own most of the media. a few of the largest being aol time warner, news corp. (rupert murdoch’s) and viacom. news today (in the u.s.) is not just a public service but also a profit-making initiative. and the bottom line dictates what is newsworthy and what isn’t. i would also imagine the ethos of the corporation and even the news team interferes with objectivity.
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?
miriam
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#13 Posted by arjun_m on July 18, 2005 10:46:13 am
#12 by aslam644 on July 18, 2005 9:44am PT
Didn`t expect any better from the rag that has a hizb-u-tahrir member on it`s staff..
To compound the crisis of identity for male teenagers, Muslim girls are thriving with their new-found opportunities in the UK as they pull steadily ahead of their male counterparts at GCSE level and in the numbers going on to higher education.
Samina: Are you lurking... Why is it that muslim men are ``disenfranchised`` but muslim women seem to be doing well, given the vast opportunities available to them...
why are the muslim men blowing themselves up for Islamic causes when they are presumably from the same race as the muslim women doing well..can`t explain everything away by blaming it on racism....
Didn`t expect any better from the rag that has a hizb-u-tahrir member on it`s staff..
To compound the crisis of identity for male teenagers, Muslim girls are thriving with their new-found opportunities in the UK as they pull steadily ahead of their male counterparts at GCSE level and in the numbers going on to higher education.
Samina: Are you lurking... Why is it that muslim men are ``disenfranchised`` but muslim women seem to be doing well, given the vast opportunities available to them...
why are the muslim men blowing themselves up for Islamic causes when they are presumably from the same race as the muslim women doing well..can`t explain everything away by blaming it on racism....
#12 Posted by aslam644 on July 18, 2005 9:44:35 am
beena, tahmed or anyone
There are some factual errors can any one spot them.
Orphans of Islam
The history of Britain`s Mirpur population may help to explain why some became suicide bombers
Madeleine Bunting
Monday July 18, 2005
The Guardian
The room is packed, the discussions go on way beyond the allotted time: this was a meeting of young professional Muslims in London at the weekend. The anguish and self-criticism was unstoppable as they struggled to find answers to how their faith could have nurtured such a perversion as suicide bombers in London. The object of their scrutiny - the chairman singled this out as a mark of accepting their responsibility - was not British foreign policy, but their faith. What do the Qur`anic verses about jihad really mean? How can extremists misinterpret them? And the imam, Abu Muntasir, patiently tried to answer - it`s been a failure of our scholars, a failure of our teachers. The harshness of the self-criticism was painful to hear: this was a community flagellating itself.
The themes at the core of their discussions were about the failed transmission of Islamic values in Britain and the collapse of Islamic authority - long traditions of respected scholarship and religious leadership were all cast aside on 7/7 by these four young men - why? Over the coming months, every detail of these young men`s lives will be picked over by anti-terrorist experts to map the experiences and influences that shaped their extremism. It`s early days, but already some of the factors that need to be plotted on to this map are emerging.
First, 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. Just as the dominant role of Saudis in 9/11 led to a spotlight on the religion and politics of Saudi Arabia, so attention will focus on Mirpur.
This rural, impoverished district provided cheap, unskilled labour for Britain in the 60s and 70s. Most immigrants were from subsistence-farming communities and had had little or no schooling. They made a huge cultural and geographical leap to settle in the UK - the dislocation is hard to imagine.
One of the things they brought with them was the perception of a long history of dispossession and marginalisation. Partition brought terrible bloodshed and the division of Kashmir between Pakistan and India. (This was the issue cited until very recently as the most pressing political priority in the UK by the majority of British Muslims.) Within Pakistan, Mirpur is to the more dominant Punjabis what the Irish have historically been to the British, explained one Mirpuri.
In the 80s the remittances began to flow in, fuelling an extraordinary boom in Mirpur, bringing computers, televisions, the internet, satellite dishes, microwaves and fridges. One of the strongest Mirpuri traditions is that you marry your first cousin, so there is a constant exchange with the UK to renew the Mirpuri influence for the next generation. Mirpur has been an example - and there are others the world over - of the painful disruption in deeply traditional communities of a sudden influx of wealth and interface with modernity.
The narrative of dispossession gained new force in the 80s amid the collapse of the industries in which the first generation had come to work. Men who had worked long hours in the textiles and steel industry - and had been, arguably, more integrated into white workforces than their taxi-driver and curry-house sons - found themselves redundant. The more recent oppression and humiliation of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan would have resonated powerfully with these collective memories of Yorkshire Muslims, passed from grandfather and father to son.
A second critical issue that needs to be plotted on to this map is that the vast majority of Mirpuris adhere to a tradition of Sufi Islam called Barelwi. One of the Indian Islamic revival movements of the late 19th century, Barelwi life revolves around holy elders known as pirs; their graves become shrines and places of pilgrimage.
The problem, which has been well known within many Muslim circles, is that Barelwism has particularly struggled to translate itself effectively into British urban life. There are very few English-speaking Barelwi imams. They have steered clear of national organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain, and even set up their own umbrella group recently. They are treated with disdain by the Wahhabi and Muslim Brotherhood-influenced groups who are more vocal in the British Muslim community. The writ of the MCB`s Iqbal Sacranie, a Malawi-born Indian Muslim, doesn`t reach into such introverted communities. One wry comment at the weekend was: if Sacranie is visiting the Leeds Barelwis now that`s great, but it`s probably the first time.
What has been obvious to thoughtful second-generation Barelwis themselves is that they are losing the young. The mosques are tightly controlled by the old patriarchal elders, who hire their Urdu-speaking imams from the home village. The kids come to prayers, don`t understand much of what they see or hear and drift off to find an Islam that can answer their questions.
A profound disconnection has opened up between the communal experience of political and economic dispossession and the pious, otherworldly Barelwi traditions. As one Yorkshireman from a Barelwi background, Azhar Hussain, said: ``When I was 17 and got to university and began to take religion more seriously I went to hear all the Islamic groups to see which one made the most sense. The Barelwis are not on university campuses; they can`t answer those questions.``
In the early 90s Arabs told Navid Akhtar, a broadcast journalist from a Barelwi background, that they had spotted a constituency in these disaffected young Muslims; ``They called them `orphans of Islam`,`` Akhtar says.
To compound the crisis of identity for male teenagers, Muslim girls are thriving with their new-found opportunities in the UK as they pull steadily ahead of their male counterparts at GCSE level and in the numbers going on to higher education.
Some in the Muslim community have been struggling with these problems for years, trying to challenge recalcitrant mosque committees, trying to set up youth projects; they have been well aware of the threat of extremism. ``We`ve been too afraid,`` a Muslim living in a northern town told me. ``There are so many frustrated, angry men who tell me, `They`re doing it in Iraq, why can`t we do it to them?` They convince themselves that this is Islamic. I find it frustrating that our community hasn`t tackled this. We have to talk to them about these issues - let them get their anger out.``
For this man, who does voluntary community work, what lies ahead is an impossible tightrope of near-illegality if he is to take on the challenge of extremism in his community - he agrees and likens his position to that of someone who works with drug addicts. We are told that what lies ahead is a battle of ideas. If so, this kind of community volunteer is on the frontline. It will be his judgment call as to when he can guide a disorientated, angry young man or whether he has to shop him to the police.
There are some factual errors can any one spot them.
Orphans of Islam
The history of Britain`s Mirpur population may help to explain why some became suicide bombers
Madeleine Bunting
Monday July 18, 2005
The Guardian
The room is packed, the discussions go on way beyond the allotted time: this was a meeting of young professional Muslims in London at the weekend. The anguish and self-criticism was unstoppable as they struggled to find answers to how their faith could have nurtured such a perversion as suicide bombers in London. The object of their scrutiny - the chairman singled this out as a mark of accepting their responsibility - was not British foreign policy, but their faith. What do the Qur`anic verses about jihad really mean? How can extremists misinterpret them? And the imam, Abu Muntasir, patiently tried to answer - it`s been a failure of our scholars, a failure of our teachers. The harshness of the self-criticism was painful to hear: this was a community flagellating itself.
The themes at the core of their discussions were about the failed transmission of Islamic values in Britain and the collapse of Islamic authority - long traditions of respected scholarship and religious leadership were all cast aside on 7/7 by these four young men - why? Over the coming months, every detail of these young men`s lives will be picked over by anti-terrorist experts to map the experiences and influences that shaped their extremism. It`s early days, but already some of the factors that need to be plotted on to this map are emerging.
First, 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. Just as the dominant role of Saudis in 9/11 led to a spotlight on the religion and politics of Saudi Arabia, so attention will focus on Mirpur.
This rural, impoverished district provided cheap, unskilled labour for Britain in the 60s and 70s. Most immigrants were from subsistence-farming communities and had had little or no schooling. They made a huge cultural and geographical leap to settle in the UK - the dislocation is hard to imagine.
One of the things they brought with them was the perception of a long history of dispossession and marginalisation. Partition brought terrible bloodshed and the division of Kashmir between Pakistan and India. (This was the issue cited until very recently as the most pressing political priority in the UK by the majority of British Muslims.) Within Pakistan, Mirpur is to the more dominant Punjabis what the Irish have historically been to the British, explained one Mirpuri.
In the 80s the remittances began to flow in, fuelling an extraordinary boom in Mirpur, bringing computers, televisions, the internet, satellite dishes, microwaves and fridges. One of the strongest Mirpuri traditions is that you marry your first cousin, so there is a constant exchange with the UK to renew the Mirpuri influence for the next generation. Mirpur has been an example - and there are others the world over - of the painful disruption in deeply traditional communities of a sudden influx of wealth and interface with modernity.
The narrative of dispossession gained new force in the 80s amid the collapse of the industries in which the first generation had come to work. Men who had worked long hours in the textiles and steel industry - and had been, arguably, more integrated into white workforces than their taxi-driver and curry-house sons - found themselves redundant. The more recent oppression and humiliation of Muslims in Iraq and Afghanistan would have resonated powerfully with these collective memories of Yorkshire Muslims, passed from grandfather and father to son.
A second critical issue that needs to be plotted on to this map is that the vast majority of Mirpuris adhere to a tradition of Sufi Islam called Barelwi. One of the Indian Islamic revival movements of the late 19th century, Barelwi life revolves around holy elders known as pirs; their graves become shrines and places of pilgrimage.
The problem, which has been well known within many Muslim circles, is that Barelwism has particularly struggled to translate itself effectively into British urban life. There are very few English-speaking Barelwi imams. They have steered clear of national organisations such as the Muslim Council of Britain, and even set up their own umbrella group recently. They are treated with disdain by the Wahhabi and Muslim Brotherhood-influenced groups who are more vocal in the British Muslim community. The writ of the MCB`s Iqbal Sacranie, a Malawi-born Indian Muslim, doesn`t reach into such introverted communities. One wry comment at the weekend was: if Sacranie is visiting the Leeds Barelwis now that`s great, but it`s probably the first time.
What has been obvious to thoughtful second-generation Barelwis themselves is that they are losing the young. The mosques are tightly controlled by the old patriarchal elders, who hire their Urdu-speaking imams from the home village. The kids come to prayers, don`t understand much of what they see or hear and drift off to find an Islam that can answer their questions.
A profound disconnection has opened up between the communal experience of political and economic dispossession and the pious, otherworldly Barelwi traditions. As one Yorkshireman from a Barelwi background, Azhar Hussain, said: ``When I was 17 and got to university and began to take religion more seriously I went to hear all the Islamic groups to see which one made the most sense. The Barelwis are not on university campuses; they can`t answer those questions.``
In the early 90s Arabs told Navid Akhtar, a broadcast journalist from a Barelwi background, that they had spotted a constituency in these disaffected young Muslims; ``They called them `orphans of Islam`,`` Akhtar says.
To compound the crisis of identity for male teenagers, Muslim girls are thriving with their new-found opportunities in the UK as they pull steadily ahead of their male counterparts at GCSE level and in the numbers going on to higher education.
Some in the Muslim community have been struggling with these problems for years, trying to challenge recalcitrant mosque committees, trying to set up youth projects; they have been well aware of the threat of extremism. ``We`ve been too afraid,`` a Muslim living in a northern town told me. ``There are so many frustrated, angry men who tell me, `They`re doing it in Iraq, why can`t we do it to them?` They convince themselves that this is Islamic. I find it frustrating that our community hasn`t tackled this. We have to talk to them about these issues - let them get their anger out.``
For this man, who does voluntary community work, what lies ahead is an impossible tightrope of near-illegality if he is to take on the challenge of extremism in his community - he agrees and likens his position to that of someone who works with drug addicts. We are told that what lies ahead is a battle of ideas. If so, this kind of community volunteer is on the frontline. It will be his judgment call as to when he can guide a disorientated, angry young man or whether he has to shop him to the police.
#11 Posted by b_banth on July 18, 2005 7:08:08 am
This is first time I am reading a piece of writing by this essayist. Good compilation, narration and smoothness are giving a picture of author’s grip on the topic. But worthiness of the text is not purely based on facts. Media should be free but it should not be free from all ethical, societal of cultural errands and legal responsibilities. Every body wants a free media but no body appreciates a “freelance” media. Media bears a huge responsibility of educating masses. Nawaz Sharif government’s lambasting against a media group was not purely based on their previous tax record or launching a private television channel. Negating government policies, mocking those at the helm and playing irresponsible role were the major complaints. Tax issue might be in the corner. As for as opening of a private television channel is concerned one thing should be in mind that at that time there was no policy in Pakistan for opening private channel. Launching of private television channels was permited in Musharraf’s “enlightened and moderate” ear (not mentioning Mukhtaran Mai’s episode). Therefore it’s an invalid question by the author.
In the middle of the article, Beenajee, lose grip of the topic and tilted towards presenting Mr. Amir Mir as the only jobless person in the country. No doubt that “media” have not done well with this brilliant journalist. Hope this advocacy will help to get a job for this gentleman.
Over all, thanks for your nice words.
Dr. Tallat
In the middle of the article, Beenajee, lose grip of the topic and tilted towards presenting Mr. Amir Mir as the only jobless person in the country. No doubt that “media” have not done well with this brilliant journalist. Hope this advocacy will help to get a job for this gentleman.
Over all, thanks for your nice words.
Dr. Tallat
#10 Posted by temporal on July 18, 2005 6:59:40 am
(long post)
How Free is ’free?’Beena Sarwar
first a digressionary thanks to chowk editors for three good articles on a similar theme!...
what is free?
free--adj. Having the legal and political rights of a citizen (representatives…shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons - U.S. Constitution art. I)
Enjoying civil and political liberty (a free people)
Enjoying political independence or freedom from outside domination (these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States - Declaration of Independence)
Not subject to the control or domination of another
Made or done as a matter of choice and right Not compelled or restricted (no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof - U.S. Constitution amend. I) (a free and voluntary confession)
Relieved from or lacking a burden (as a lien or other encumbrance on title) (a buyer in ordinary course of business…takes free of a security interest created by his seller - Uniform Commercial Code)
Not bound, confined, or detained by force (free on bail)
Having no trade restrictions
Not subject to government regulation
of foreign exchange Not subject to restriction or official control
next, if you are still with me;)
who is free?
****
...more digressions...what else?...it is 0930 and have just had a breakfast...so am no hungry...but i need to express this...there is no free lunch beena
...the examples you mentioned are typical timocratic suppression of views...and while i have full sympathies with them as i do with those imprisoned in iran and other countries...i am going to express my views on a related but different subject...
****
the role of media in being objective...my beef is...they are not...objective...
the media is increasingly more and more subjective...and that is for me more of a concern:
* in pakistan you are already familiar with the shenanigans going on...need i mention what is so commonly known to the insiders in the jang or dawn groups?
* similarly in india..major sanctimonious chains are selling op-ed spaces...selling? yes!
* in US the bastion (according to the misguided) the freedom is limited...one example...look at the kowtowing by the US media in the Iraq War...in the beginning...print or electronic...neither really examined the news critically or objectively.... keen students can notice this even today if they monitor both the print and electronic media...there is hardly any journalistic initiative...and instead there is a preposterous reliance on the coverage...playing one newsmaker against another and then getting in their slant sideways
***
beena: would be more interested in learning on your views on a sustainably objective news environment...
lve
t
How Free is ’free?’Beena Sarwar
first a digressionary thanks to chowk editors for three good articles on a similar theme!...
what is free?
free--adj. Having the legal and political rights of a citizen (representatives…shall be determined by adding to the whole number of free persons - U.S. Constitution art. I)
Enjoying civil and political liberty (a free people)
Enjoying political independence or freedom from outside domination (these united colonies are, and of right ought to be free and independent States - Declaration of Independence)
Not subject to the control or domination of another
Made or done as a matter of choice and right Not compelled or restricted (no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof - U.S. Constitution amend. I) (a free and voluntary confession)
Relieved from or lacking a burden (as a lien or other encumbrance on title) (a buyer in ordinary course of business…takes free of a security interest created by his seller - Uniform Commercial Code)
Not bound, confined, or detained by force (free on bail)
Having no trade restrictions
Not subject to government regulation
of foreign exchange Not subject to restriction or official control
next, if you are still with me;)
who is free?
****
...more digressions...what else?...it is 0930 and have just had a breakfast...so am no hungry...but i need to express this...there is no free lunch beena
...the examples you mentioned are typical timocratic suppression of views...and while i have full sympathies with them as i do with those imprisoned in iran and other countries...i am going to express my views on a related but different subject...
****
the role of media in being objective...my beef is...they are not...objective...
the media is increasingly more and more subjective...and that is for me more of a concern:
* in pakistan you are already familiar with the shenanigans going on...need i mention what is so commonly known to the insiders in the jang or dawn groups?
* similarly in india..major sanctimonious chains are selling op-ed spaces...selling? yes!
* in US the bastion (according to the misguided) the freedom is limited...one example...look at the kowtowing by the US media in the Iraq War...in the beginning...print or electronic...neither really examined the news critically or objectively.... keen students can notice this even today if they monitor both the print and electronic media...there is hardly any journalistic initiative...and instead there is a preposterous reliance on the coverage...playing one newsmaker against another and then getting in their slant sideways
***
beena: would be more interested in learning on your views on a sustainably objective news environment...
lve
t
#9 Posted by veeresh on July 18, 2005 6:03:15 am
How free is ``free``?
Well, IMHO free shall be really free when a new middle-class emerges from within (and not consisting only of people with existing status quo inertia levels to protect).
And your media will be free when newspapers cost 1 or 2 rupees maximum in Pakistan. Till then they will remain elitist avenues at 15-20 rupees of badly printed broadsheets.
Good luck.
Well, IMHO free shall be really free when a new middle-class emerges from within (and not consisting only of people with existing status quo inertia levels to protect).
And your media will be free when newspapers cost 1 or 2 rupees maximum in Pakistan. Till then they will remain elitist avenues at 15-20 rupees of badly printed broadsheets.
Good luck.
#8 Posted by ballukhan on July 18, 2005 5:58:38 am
I think now the era of REAL freedom has already been initiated...that rascal Musharaff over throws democracy and ensures that the ``promotion of virtue and prevention of evil department`` from the Taliban return to their mother land. This time there is going to be strict policing by the goons of this department and the press can expect these goons to descend on them with their canes to teach them a few lessons in ``political decency``!!!!
‘Hasba bill to isolate MMA’
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, July 9: The NWFP government’s plan to enact a new law to create religious watchdogs has rung alarm bells in the country, some critics seeing it as a move by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) government to Talibanise the sensitive region.
While the MMA government was due to introduce the controversial Hasbah Bill in the provincial assembly on Monday, the move was denounced by almost all other major political parties and human rights groups in the country.
But the MMA, which says it only seeks to reform society in line with Islamic teachings, seemed set to get the bill passed by its comfortable majority in the 124-seat house.
Designed to create religious mohtasibs, or ombudsmen, at the provincial, district and tehsil levels who will be helped by a virtual religious police in what will be known as “amar bil maroof wa nahi anil munkar” (promotion of virtue and prevention of evil) department, the bill is likely to further strain the provincial government’s relations with the federal government, political sources said.
‘Hasba bill to isolate MMA’
By Raja Asghar
ISLAMABAD, July 9: The NWFP government’s plan to enact a new law to create religious watchdogs has rung alarm bells in the country, some critics seeing it as a move by the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) government to Talibanise the sensitive region.
While the MMA government was due to introduce the controversial Hasbah Bill in the provincial assembly on Monday, the move was denounced by almost all other major political parties and human rights groups in the country.
But the MMA, which says it only seeks to reform society in line with Islamic teachings, seemed set to get the bill passed by its comfortable majority in the 124-seat house.
Designed to create religious mohtasibs, or ombudsmen, at the provincial, district and tehsil levels who will be helped by a virtual religious police in what will be known as “amar bil maroof wa nahi anil munkar” (promotion of virtue and prevention of evil) department, the bill is likely to further strain the provincial government’s relations with the federal government, political sources said.
#7 Posted by BeeJay on July 18, 2005 5:46:38 am
On a comparative scale, one could indeed say that present Pakistani journalists and the like have more liberties compared to many other times in the past. As always, the problem with a “little bit of freedom” is that it stimulates the desire for complete freedom. This is a little bit like coming to the end of a tunnel and seeing some light – one only wants to run towards that light and get out of the hell-hole, not sit down and contemplate how that little bit of light is better than complete darkness that prevailed before!
Freedom from purely commercial considerations will never happen, of course!
Let me take a moment here to congratulate the brave Pakistani writers and journalists whom I really admire (you included) who have over the years continuously stuck your necks out (under various kinds of dictatorships) for causes that really matter for the subcontinent – including and especially women’s emancipation and government abuse of power. As long as SOMEBODY continues to highlight the abuses of dictatorial powers, the whole population can not be considered pliant. Many of you provide the only true ray of hope for a brighter future! The Indians have it easy, by comparison!
I hope SOMEBODY in the government takes note of the plea you have made on behalf of Mr. Mir, and have the sound judgment to take this one right albeit small step toward what is only inevitable!
#6 Posted by Kamath on July 18, 2005 4:35:25 am
You complain complain too much. Press is pretty free today in Pakistan. I read columns by Irfan Hussain, Ayaz Amir, those from The Friday times, Jang etc. etc. They are very critical of Pakistan`s politics, govt. and men in Khaki. No body seems to bother them or harass. Is it not free press? Pakistani Press is as free as that of India-give and take a bit.
#5 Posted by omar_r_quraishi on July 18, 2005 4:21:38 am
well this article was printed in the pakistani media -- or wasnt it rozaiba
#4 Posted by cayenne on July 18, 2005 3:12:55 am
Nothing is `free`.So why expect the press to be `free` in a dictatorship?.Be grateful for what you got and run with it.This is as enlightened as a dictatorship can ever get!!!.
#3 Posted by patwari on July 18, 2005 2:42:18 am
Well written article and very timely ... but when Pak govt says media is free and that is true it however does not mean that we are on road to true democracy which the general saab keeps harping about.
#2 Posted by patwari on July 18, 2005 2:42:14 am
Well written article and very timely ... but when Pak govt says media is free and that is true it however does not mean that we are on road to true democracy which the general saab keeps harping about.
#1 Posted by rozaiba on July 18, 2005 1:34:32 am
The media in Pakistan is indeed very free. As long as you don`t go after the Faujiz (ie Javed Hashmi) and don`t talk about principles and are willing to sacrifice them for `national interests` and don`t talk about the fauji crooks of the 80`s and don`t bother to investigate the Chinese train engines ordered by fauji brigadiers whose breaks don`t work causing a couple of hundred random deaths, it`s all cool.
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