MEDIA-PAKISTAN: New Musharraf Term Less Liberal?

By Zofeen Ebrahim Reprint | | Print |

Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, Oct 10 2007 (IPS) - Journalists are divided on whether attacks on the media will cease, against the backdrop of what looks like another five-year presidential term for Gen Pervez Musharraf.

"This is just the beginning; there is more of this to come," warned Nusrat Javeed, a senior journalist based in the Pakistani capital of Islamabad, reflecting on the Sep. 29 attack on journalists by baton-wielding riot police.

"It was much worse than what the television showed," recalled another journalist, Clarence Rufin, who witnessed the teargas dispersal of lawyers and opposition activists protesting the filing of Musharraf&#39s presidential nomination papers at the Election Commission’s office. The journalists were roughed up and their equipment smashed.

"What we witnessed that day was mob mentality in reverse," explains Ikram Sehgal, a political analyst and editor of &#39Defence Journal&#39. "The police acted like an enraged animal and lost all perspective."

According to the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, 29 journalists were injured that day. News reports say authorities tried to stop the live coverage of the protest rally by forcing cable operators to take certain private channels off the air.

Musharraf won a second term in the Oct. 6 presidential elections, but the official proclamation is on hold pending a Supreme Court ruling on whether the general was eligible to run in the first place. The decision is expected on Oct. 17.

Musharraf came to power on Oct. 12, 1999 in a bloodless coup, putting then prime minister Nawaz Sharif under house arrest before sending him into exile. Musharraf became president while retaining his job as army chief. Then president Rafiq Tarar was allowed to stay until June 2001, after which Musharraf replaced him as head of government. His presidency was legitimised by general elections held in October 2002.

The September attack on media was not the first of its kind. In March this year, police raided the offices of Geo Television, vandalised property, and roughed up the staff. Musharraf later apologised and ordered the suspension of 14 policemen.

Around the same time, Hameed Haroon, publisher of the Karachi-based &#39Dawn&#39 newspaper, distributed a letter accusing Musharraf of becoming "increasingly intolerant" of any criticism in the press. He added that the government pulled out its advertisements in an attempt to tame the newspaper and to discourage negative coverage about the government.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan has termed this "consistent muffling of the media" as evidence of the "government&#39s systematic campaign" against freedom of the press.

It also criticised the decision by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to bar independent channels from commenting on sub judice matters. Established in 2002, PEMRA is responsible for facilitating and regulating the establishment and operation of all broadcast media and distribution services in Pakistan. Among its powers is the ability to shut down TV stations.

Bullying tactics, said Javeed, are also expected to be used in the print media to compel owners to deny space in newspapers to political analysts and journalists.

But despite incidents like the late September attack, not every journalist says that the media environment under Musharraf has been all that bad.

For instance, &#39Dawn&#39 senior columnist Ayaz Amir does not think that there will be any crackdown on media anytime soon. "The space for the media has grown further, not constricted," said Amir, adding that the attempts to muzzle the media in the past have made the latter "come out stronger", have rattled the government and put it on the defensive.

Musharraf is now in the "twilight of his rule" and is, thus, a much-weakened general who will "always be looking over his shoulder" even if elected for another term, Amir predicted.

"The state will try to muzzle the media, directly and indirectly, but won&#39t succeed," acknowledged Azhar Abbas, director of news and current affairs at the Dawn News television channel. He feels that the media are too far ahead in the race to now be cowed into submission.

He does, however, say that it is to Musharraf&#39s credit that "the media, especially the electronic media, still enjoy so much freedom".

It was during Musharraf&#39s rule that broadcasting policies were liberalised. There are 47 private television channels, with 22 more in the pipeline, and 93 private radio channels competing with 28 state-owned ones.

Still, Javeed feels that it is during unfortunate episodes, such as the one that occurred on Sep. 29, that the country could be witness to a "unity among the journalist fraternity that is unprecedented".

"The unity is helped by the fact that the attacks on the journalists have been rather indiscriminate and one by one, almost all channels have a reason to project themselves as victims," commented the &#39Dawn&#39 newspaper’s Lahore bureau chief Ashaar Rehman.

Journalists also feel increasingly vulnerable in a climate where media owners do not always provide the protective shield expected of them. "The owners depict vested interests and they normally get co-opted," cited Ayesha Siddiqa Agha, a defence analyst and author of &#39Military Incorporation&#39.

But individuals like Hamid Mir of Geo TV says the fight is far from over. "My hands and clothes are still coloured with the blood of my colleagues. This blood will not be wasted. We are ready for a long resistance," he declared.

Some quarters, however, believe that the media have not always kept their part of the deal.

"They have often been prejudiced, even acted as the judge and the jury," said Sehgal. He thinks that "the media have overstepped their freedom and indulged in participating in politics" rather than being "impartial and neutral analysts".

This is precisely why Pakistan media need to come up with a code of ethics, conceded Abbas. "However, it is not for PEMRA or any government body to dictate as to what it should be. We have to come up with it ourselves."