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Author: Griff Witte
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: June 5, 2007
URL: http://www.indianexpress.com/story/32747.html
Every day, Taj Mohammed Abbasi wheels his cart through dusty streets, selling the oranges, guavas and litchis that are the pride of this rural outpost in the shadow of the Himalayan foothills. But what he's seen recently on television motivated him this weekend to take to the streets for a different reason: to join a movement with the audacious goal of ousting the military-led government and restoring democracy to Pakistan.
"Watching television, I have become very angry," said Abbasi, 33. "I am not a political person. I have not been to a lot of rallies. But this time, definitely, I am going."
Pakistan might be in the midst of its first televised revolution. For nearly three months, a handful of fledgling independent stations have been broadcasting minute-by-minute coverage of what at first seemed a relatively obscure issue: the suspension of Pakistan's chief justice Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry, by the President, General Pervez Musharraf.
Since then, Pakistanis nationwide have been transfixed by live coverage of police beating lawyers, pro-Musharraf groups firing assault rifles at demonstrators and the suspended chief justice speaking to ever-larger and more boisterous audiences about the dangers of autocratic rule.
As the cameras have rolled, opposition to Musharraf has surged, and he is considered more vulnerable now than at any time in his eight years in office. Even in rural areas where poverty is high, residents have gathered in hotels and barber shops around the few television sets available and watched the brewing crisis play out live.
Stung by the criticism, Musharraf has reacted by cracking down on what had been the government's signature defense against charges of authoritarianism: the independent television news networks. The country's half-dozen networks all sprung up under his watch, and Musharraf has repeatedly bragged to the world about his efforts to free Pakistani television from state control and censorship for the first time in the country's history. But with his government teetering, Musharraf, a key US ally, is threatening the networks' very existence.
"He allowed the genie out of the bottle. But he didn't realise how big it could become. Now he's trying to put it back," said Talat Hussain, director of news and current affairs for one of the channels, Aaj Television.
Aaj, along with others, has come under intense pressure in recent days to pull programming off the air and to cancel live coverage of opposition rallies. Aaj has continued to broadcast, but its transmission is being blocked throughout much of the country. "I have no illusions about it," Hussain said. "They're going to shut us down."
Ayaz Amir, a political commentator who hosts a call-in programme on rival channel ARY Oneworld, said his show was cancelled this past week because of government pressure. "I've been branded as a person who's not favorably disposed to the government," he said.
Government officials deny they are censoring the news media. They say they are simply enforcing regulations that have been on the books for years but have often been ignored, including a requirement that stations get permission before they broadcast live. "The independence of the media is something we take pride in," said Information Minister Mohammed Ali Durrani. "We'll take care of their independence."
Last week, Durrani warned journalists against criticising the army, an institution that has historically been revered in Pakistan but is increasingly attacked for denying the country a chance at civilian rule eight years after a military-led coup elevated Musharraf to power.
Until recent months, Musharraf had displayed an adeptness at using the media to his advantage - giving occasional interviews and staging elaborate press events to showcase government accomplishments. The tactics worked: The President enjoyed widespread popularity and was considered virtually invincible.
But Chaudhry loomed as a potential obstacle because he was expected to rule on cases that could complicate Musharraf's plans to get himself elected for another five-year term by a lame-duck Parliament. The chief justice and his supporters have used television to their advantage, staging exuberant, day-long parades from one city to the next, earning them hours of continuous coverage.
By contrast, the government has tried to use force and intimidation to end the controversy, but has consistently misjudged how its efforts would play on television. As a result, Musharraf's problems have only intensified.
"What they did not take into account was that the crisis was going live to every bloody Pakistani household," said Aamer Ahmed Khan, Pakistan editor of the BBC World Service. "That is what is making them nervous now."
- LA Times-Washington Post
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