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Dawn gets a stiff does of Musharraf's new medicine for the media

Dawn gets a stiff does of Musharraf's new medicine for the media

Author: Kamal Siddiqi
Publication: The Indian Express
Date: September 30, 2000

Pakistan's most respected newspaper, the Daily Dawn, which has been consistent in its aggressive criticism of the military regime, got a taste of General Pervez Musharraf's new medicine for the media.

Army officials barged their way into the publication's head offices in Karachi and insisted on an ``immediate inspection and testing of all existing electrical installations,'' under the Electricity Act of 1910.

Accompanied by two officials of the Karachi Electric Supply Company, theArmy team threatened immediate disconnection of electrical supply to thepaper if access was not given.

The Army team then barged its way into the editorial offices, with armedsoldiers conducting the search and even went into the editor's office onthe pretext of looking at the installations.

The Army officers threatened staff with dire consequences if they tookpictures or reported on the incident stating that this was ``a secretoperation ordered by the higher ups for which no pictures should be taken.''

The Army then asked the Dawn management to sign a statement that statedthat the management was cleared of any charges and that this matterwas settled.  The newspaper management, however, did not do so saying thatit was not signing anything under duress.

There was no official reaction to the Army action asInformation Minister Javed Jabbar, who was ironically addressing a seminaron press freedom, ducked reporters' questions.  In a statement to The Indian Express, a senior Dawn official said the Army action was ``unprecedented in the history of the paper.'' And that the ``high-handed manner in which the inspection by the army was carried out left an indelible impression that it was a punitive raid rather than an electrical inspection.''

Dawn sources say that of late their staff members have been threatenedand targeted by the military government after a series of articles haveappeared which are critical of the government.

A correspondent of the newspaper was verbally threatened by General Musharraf in New York at a press conference for his despatches on the ``failure'' of the Musharraf trip to the UN and the US.

Another sore point was an article by a former Air Force chief and war hero, Air Marshal Nur Khan, who wrote that the military should be held accountable for its actions and misdeeds.  Nur Khan called for a national tribunal to unearth and examine the various mishaps in the history of Pakistan and recommend action against the military for their role in them.  He mentioned the wars with India, including the Kargil conflict as well as the division of Pakistan as some issues that have to be examined in detail.

Dawn has criticised the manner in which military interference incivil affairs have continued.  The paper published a list of the number ofmilitary officers both serving and retired that have been employed incivilian jobs.  It has roundly criticised the way military officials havemishandled their new appointments.

Even today a story appeared in the city pages which reported how Naval officials had taken over a school in a suburb of Karachi after school officials did not allow the children of Naval officers to be given admissions out of turn.
 


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