Despite suffering from a range of restrictions on core rights since the Musharraf military coup, Pakistan has maintained its tradition of having a free and critical media. The Pakistani people have rightly been proud of their free press - a good friend of J21 who is from the region commented a year or so ago that despite the tensions in the country the press was still more open and critical than in many Western countries.

Unfortunately, in recent weeks this freedom, which is a foundation stone of contemporary Pakistani society, has been put under pressure from the authorities. The pivotal incident was, perhaps, the storming of the GEO TV studios by the police during which its employees were tear-gassed. This was in response to the refusal of its editors to stop broadcasting pictures of protests against the Pakistani chief justice’s suspension. After the GEO attacks the authorities became increasingly brazen in their assault on the free media and recently we saw President Musharraf decree that he would be giving the Pakistani electronic media regulatory authority new powers to close television stations. Thankfully there was a huge outcry both in Pakistan and abroad. The authorities clearly miscalculated and after much pressure from home and abroad, President Musharraf has withdrawn that order.

Nevertheless it is imperative that he is put on notice by his allies in the West, particularly the U.S. that such interventions are not acceptable. Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs Richard Boucher must continue to remain vigilant and ensure that Pakistani society continues to benefit from a free press.

# posted by Raj @ 6/12/2007 07:14:00 AM