Youths term ban on Geo Super drone attack on sports lovers
Shahid Aslam
LAHORE: The young in the city have termed the ban on transmission of Geo Super a drone attack on sports-lovers across the country.
Talking to The News, the young said governments avoid such acts in democratic societies but the PPP, the so-called ‘champion’ of democracy, was following the line of action of Musharraf. It too would kneel down before the will of the people soon, just like its predecessor (Musharraf). They said if the government was not ready to restore the transmission of the sports channel immediately, they would come out on the roads against the ban.
Talking to The News, Yousaf, a resident of Shadbagh, said that Geo Super was popular among the whole nation, which had enjoyed watching the World Cup matches on it. The government, he said, was victimising the channel because the Jang Group was not compromising on its stance regarding issues like corruption, disobedience of the judiciary and bad governance. They asked the government to lift the ban immediately and avoid such immoral tactics of snubbing the media in future.
Asif Zaman, a resident of Islam Nagar, was of the view that Geo Super was like a girl friend for him, hoping that the channel would be restored soon. Mohammad Arsalan, a student, condemned the ruthless act of the PPP government. Saqib and Akif, both students, demanded the government withdraw the decision immediately.
Mirza Immad, a 15-year old resident of Bibi Pak Daman, said that the ban was actually the government’s effort to inflict financial damage on the Jang Group, in one way or the other.
Shazia Shah of Johar Town said that banning the sports channel was synonymous with curbing the independence of media. “It was the only sports channel in Pakistan. Let it work freely. It brings happiness on the faces of the misery-hit people,” she said, demanding immediate reversal of the government’s decision in this regard.
Ali Abbas, a 23-year old student of MSc and resident of Sunnat Nagar, condemned the government, asking it to take steps to restore sports in the country, rather than banning the most popular sports channel. He asked the government to take back its decision, otherwise, he warned, the whole young generation would come out on roads.
Hira, a student and resident of the Cantt, Lahore, termed the ban a drone attack on the youth who love to see sports activities on Geo Super, one and the only sports channel of the country, demanding the immediate reversal of the decision.
Zara Rehman, a resident of Walton, condemned the ban, saying the politics and sports should not be mixed. Whatever the issues between the government and the Geo are, they should be settled through other means, instead of banning a channel loved by the youth.
Hafiz Farooq, a student and resident of Johar Town, said that the ban showed how baffled the government was at the moment as it could not even understand that such acts would only defile the government’s image among the youth.
Ali Hassan, a resident of the Lower Mall area, Atif, a resident of Defense, Aliya and Omer Hafeez, residents of Islampura, said that sports was already a neglected sector in the country, a reason we were lagging behind than our neighboring countries in the field. Banning the only motivational factor of sports in the country, Geo Super, would only exacerbate the current situation and prove another cause of the decline of healthy activities among the youth, they opined.
Source: The News
Date:4/16/2011
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