Gagging the media
The writer is an Islamabad-based security analyst
The world before March 9 was a relatively comfortable place for the many forces directly and indirectly occupying or influencing Pakistan’s political fray.
This includes mainly the military leadership which principally manages Pakistan, the PML-Q (the army leadership’s junior partners) and the MQM (the army leadership’s ‘more equal than the PML-Q’ partners), the judiciary and the media. The political parties in terms of the impact are currently on the second rung of Pakistan’s current power scene. They are largely following trends not creating new ones.
The landmark events and dates which created the conditions for the ‘unhinging’ of the current power system within Pakistan are four; March 9, not the filing of the presidential reference but the ordering by the president and his men that the Chief Justice of Pakistan resign and the subsequent application of crude force by the agencies to put pressure on the CJP; March 13 the manhandling of the CJP by state functionaries and the force used to intimidate the CJP’s supporters; May 5 when the outpouring of the peoples’ support demonstrated that the people of Pakistan at the gut level have been instinctively resentful of a power culture from which the powerful intangibles such as rule of law, credibility, justice and fair-play have been missing; and finally May 12 when horror struck Karachi and exposed the complete political and moral bankruptcy of Pakistan’s managers. Pakistanis saw how in the country’s power politics the law enforcing agencies were freely allowed or maybe made to abandon their principle task of protecting the life, property and dignity of the citizens of the state. In the battle between the CJP and the establishment, the latter opted for a ‘strategy’ that turned out to be bloody and immoral.
This led to an unsettling of the status quo. The first challenge to the establishment came from the lawyers, the judiciary had no choice but to follow suit. The judiciary saw itself on public trial. The lawyers’ movement demanding rule of law, protesting against the CJP’s near dismissal, combined with the peoples’ support and the political parties support gave the judiciary the muscle to stand up against the force that it had historically aided. The media remained the candid mirror that reflected this reality for the people of Pakistan.
Clearly, misreading of a shaken power scene by the establishment, that still remains steeped in the tried, tested and failed ways of political manipulation which means that the establishment has raced ahead on a blundering path. The tales of blunder are endless as have been the calculations regarding what the judges will or will not do, what the media under pressure will do, how effective banning of certain anchors will be in ‘pacifying’ the public, what can invoking the ‘national interest’ or ‘national institution’ achieve in restraining criticism against the establishment and the army leadership. Perhaps wisdom and reflection less and anger-cum-misplaced confidence, if not arrogance, have been more the guiding elements for the top level decision makers. Hence the blundering landmarks have now almost converted into a signpost to unprecedented political chaos.
The comfortable space for any of the forces within Pakistan’s power scene no longer exists. In an ‘unhinged’ context old ways will not work. Old ways of ruling, dictating, terrorising and obedience will have to be abandoned by men in uniform: dictating by unaccountable rulers, terrorising by a certain party’s leader and obedience to the ruling party. Pakistan’s power scene is now a melting pot with the old ways crumbling and the news ones still not in place. There is a nationwide questioning of why should all the institutions not play their constitutional roles and why should all those who occupy the seats of power and decision-making not be held accountable?
In a sign of changing times and changing perceptions of power and no less a sign of how empowered the judiciary feels, two Supreme Court judges have refused to be on the bench hearing the petition against the Supreme Court Bar Association for the political meeting called seminar it held in the SC auditorium. Events post-March 9 are gradually moving towards a comprehensive questioning of what must be the basic touchstone of patriotism, rule of law and obedience to the Constitution, or no criticism of leaders of institutions such as the army, who have played extra-constitutional roles throughout Pakistan’s history.
An effort by any section of society to frame criticism of the actions of the army leadership or criticism of certain aspects of the institutional working as an issue of the army versus the rest would be a great disservice to Pakistan and to the institution. This is the institution from which thousands have served the country through martyrdom and it is a national institution which we have grown up owning and being proud of. Yet none of this means it is beyond reproach. It is by no means a perfect institution. With its repeated forays into Pakistan’s political power scene individuals within it would have suffered on the professional front; many would have also developed warts like all people in power play do.
Hence when a researched piece of work that is Ayesha Siddiqa’s book on the military and its commercial activities is published why should she be labelled a traitor? It’s the force of informed dialogue and debate that steels and readies a society and state for positive and collective evolution as a unit of progress and prosperity. So none of what we are now experiencing in Pakistan is about targeting institutions. It is about saying no to the ways of individuals and leaders of institutions who have impeded rule of law within Pakistan. Many are missing this point in times of increasing polarisation. Amazing words of ‘shoot those criticising the army’ are repeatedly heard from a relatively wise man of Pakistan’s politics Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain.
From all the developments after March 9 the media has merely reflected through its reporting and discussion programmes the key issues that deeply influence the state of affairs in Pakistan. The fact is that the media is no one’s ally. It is merely facilitating Pakistan’s power players to squarely focus on issues that need to be settled if Pakistan must progress as a peaceful country. The questions are endless: is there rule of law in Pakistan? Who decides which law is applicable and which must be rejected? How are those who exercise power held accountable? What political system will ensure stability within Pakistan? What is at stake for the entire nation? What are the ways and the thinking of the current people in power? The media has been able to go beyond merely reporting and focusing on these more fundamental issues.
In fact the media has opted not to stop at the questions that affect Pakistan’s current power players. The questions influencing them are endless. For example for President General Musharraf the issue is how to ensure his re-election by the current assemblies while in uniform. He is also concerned about the terms upon which to enter some agreement with the PPP leader and what it will take to get the PML-Q on board for a pre-election accommodation with the PPP? Musharraf is also finding ways to project his ‘power’ and authority and hence the ISPR statement that stated that the corps commanders fully back the army chief. General Musharraf is also saddled with the liability of the MQM which he had believed was his major political asset. For Benazir the question is whether or not to enter into some agreement with General Musharraf who is unquestionably in deep political trouble?
The media is mirroring the obvious and the not-so-obvious. It has popularised a discourse which is raising uncomfortable questions. No one likes this. Not only those in power but indeed even many in the public. While the public appreciates the media for being the candid camera on Pakistan’s power scene the people seek calm and peace.
Only General Musharraf, who controls all the levers of state power, through quick, free and fair elections under a neutral set-up and a truly independent election commissioner can steer the country towards genuine and lasting political stability. No other route is likely to work. The step of clamping down on the media meanwhile would have been amusing for its simplicity and naivety had it not been in the times of internet, cable and satellite television. It is a worrying step for all Pakistanis who believe that those at the helm of affairs can do with more wisdom, competence and humility. The march for change in Pakistan is unstoppable as is the freedom of the media.
Source: The News
Date:6/6/2007
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