Tidbits from the Southasian region

Mediafile
If you plan on watching live coverage of the upcoming Pakistani elections on your favourite private Pakistani TV channel, you are in for a disappointment. All private Pakistani TV channels recently received a warning letter from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), banning live television reports about the national elections. President Musharraf's decision will deprive Pakistanis of all programmes, talk shows, reports, coverage of press conferences or anything else that could be construed as relating to the election. An attempt to breach the ordinance could land a journalist in jail for three years, with fines of up to PKR 10 million rupees (about USD 165,000), and would immediately cause the cancellation of the broadcaster's licence. As the secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Mazhar Abbas, noted, the new action might well be yet another attempt by the government to try to impose a complete ban on all non-state media before the elections.

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On a refreshing note, after Pakistani channels Geo News and ARY One were forced off the air following the imposition of the state of emergency on 3 November, both were subsequently allowed to resume transmissions from Dubai later on that month. This certainly must have made the days for those few back in Pakistan lucky enough to have satellite receivers – though only that 'few', because the Islamabad government has now banned the import of satellite receivers. In any case, it is high time that President (non-retd) Musharraf realises that bans do not work, and that the truth, eventually, will out. Rather, such heavy-handed approaches fuel support for what they target, as shown by the now-regular public gatherings at the aptly re-named Azadi Street in Karachi, to show solidarity with Geo. Popular support has no doubt played a role in getting Geo partly back on the air in Pakistan. On 20 December, two Geo channels – Aag the youth channel, and Geo Entertainment – were allowed back on the cable network, while the Geo management hopes that the News, Sports and other channels will likewise be allowed once more. Chhetria Patrakar hopes so too.