ISLAMABAD: Who says the chief of the ‘angels’ is ordering and monitoring the closure of all channels of the Geo Group through cable operators and stopping the distribution of daily Jang, which existed even at the time of the creation of Pakistan, and The News in cantonment areas? This is indeed happening in all cities across the country.
Geo has been blocked, and the circulation of Jang and The News stopped in all cantonments and companies and corporations under military officials’ control. Besides, in civil areas, attempts are under way to block Geo, and it has been pushed to the last numbers on TV in some areas. Following the life attempt on Hamid Mir, the well-known anchor of Geo News, the transmission of Geo group channels was initially being stopped in the cantonment areas but now the ISI has started contacting the cable operators in civilian areas and operators are being “asked” to block all Geo channels even in non-cantonment areas. The Geo/Jang Group, which according to its spokesman, was already facing the worst financial crisis in recent months has been badly damaged financially by the most recent blackout of its channels in many areas of different cities across the country.
The spokesman has said that agencies are playing a very negative role by blacking out the media channels and forcefully stopping the distribution of newspapers which played a role in the making of this country. The ISI is being maligned and defamed across the world because of this attack on media freedom. The spokesman has also added that the institution should not be maligned in this way and the agency should give up practices which are against the dignity and respect of their own institution, which is getting weaker and more isolated because of such illegal and unconstitutional acts.
The image of an institution is the most important thing which should not be compromised just because of ego and personal differences with individuals. Those holding such big and prestigious offices never come to the level of ordering subordinates to press cable operators to block TV channels or stop distribution of newspapers.
In a civilized society, in a situation like the one in Pakistan now, any institution would have given its complete point of view for publication in the said newspaper and would have followed the process of law to act against the media organisation if according to any institution there are intolerable excesses by the newspaper or news channel. However, what is happening in Pakistan is utterly disgusting and shameful. While an application has been moved to the Pemra through the Ministry of Defence, without waiting for the decision of Pemra’s authority, rogue elements have started getting Geo Group channels closed first in cantonments areas and now even in civilian areas. Distribution of newspapers was already stopped. Is this is what the institutions have learnt so far?
On November 3, 2007, neither the sitting government was toppled nor parliament dissolved. Rather parliament has passed a resolution to support the Nov 3 unconstitutional acts. Only one institution was attacked, yet it was an act of high treason. The present high treason case will set this principle that it is never necessary that a government is toppled or parliament or government is sacked by “revolutionaries” for committing the act of high treason, rather openly and obvious violation of any basic article of the Constitution is high treason. In the present case, one of the fundamental articles of the Constitution is being violated, which in future will formulate the act of high treason.
No one from the ISPR was ready to speak on the issue. However, retired officials close to the ISPR denied that any ISI individual was involved in threatening cable operators to block Geo in civilian areas. On the other hand, the Jang Group spokesman acknowledged some contacts with the government and the ISI but maintained that no concrete development regarding restoration of Geo channels had taken place.
The Jang Group has a history of facing adverse steps of the governments and institutions for speaking the truth. According to the Group’s spokesman, blocking of advertisements is a routine issue but the group was subjected to many harassing tactics in the past decades.
According to the spokesman, the whole nation remembers the closure of Geo for about three months when the channel and its newspaper group stood for the rule of law and the Constitution and faced losses to the tune of Rs6 billion, which were never given to the group and hearing a petition regarding this issue in Sindh High Court (SHC) is getting delayed because of responses from the government came very slow.
A spokesman for the Jang Group, when asked by this scribe how long this standoff of the group with government will continue, he replied that the group was already facing extreme financial constraints but now the situation will get worse and it will be facing great losses.
Asked how the group will face such a situation, the spokesman responded that after the latest brutal acts by the institutions to get the whole business of the group closed, there will remain no option but to lay off employees as it will become unavoidable.
When asked that Jang Group had faced all the worst government actions against it boldly and never adopted anti-workers policy in past, the spokesman insisted that the group’s management was not expecting such a shutdown on massive scale by state institutions in a situation when the sitting government and its regulatory body is completely helpless.
Journalists and media workers attached with the Geo/Jang Group are already facing bad conditions because of sky-rocketing inflation and any such a step would prove fatal for the journalist community and media workers, the spokesman said that the group had already faced huge losses and will fight to recover its financial health and even if it remains with no option but to say goodbye to its employees, it will do so in different phases.
Asked in how many phases and how many employees would be sent home in the first phase, the spokesman responded that 1,000 employees, including journalists and media workers, will be laid off in the first phase because of losses inflicted so far by the forceful closure by the institutions.
It would be a horrible scenario for the journalist community and media workers of the country as the leading media group of Pakistan would be laying off thousands of employees and simply in the first phase, 1,000 families will suffer across Pakistan.
It will be more horrifying to remember all this in history that how the top journalist Hamid Mir was first attacked and then his organization was pushed against the wall and was forced to face financial losses along with continued threats to its workers.
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