Court bars Lucman’s appearance on any channel

ISLAMABAD: Justice Shaukat Aziz Siddiqui of the Islamabad High Court (IHC) here on Wednesday directed the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) to ensure that “Mubashir Lucman shall not be allowed to conduct any programme on any TV channel till the final decision of the instant writ petition”.

Justice Siddiqui noted, “If any channel is found accommodating him (Lucman), strict action in accordance with law may be taken against that channel.”

The IHC bench was hearing a civil miscellaneous application of the Shohada Foundation of Pakistan Trust (SFPT) through its Trustee Ihtesham Ahmad against the ARY television channel and its anchor Mubashir Lucman for airing contemptuous programmes against the superior judiciary.

The IHC bench noted in its order, “Let secretary Ministry of Information, Islamabad, and chairman Pemra be directed to appear in person to explain as to whether there exists any code of conduct for the electronic media and anchorpersons who are found ridiculing the institutions of the country like the judiciary, the Army and other sensitive institutions and how many complaints have been filed against such persons and TV channels and what action has been taken so far?”

The court order further said, “It is a matter of great concern that Mr Mubashir Lucman, the anchorperson conducting a programme with the name of ‘Khara Sach’ on ARY, has been found crossing all limits of decency, morality and respect for the institutions and limits prescribed by the organic law of the country. His conduct is resulting in spreading hatred against the institution of the judiciary, which is totally uncalled for, but surprisingly, neither the government nor Pemra has taken any action against him.”

After issuing the above order, Justice Siddiqui adjourned the hearing till the last week of June.The petitioner has nominated the Federation through the secretary Ministry of Information, secretary Ministry of Interior, chairman Pemra and Mubashir Lucman, anchor ARY TV channel, as respondents.

The petitioner through his counsel Kalsoom Akhtar advocate contended before the court that that some anchorpersons, particularly Mubashir Lucman, are conducting such programmes which are prejudicial to the integrity, honour, respect and independence of the superior judiciary.

The petitioner referred to an order of the IHC that Pemra could not implement. The order was related to the same matter that reads, “Since, it appears to be the genuine apprehension of the petitioner and ordinary citizens of the country that a defamatory campaign has been launched against the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan and other judges of the Supreme Court and high courts and there is every likelihood that in order to further scandalise the courts and create sensation, the interested persons are bent upon fabricating material and using the electronic media as a tool in spreading the same so that they may achieve their nefarious designs. Mr Ansar Abbasi, renowned journalist, through his columns dated October 6 and 7, 2012, published in The News had also indicated about the plot. Therefore, Pemra is directed to ensure that no programme containing un-commendable, malicious and wicked material is telecast by any of the channels in which a person of the honourable Chief Justice of Pakistan and other honourable judges of the superior courts are criticised, ridiculed and defamed. This court is conscious of the fact that none is above the law and if there are allegations of misconduct against any judge of the superior courts interested persons may opt for the mechanism provided under article 209 of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and any device alien to organic law of the country can be termed as nothing but an attempt to abrogate the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan.”

The petitioner contended that Pemra had taken no substantial steps to implement the said order of this honourable court and Mubashir Lucman on the ARY TV channel continuing extending the campaign against the former chief justice (retd) Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and judges of the Supreme Court, particularly Justice Jawwad S Khawaja, in a clandestine manner.

The petitioner said Lucman has crossed all the ethical limits of journalism and conducts contemptuous and defamatory programmes wickedly against the honourable judges of the Supreme Court. He ridicules the judges and noble citizens showing their pictures, such as Baba ji etc. Thus he does not follow and practice the norms of journalism and blackmails the noble and respectable professionals and judges.

The petitioner said Mubashir is the same anchor whose real face was exposed along with Mehr Bukhari to the whole world while conducting a planted interview.The petitioner prayed to the court that chairman Pemra may be directed to produce before the court the recorded programmes on CDs titled ‘Khara Sach’ conducted by him on May 22, 23, 26, 27, 28, 2014 and some other dates thereafter up to May 31, 2014.The petitioner further prayed that Lucman may be dealt with in accordance with the law and be restrained from conducting programmes being in excess of his right to freedom of speech.

Politicians, lawyers condemn Geo channel shutdown

KARACHI/LAHORE/PESHAWAR: Media watchdog Pemra’s decision to suspend the Geo TV licence for 15 days on Friday drew strong criticism from political leaders and lawyers.

PPP Sindh General Secretary Taj Haider on Friday said it was very unfortunate that private TV channels were being shut down. He said the government should have stepped in much earlier to save the situation but it played no conciliatory role.

He said it was again very unfortunate that an intense war was going on between the media houses. He said the working journalists must maintain complete unity in their movement and struggle and they should secure concrete promises and commitments from their respective owners that they would fight for their (owners’) cause but in return conditions of their services should be improved.

“In the past, we fought for our English colonial masters but only on the promise that afterwards we would be given freedom,” he said in support of his argument. Waqar Mehdi, Information Secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party, Sindh, said that due action against the Geo News television should be taken fully in accordance with the Constitution, the law of the land and the Pemra rules and there should be no violation of the law and the rules.

He said an independent, transparent, and proper inquiry should be conducted and the Geo News TV issue should be resolved as per the law. He said if the suspension of Geo News TV license for 15 days was in line with the rules and laws of Pemra, then there was no harm in it.

Syed Najmi Alam, General Secretary, PPP Karachi Division, said that suspension of the license and transmission of Geo News merely for 15 days was beyond his comprehension given the seriousness of the allegation pending against the Geo News. Given the allegation being probed against it, in case the Geo News had committed such a grave mistake, then the TV news channel should have been shut down forever. It seems to be a compromise between the parties and stakeholders concerned, said the local PPP leader.

The PML-F Media Coordinator, Kamran Tessori, said his party believes in press freedom and whenever and wherever the press voice was gagged, they will condemn it.Senator Saeed Ghani of the PPP opined that all the parties should have attended the Pemra meeting. He said during the Friday’s meeting, there were no private members and in the previous meeting there were private members. Ghani said though the Jang Group had always been against the PPP, they still say an injustice had been done.

The PML-Q and PML-N leaders and adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Sharmila Farooqi refused to offer any comments.MQM Rabita Committee member Engineer Nasir Jamal at first offered no comments; however, when insisted, he said: “Allah Taala Geo Kee Mushkil Asaan Karay.”

Despite repeated calls, Sindh Minister for Information Sharjeel Inaam Memon was not available for comments.KUJ President G M Jamali strongly condemned the decision of Pemra and said the authority should have heard both the sides. He said it was totally unjustified and unwarranted not to listen to Geo TV.

The KUJ and PFUJ strongly condemned the decision. The religious parties refused to make any comments over this issue.Legal experts and senior lawyers have condemned the one-sided Pemra’s decision of suspending the Geo News licence for 15 days and said it was a clear violation of the Article 10(A) of the Constitution.

Former judge of the Sindh High Court and renowned lawyer Rasheed A Razvi said the due process of law was not followed in the case, which was a clear violation of Article 10 (A) of the Constitution. He said the decision was politically-motivated.

Former assistant advocate general, Sindh, Syed Jalil Ahmed Hashmi, said it was an unlawful decision and could be challenged in the Sindh High Court under Article 199 of the Constitution. Hashmi said the decision was taken in haste and without providing an opportunity to Geo TV to defend it. He said the Pemra decision will definitely be set aside by the appellate court.

Renowned law expert and special public prosecutor Abdul Maroof said: “To me, the decision itself has committed many violations of law dealing with the right to know, right to speech and right to expression and it was a matter to be dealt with under Article 199 and Article 184 (3) as it not only involves the question of public interest, but also a matter of violation of fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.”

Maroof said such decisions hold no water in the eye of law and were finally reversed and certainly this wrong decision would meet the same fate in the near future. Advocate Noor Naz Agha observed: “I am deadly against a decision that does not take into account necessary legal aspects of the matter and are drawn unheard of the stakeholders concerned.”

She said it was not an occasion of happiness and instead it was the tragedy of the day because such negative decisions could also affect other media houses. She said Pemra must honour the due course of law and due process of law while dealing with the matters of media and journalism, which were bound to do investigative reporting of the events.

According to the Pemra notification, the licence will remain suspended from June 06 till June 20. In Kasur, lawyers, journalists, traders, political workers and members of the civil society condemned the suspension of the Geo News.

In three emergency meetings held at kutchery and Lal Havely, the Unity Group of Lawyers, Insaf Group of Lawyers, HR activists and other organisations passed resolutions against the Pemra. Kasur BR VP Saleem Farrukh, Yaseen Farrukh advocate, Unity Group President Rana Naveed Ahmad Joya, Insaf Group President Saleemur Rahman, Sardar Sharif Sohdal advocate, Sh Ateeq Ahmad advocate, Naveed A Malik, Shazia Ajmal advocate, MM Tariq Advocate, Zohaib Baloch and others condemned Pemra and termed its decision a conspiracy against Geo, the media and democracy.

In Lahore, protesters rejected the Friday’s decision of Pemra saying the decision reflected the government’s intentions on the independence of the media and value of freedom of expression in the country.Carrying banners and placards inscribed with anti-Pemra, anti-Rathore and anti-government slogans, the protesters in hundreds gathered outside the Jang/Geo offices on the Davis Road and condemned the Pemra decision.

The Muttahidda Christian Rabita Committee on Friday denounced the suspension of Geo News licence by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) and asked the authorities concerned to review the decision.

In a press statement, provincial president of the committee, Tanveer Sherazi, said the ban on Geo News was biased and an injustice. “About 10,000 employees of Geo, Jang Group would be affected by the decision,” he said.

Pakistan’s most popular channel shut down

 

KARACHI: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has ordered the Geo News to shut down for 15 days. This goes against the sentiments of civil society, parliamentarians, political parties as well as all journalist associations, including the APNS, CPNE and PFUJ besides international human rights and freedom of speech advocacy groups like the Amnesty International, Reporters Without Borders, Committee to Protect Journalists, Human Rights Watch, Freedom Network and Pakistan Human Rights Commission, among scores of others.
The Pemra sent a formal letter on Friday June 6, 2014 ordering the Geo News to immediately shut down its transmission as well as to pay Rs10 million fine.A Jang Group/Geo spokesperson said on Friday night: “The decision taken is a grave injustice to the oldest, the biggest and the most popular media group of Pakistan. It appears the government finally gave in to the pressure of the powerful unseen forces and rushed through the decision to suspend the transmission of the leading independent and the most popular news channel in the country.”

The irony, he said, is that never in Pakistan any channel had ever been suspended, either by Pemra or even by any court. Even the channels that were owned by large business houses and gave biased and twisted news coverage to protect their business interests had never faced such a penalty. Channels that ran sustained campaigns to defame the Chief Justice of Pakistan and defamed the honourable judges of the Supreme Court and High Courts and even those caught red handed planting interviews to malign the Chief Justice of Pakistan had never been cautioned or penalised.

Not only this, channels and TV hosts who had openly raised doubts and suspicions about the Pakistan Army chiefs and prime ministers of being murderers, traitors or foreign agents had not been touched. Incitement to violence and proven defamation by these channels was never considered a big crime for them to be suspended or even fined.

The most vociferous TV anchor of a rival channel before retirement of the COAS had called him a CIA agent. He said this on live TV and then encouraged tweets to support his allegation. But neither he nor his channel faced any consequences.

According to the spokesperson, the Pemra action will damage the country as the first-ever TV channel to be suspended is a channel that had become the icon and spearhead of an independent media with a free editorial approach. It is the only channel that had transparently published its editorial policy on its website in the form of Geo Asool and which maintained the record of the most accurate and timely news coverage.

While the ISI’s complaint against Geo was only about a few hours of transmission on just one of its channels, all of Geo Network channels were virtually put off air by unknown forces — not very unknown though.

Geo had been condemned Supreme Court, through a 3-member bench, ordered it to be opened but nothing happened. Even Geo Kahani, Geo Entertainment, Geo Tez and Geo Super were shut, displaced or distorted. Dozens of Jang Group newspaper vans have been burnt, hawkers, reporters and editors beaten up and harassed.

No one has given us justice. Already Rs2 billion loss has been inflicted in an effort to coerce and force the Jang Group to fall in line. It is expected the losses will reach Rs2.7 billion (approximately US $27 million). This is the real penalty Geo has been forced to pay, which is unprecedented even by international standards.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had publicly stated that he was against any curbs on the independent media and against shutdown of any TV channel. Parvaiz Rashid, the Information Minister had also categorically stated on record that the government would not shut down any channel. He had assured that the government had avoided shutting down any channel in the past even though there was pressure from courts.

The 15 day official closure added to the 45 days of an illegal shutdown equals 60 days of closure. It should be noted that during the 2007 emergency of General Pervez Musharraf all channels of Geo Network were shut for approximately 90 days.

The Jang Group and GEO TV Network have faced such adversity from governments, civilian and military alike. Successive governments have tried to shut it down, stop its advertising and distort its transmissions and distribution through cable operators in the past.

Losses of over Rs8 billion had been inflicted on the Group (Approximately $80 million). The constitutional and intrinsic right of the viewers and readers to information and free and independent debates and analysis has been unconstitutionally hampered. Without these freedoms Pakistan cannot progress and be counted among the civilized countries of the world.

The Group editors, reporters and hosts believe that the truth, no matter how bitter, is always in the best interest of Pakistan than a lie, no matter how sweet.

The April 19 transmission, immediately after the attack on Hamid Mir, included content that was excessive, distressful and emotional for which Geo has apologized to all concerned. Regardless of this apology attacks still continue against the group, including physical attacks and harassment of reporters and editors as well as burning of newspaper vans.

The spokesperson said the only fault of the Jang/Geo group was that it was unwilling to allow its editorial policy to be dictated.

For hurt caused as well as for the sake of the lives of its tens of thousands of journalists and employees who are receiving daily threats, Jang/Geo TV network even went to the extent of offering an apology but it failed to calm the nerves of the powerful.

The spokesperson said it seemed that the government had finally surrendered in the face of tremendous pressure from unseen forces. It was only yesterday that Geo had served a lega notice to claim around US $50 million from the federal government, Pemra and ISI in terms of reputational damage as well as the actual damage caused to the group as their formal complaint included blaming Geo to “historically pursue an anti Pakistan agenda”.

The spokesman said it seemed that it was the legal notice to the Defense Ministry, Pemra and ISI that compelled the government to rush to deliver the final blow to Geo News. The head of Pemra was appointed only hours before Friday’s decision to suspend Geo News. The pressure, it seems was so great that Pemra went through with the decision even without giving the right of hearing to Geo News.

Clarifying the so-called contradiction between Geo News apology and its legal notice, the spokesman said that its apology and even Pemra’s yesterday’s decision was about Geo news transmission of 19 April. The group still stood by its apology. The basis of the legal notice was the unsubstantiated allegation that the Group has a history of pursuing Anti-Pakistan agenda. This was the worst kind of defamation. This allegation has caused huge actual and reputational loss to the Group and it exposed thousands of Group employees to life threats.

A section of the media has been instigating not only violence against Geo and its employees but also lobbying powerful forces not to accept Geo’s apology. They are doing this for financial gain as Geo Network has the largest advertising share because of its huge viewership and competitors thought they would stand to gain millions if Geo was shutdown. The Group has the largest circulated newspapers, news channels and entertainment channels as well as Pakistan’s only sports channel. In fact Geo News following is bigger than the next three channels combined.

On June 6, 2014, around 10 pm, Geo News shut down its transmission across Pakistan, asking its viewers to pray for justice.The channel will, however, consider all legal options with its editors and legal advisers.

No reason to close channel if it apologises: Pervaiz

 

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Information and Broadcasting Senator Pervaiz Rashid said on Thursday that there was no justification for shutting down a channel and if it had made a mistake, realised it and tendered an apology, it should be accepted. He said that it was advisable to follow the policy of live and let others live (Geo or Jeenay do).
He said the media-related issue would be resolved amicably soon as in the given situation, the issue was not of Geo but of the freedom of expression in a democratic society.

He stated this in an informal chat with media persons after he visited, along with members of the family, the residence of senior journalist Hamid Mir to inquire after him.

The minister recalled how he had resisted when the Supreme Court registrar had pushed for the banning of another TV channel and he had the same policy now that no television channel should go off the air.

About the speculation of the ban on Geo channels, the minister said, “The issue is not of Geo, it is about the freedom of expression in a democratic society and we have bigger issues in our country and all have to find a solution together.”

In this context, he referred to the challenges of terrorism, issues of economy, energy crisis and education and health of children. With regard to the situation arising from the Geo issue, the minister urged the media to bring an end to the infighting.

He confirmed having met representatives of different media organisations, including APNS, CPNE and PBA and his meetings with heads of media groups: Hameed Haroon, Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, Mian Amir, Zuberi and Mujeebur Rehman Shami.

Asked for his views on the law ministry’s opinion on the issue, he said his ministry had sent its views on the matter to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra).

“Pemra is an independent institution and let it decide about the issue in its meeting. Neither I nor anyone else should try to dictate it,” the minister maintained.Earlier, the minister, along with his spouse and children, met the bedridden journalist at his residence and remained with him for some time.

“I, along with my family, met Hamid Mir and his family. It was a family get-together. Mir’s health is much better than it was when I met him in Karachi earlier.” Rashid expressed his gratitude to the journalist for gifting him his book and said he felt honoured on receiving the gift signed by Hamid Mir. The book consists of Mir’s columns.

Ban on any channel unacceptable: PUJ

LAHORE: The Punjab Union of Journalists (PUJ), in its emergency meeting held here on Tuesday, categorically stated that the journalist community would not tolerate any ban/suspension of any channel of Jang/Geo, adding that the economic murder of journalists on such a large scale would not be acceptable at any cost.
According to a press release, the PUJ office-bearers said no one would be allowed to ban Jang/Geo or any other channel to punish the mistake of a person, as thousands of employees are attached with these channels. They said if any such action was initiated, they would resist it with full force.

The participants also called upon the federal government to intervene to counter the conspiracies being hatched against the fourth pillar of the state.

The meeting was chaired by PUJ President Hafiz Abdul Wadood in which senior journalists Moeen Azhar, Salman Ghani, Shoaib-ud-Din, Naeem Mustafa, Khawar Naeem Hashmi, Mian Habib, Ch Khadim Hussain, Nasir Naqvi, Amer Sohail, Abdul Majeed Sajid, Asim Naseer, Waheed Butt and Ziaullah Niazi participated.

It was also decided in the meeting that these journalists would meet all the stakeholders to find out a solution to the complex situation. The meeting also passed a resolution in which it was stated that the journalist community would not become part of any plan of any institution, adding that the community would not tolerate any curbs on the media and journalists.

The resolution also expressed solidarity with the workers of Jang/Geo, saying the community would protect their rights. The resolution also urged the cable operators to immediately restore the transmission of those channels that had been shut due to different reasons. The participants also announced to visit the Jang/Geo offices on Wednesday (today) to show solidarity with the workers of the group.

Closure of any newspaper, channel not acceptable: CPNE

 

LAHORE: The Council of Pakistan Newspapers Editors (CPNE) in its emergent meeting held at the Aiwan-e-Iqbal in Lahore unanimously declared that closure of any media house or cancellation of licence or declaration of any channel or publication will not be acceptable as it is not in the national interest. Any such action will be tantamount to a grave crisis and will do irreparable harm to the democratic Pakistan, says a press release on Wednesday.
The meeting was chaired by President of CPNE Mujib-ur-Rehman Shami. The CPNE further resolved that sanctity of defence as well as media institutions is equally important as both are national institutions. It was further resolved that Pakistan armed forces and Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) are our vital national institutions and it is our collective responsibility to defend and safeguard their honour and dignity.

The meeting called upon all the media houses to show responsibility while reporting/commenting about these vital security organisations. It also discussed at length the recent reference filed by the Ministry of Defence with Pemra and expressed satisfaction that the government and aggrieved national institutions had taken a legal course instead of taking an arbitrary decision. However, the meeting expressed deep concerns over the present constitution of Pemra and showed apprehensions regarding its ability to deliver a just and fair decision, due to its ad-hoc structure.

The meeting strongly condemned the attack on senior journalist Hamid Mir and demanded that the government should take immediate and swift action to ensure the safety of all the media persons associated with national media organisations.

The meeting also declared that the right to freedom of speech is enshrined in the Constitution of Pakistan and the state should provide adequate protection to journalists against life threats emanating from any quarter. The meeting appreciated the federal and Sindh governments’ decision to constitute a Judicial Commission and Joint Investigation Team for the investigation of this attack and expressed the hope that perpetrators would be brought to justice without any fear or favour.

The meeting appealed to all the media organisations, including APNS, PBA and PFUJ, to unite at this hour of need and subside the tensions between different media organisations. It further requested these organisations to play their role in creating harmony and solidarity among the media houses and work together for the safety and protection of press freedom and journalists.

The meeting also expressed concerns over reports of life threats to senior journalist Iftikhar Ahmad and other media persons and demanded that the government should take immediate action in this regard.

The meeting was attended by Arif Nizami (Pakistan Today), Shaheen Qureshi (VP CPNE, Jang Group), Imtiaz Alam (South Asia Journal), Salman Ghani (Daily Dunya), Umer Shami (Daily Pakistan), Khalid Qayyum (Daily Express), Mumtaz Tahir (Daily Aftab), Sajjad Bukhari (Daily AbTak), Naveed Chaudhry (Daily City 42), Baidar Sarmadi (Daily Front), Baidar Bakht Butt (Daily Jang), Hafiz Iqbal (Daily Insaf), Khawaja Munawarul Hasan (Daily Musawat), Khalid Farooqi (Daily Awaz), Zulfiqar Lodhi (Daily Tijarat), Asghar Ali ( Daily Jurrat), Siddique Asghar (The News), Adeel Niaz (Jahangir Times), Asad Kashif, Adeeb Jawadani (Monthly Moon Digest), Munir Ahmad Naulakha (Musawwar International) and Taufique Rehman (Daily Saadat).

Countering ‘obscenity’: Change the channel, says Rasheed

Islamabad: Jamaat-e-Islami’s crusade to rid the country of ‘obscenity’ has always been monumental.

Jamaat’s members are found a little extra vigorous these days about cleansing our culture of “fahashi.” Hardly a day goes by when Jamaat members do not pressure the government to curtail “the growing obscenity.” On Tuesday they moved a resolution asking for a ban on a few television channels which showed ‘obscene’ programmes, including Geo’s musical show ‘Pakistan Idol’. They had a grouse against virtually all 100 or so TV channels. How come news and religious channels are part of this grand design to spoil the nation, you may ask. Elementary: all of them show advertisements which allegedly entice ordinary folk by showing sexy legs, armpits and what not. The list of advertising items that could possibly encourage the pious to envision “wrong ideas” (ganday khayalat) included soaps, shampoos, mattresses (what the hell!), hair-removing creams and, of course, that rubbery Western invention meant to control population. No wonder we have doubled our population in the last 25 years and are all set to match India in numbers in another 50 years. The pious brigade should care, as these impoverished hordes are not likely to have clothes, forget about food, which could generate lots of “wrong ideas.”

Jamaat’s Tariqullah was overly agitated that almost all TV channels show obscenity and nudity. He bemoaned that this was spoiling our youth as these channels show “naach-gana and music all day long.” On Wednesday Jamaat’s Sher Akbar again raised a storm about the growing obscenity. We already have YouTube banned here. One may agree about having filters to check the unwanted substance but there is a limit to how much we could shut ourselves from the outside world. Particularly in the age of the globalised village where every child is exposed to the Internet and satellite TV, not to mention the new vistas that 3G/4G licences will open. If one were to follow the Jamaat strictures, it would have us everything closed from TV to the phone to the Internet.

It is pertinent to recall that when Imran Khan, who played cricket at that time, invited several noted Indian artistes including Rajesh Khana and Rekha for the first open air theatre musical event in Lahore, the Jamaat and its student wing the Islami Jamiat-e-Tulaba opposed it tooth and nail. Imran had arranged the event for raising funds for his hospital. The sticks-bearing IJT activists threatened to stop the event forcefully. Imran then held talks with the then Jamaat leaders and an agreement was struck only two days before the scheduled date of the event following which a very successful musical function, including dancing, was held at Qaddafi Open Air Theatre.

It is heard that some people in the government have teamed up with the likeminded people outside the government to push the Pakistani media into the dark ages and embarrass PM Nawaz in the world. They are completely ignorant of the advancement the world has already achieved. Nawaz ought to remain vigilant about the designs of such people who may be hatching a big conspiracy against him. It is the first time that Nawaz has got the mandate from both the left and right sections of the people. These intriguers will surely end up in damaging the vote bank of Nawaz.

Here are a few problems that we may have against the Jamaat doctrine. Obscenity is a relative term, which may mean different things to different people. Jamaat-e-Islami definitely does not have the mandate to impose its interpretation of morality with the kind of representation it has in parliament. The Jamaat has only three elected members (the fourth being on a women’s quota), two of them from distant Dir on the Afghanistan border. They constitute less than one per cent of the 447 members of the joint houses.

One just hopes that the new Jamaat Ameer, Sirajul Haq, may have grown out of his Punjab University days when IJT goons considered it holy to stop people from, among other things, celebrating new year. And this approach to force people might have been the reason why Jamaat stands reduced to the periphery from one of the two biggest parties until 1970. We hope Sirajul Haq will learn from the experience of its sister organisations in Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Jordan, if not Turkey, who may have adapted to the changing times. A few lessons in Islamic history will not be out of place. Muslims conquered the Middle East within 40 years but it took 300 years to convert large populations in Egypt, Syria and Jordan etc to Islam. The reason for rapid Islamic expansion was largely because earlier Islam adjusted to the local mores of the Indians, Chinese and the Persians etc. No wonder Iran, Afghanistan and Central Asia celebrate Nauroze even today and retain most local names. And the downfall of most Muslim empires started when someone like Aurangzeb enforced ritualistic puritanism as opposed to more accommodating Sufi tradition.

Thankfully, information minister Pervaiz Rasheed rescued us with a classic answer. He requested Jamaat members to encourage their cadres to learn using the remote controls and change a TV channel every time it shows something nude or obscene. This was quite a change in the PML (N), which had removed billboards of shampoos and soaps in their heavy-mandated government in 1987.

PTI’s Asad Omar also wondered in the cafeteria that how come Jamaat members get to see all these nude ads whereas he was yet come across anything like that. We were not sure whether he was talking about himself or his party, such being the shenanigans of Maulvi Khan these days. In any case, Asad needs to check this out from his coalition partners in the KP. We hear the coalition seems troubled by the 14-member informal forward bloc that has emerged against Pervaiz Khattak.

The surprising development was that MQM’s Salahuddin Sheikh joined the Jamaat ranks by asking for the steps that Pemra may have taken to stop such ‘obscenity.’ This was different from the liberal position usually taken by Altaf Bhai’s team. Perhaps the absence of Haider Abbas Rizvi in the National Assembly is beginning to impact the MQM.

Tailpiece: Asad Omar again challenged Ishaq Dar’s latest claims about the economic revival. His thesis was that the rupee got devalued earlier because the State Bank purchased dollars from the market as proved by IMF report, which mentions the buying of $125m. Also, he questioned the government claim about the reduction of debt-to-GDP ratio. He believed it had actually shot up from 58 per cent to 63 per cent. Will some one please educate us on this in plain speak?