Sunday, November 04, 2007
Imposition of emergency in Pakistan and subsequent clampdown on FM Radios and Private TV channels
The military chief in Pakistan has imposed a state of emergency - Saturday evening, 3rd of November - in the country and has curbed all the fundamental human rights including the right to freedom of movement, assembly and freedom of press/information. All the private TV stations have gone off air. Two of the FM radio stations: Power99 FM Radio, Islamabad and Mast FM 103, Karachi has been raided, closed down and their equipment confiscated. Only the state run Pakistan Television is allowed to run its transmissions.
The military chief, Pervez Musharraf, who also happens to be the president of the country, in his televised address, stated two major reasons for the imposition of emergency: judicial activism and extremism and media’s role in aggravating the state of affairs. So the severity of clamp down on media can be well imagined.
The people of the country having no reliable source of information are in a state of great chaos and confusion.
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