by Muhammad Fahd Waseem

Created on: September 22, 2009   Last Updated: October 25, 2009

Media is free, and relatively unrestrained, in Pakistan nowadays - it would be foolhardy to doubt that. Internet is available without censorship or restriction. TV channels air practically rebellious programs. Cable operators run Indian movies and shows (technically still banned by the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulation Authority) without any reins. Radio stations broadcast whatever they want and however they want. There is very little, if any, hold on what goes through Pakistan's expansive mobile media sharing network. Newspapers present a lot of grisly stories and incidents to readers, both political and otherwise, yet are rarely ever held to responsibility.

It was not always so. In fact, it was not until very recently that Pakistani media gained its freedom. Most analysts and journalists (including Mir Khalil ur Rehman, founder of Pakistan's largest media conglomerate) attribute this freedom to President General Pervez Musharraf's regime. He, for the first time, removed almost all curbs from the then strangled media groups. Most people count this as the now-deposed dictator's biggest gift to Pakistan during his tenure. It is ironic, of course, that the same media he worked so hard to free was the one that was finally instrumental in having him exiled from the country.

The media in Pakistan, as result of its freedom, carries a fair bit of clout. The government even takes action on its reports, as it did in the case of the corruption charges an investigative journalist leveled against the chairman of Pakistan's only Steel Mills. It also guides public opinion - it played a major role in the election of the current President Zardari who rode to power on a sympathy vote (the popular prime-minister elect Benazir Bhutto, his wife, was murdered) and also the recent judiciary fiasco in which some prominent judges of the Supreme Court were deposed on controversial charges. In both cases, it brought the masses out onto the streets - and no democratic government, no matter how corrupt or illegal, can ignore widespread rioting.

All that said, however, media freedom is still rather fresh in Pakistan. The media would do well not to overstretch itself, and entrench itself deeply into public minds before it takes some of the really heavy steps, like inquiring into the shady on goings among the top brass of Pakistan.

A free media is always an indicator of the rank of countries in the comity of nations. Media has been given power in Pakistan, and it would do well not to abuse it.

Update: The latest developments have showcased the media freedom I envisaged - the recent military action in the South Waziristan shows just how powerful media now is in molding public opinion in Pakistan.

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