As he treads the dangerous road of slowly peeling off the civilian facade of his military regime, Gen Pervez Musharraf has taken a lot of battering this summer. The resignation of information minister Javed Jabbar, who cited 'personal reasons' for bowing out of office-but was perhaps asked to go-has raised the question: whose turn is it going to be next?
The situation is in sharp contrast to the reception Musharraf had received from the media after he grabbed power last year. Then, statements issued from general headquarters were music even to the most cynical hack who'd experienced police batons and prison cells under Nawaz Sharif's democratic rule. Even the ordinary Pakistani had welcomed the removal of what was perceived to be a civilian dictatorship. But then, nothing ever seems to change for the press in Pakistan. Once again, as has been the norm for 52 years, a fumbling regime is holding the media responsible for writing stories against the 'national interest.' The logic perhaps being that the military alone is qualified to define this hackneyed term.
Says Najam Sethi, Friday Times editor, "Gen Musharraf shouldn't forget that the press and journalists he's quick to condemn today are the very ones who gave him a degree of sorely-needed acceptability when he made his coup." Adds commentator Rashed Rahman, "This (the charge of being anti-national) is a facile and sickeningly familiar red herring. It was used in the past to justify quelling of dissent in the press as well as in other spheres." Rahman, however, adds that Musharraf has been at pains to deny the impression created by his intemperate remarks about the Pakistani press in New York and after-the impression that the regime was thinking of limiting the freedom the press enjoys.
Explains Rahman, "With the exception of three small newspapers, one in Baluchistan and two in Sindh, there have been no bans or closures of independent papers so far. While rumours abound that certain journalists are being 'leaned' on here and there, the evidence is yet to surface." But others disagree. Says a high-profile editor, "Of course there is censorship. But it depends how you define the word. Advice from different departments of the government is never-ending, and usually, you listen to some of it and ignore some. Threats to journalists have started; self-censorship is the norm now." However, this was true in the days of democracy too, the high-profile editor points out, "But it's dangerous to be seen taking on the military. In the face of state brutality under Bhutto and Sharif, it was the military high command that many a time came to the rescue of journalists in a discreet way. Who will support us today?"
Jabbar's exit was preceded by the resignation of Punjab information minister Shafqat Mahmood. Many feel the Musharraf regime has made these two the scapegoats for its own failures. It's no secret that the corps commanders' meeting takes the all-important decisions and then duly relays these to the Musharraf cabinet. The wise men and women of the cabinet then nod their heads in agreement; their only responsibility being to 'inform' the civilians the tasks the military has set for them. No wonder The Nation commented thus, "It's easy to blame the information minister for saying something that attracts media criticism, but then the minister has to be made privy to the innermost thoughts of the ruler."
The feeling is that Musharraf should, for starters, take a reality check and not rush to rein in the press. A touch of humility is perhaps also badly needed. Musharraf's remarks when Jabbar resigned-that he was least perturbed and that no one was indispensable-provoked the English daily, News, to comment, "This soldierly confidence would be infectious only if the reasons were known and the replacements eminently better equipped than their predecessors. While the government has preferred not to take the people into confidence, there also hasn't been any self-justifying selection."
Jabbar was the 13th federal or provincial minister to quit in the last one year, testifying to simmering discontent in the country. If the people rebel, or the military regime becomes unstable due to internal and external factors, one thing, it's widely felt, would still be clear-Musharraf's ineptness to lead his government out of the quicksand can in no way be blamed on the media.
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