Chowrangi

President Pervez Musharraf on Saturday evening ordered Geo News and its Sports channel, GEO Super, back on air with immediate effect.

According to the News, Geo disappeared from television screens at 2pm on November 3, four hours before the proclamation of Provisional Constitution Order (PCO) and the Ammended Pemra Ordinance.

On November 4 a new code of conduct for the electronic media was introduced. Labelled as a “voluntary agreement”, it contained provisions such as the imprisonment of journalists up to three years, revocation of broadcast licences and the confiscation of equipment. Intially electronic media management was reluctant to accept it however, by November 12 the government was successful in negotiating certain conditions which allowed most channels back on the air, including CNBC, Dawn News, Aaj TV and Business Plus as they signed the code of conduct.

Geo and ARY networks remained banned on Pakistan’s cable systems. They continued their international broadcasts from Dubai Media City (DMC) and in addition to the large Pakistani diasporas across the UK, Europe, the Middle East and the United States they were available to anyone who had a satellite dish fitted.

However, on December 16 the DMC took the decision of stopping the international broadcasts of both these channels. Though Ms Amina Rustamani, Executive Director of Dubai Media City, cited some internal regulations but the decision was generally perceived to be taken under pressure from the government of Pakistan. On November 22 ARY resumed its broadcasts from DMC. It was soon allowed back inside Pakistan as well. Geo for all practical purposes became the last one standing.

Between the first week of November and December 4, 2007, the Sindh High Court heard this case five times. The federal government that was represented by the deputy attorney general never stated the government position. At one point the deputy attorney general told the court that since Geo is banned from Dubai Media City it is not available inside Pakistan. However, by the time the fourth hearing took place, Dubai Media City, after facing mounting criticism of the international media, human rights and other watchdog organisations, had already allowed Geo to resume its broadcasts and the judge told the deputy attorney general to clarify the matter as a decision has to be taken. However, at the next hearing on December 4 the court decided that given the state of emergency in the country Geo’s petition is not maintainable.

After the end of emergency Geo approached the Supreme Court which on Jan 7, 2008 remanded the case to the Sindh High Court with the observation that it is maintainable and should be decided within one month on merit. In the second week of Jan 2008 the Paris-based international media monitor, Reporters Sans Frontiers, identified five problems with Pakistan’s media coverage for the forthcoming elections on February 18 and identified the continuing ban on Geo News, the country’s largest news network, as one of the main hurdles.

Finally, President Musharraf “intervened” and ordered to remove the ban from GEO. Incidentally, the decision came hours before Musharraf’s visit to Belgium, France, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

Other posts by Kashif Aziz

• Taliban of Punjab Police - March 3rd, 2010
• Chile Earthquake, Hawaii Tsunami and Social Media - February 28th, 2010
• President Zardari apologized for childbirth in rickshaw - February 26th, 2010
• Reason of Traffic Jams in Karachi - February 19th, 2010
• Mullah Abdul Ghani Baradar, Top Most Taliban Leader Caught in Karachi - February 16th, 2010
• PTCL Launches Largest Data Center of Pakistan - February 15th, 2010
• Reflections On Twin Blasts in Karachi - February 6th, 2010
• Aafia Siddiqui convicted, may be sentenced for 60 years - February 4th, 2010
• Dawn News going down the Drain? - January 30th, 2010
• Has Karachi Gone To Dogs? - January 27th, 2010