Ejaz Asi - Information Designer from Karachi, Pakistan

From Dawn: http://www.dawn.com/2007/05/26/top4.htm

He was speaking at a ceremony to launch the test transmission of DawnNews television.

While praising the launching of the country’s first 24-hour English language news channel, President Musharraf described it as a unique event. But at the same time he did not hesitate in taking full credit for the mushrooming of private television channels, saying that whatever freedom there was in the country it was only because of him. “I alone had insisted that we must give them freedom so that the media could hold everyone accountable,” he said while recalling the early years in power when he had framed the media policy.

Gen Musharraf rejected the long-stated view of the journalist fraternity that the freedom of press in the country was the result of their campaign and persistent demand and said he was not aware of any such demand when he decided to ‘give this freedom’.

It was quite apparent that the president had come to the launching ceremony to not just praise the media, or take credit for his policy, but also to speak his mind about the prevailing trends in newspapers and television channels. And although he repeatedly assured the select audience, and the country at large, that such level of independence would continue, President Musharraf’s insistence was that such freedom should come with a certain level of responsibility.

He gave examples from the television coverage of the war in Iraq, and said while western media never showed bodies of their own soldiers, they had no hesitation in showing the images of the bodies of Saddam Hussain and his sons.

The other example he gave was of the recent killings in one of the schools in the United States by a gunman, and said the American television networks made a conscious decision not to show the dead bodies.

While presenting his argument, President Musharraf raised the issue of what he described as the trend of repeatedly showing gory images, blood and killings. He said such images were telecast round the clock as if they were from an India-Pakistan cricket match.

Similarly, he said the way religious extremism was glorified by showing militants in Waziristan, or the clerics of Lal Masjid, and the manner in which their views were aired, amounted to ‘brutalisation of society’.

Indirectly holding the media partly responsible for the state of affairs in the country, President Musharraf said it was creating unnecessary alarm amongst overseas Pakistani and other potential investors. He was of the view that if the media failed to demonstrate what he called a certain level of responsibility in the projection of Pakistan, then it may have a negative impact on the economic and social progress of the country.

Now you have to take this down too:
He felt a ‘negative projection’ of the country might affect the economy by scaring investors away.“We need to develop national cohesion, underplay what can lower the nation’s morale and encourage what can raise it.”

What’s with the image thing anyway? Okay, I can actually speak on it some time later.

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President Musharraf said (in his own extempore style) at the inauguration speech of DawnNews channel that there’s nothing (negative) happening and that there’s hardly any poverty in the country now. He asserted that People in rural areas used to buy “Gaye Soap” and now use “Lux Soap” instead.

With all due respect Mr. President, that’s a FUCKING LIE.

What do these Presidents and Prime Ministers know about fucking poverty anyway?

Pakistanis’ average lowest wages is around .31$ as compared with Indians’ .61$. No, that’s still not poverty? The number of people living on $2 a day has grown to over one billion in South Asia in recent years from 821 million in 1981. (Source: “Human Development in South Asia 2006″) No, no, that’s not poverty? People who go to madrassas, travel through buses (at least in Karachi) work on daily wages and other laborers earn only FRIGGIN’ Rs. 3000.

Rs. 3000 (49$) in a month isn’t really poverty until you look at the fact that our Prime Minister buys/builds a 400 million dollars worth money home in NYC. That still won’t be poverty, Mr. President Sir, if an average income of an MNA isn’t just about 20 times more than the average Pakistani.

Interestingly, it’s not just our enlightened President who’s an ignorant ass. Apparently a large no. of population (much of which is ironically not very well-off either) believes that “Foreign Reserves” have improved and that is a very good thing, in their opinion. A large population (ironically not the rationally thinking ones but only those who support Musharraf and his spoon-fed babies) also believes that foreign investment really tells a country’s strength and stability of Economy and social structure. A large population, worryingly, also believe that the increase of mobile buying power and lots of new cars on the roads (most of which are not MADE or manufactured in Pakistan) tell great things about Pakistan.

Well, I hope to write a better post (and not just an inflammatory one which I need to write once in a while to get the load off of my chest) on why the claims of Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz are at best misleading and lies.

As of now, let’s dance to the tune, “no poor (alive) means no poverty”.

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