Re: “A letter from Pakistan”
The writer is blantantly wrong on this account. I assume the Geo TV news and current affair programs telecast in the US are the same ones that folks in Pakistan see too. And if that is the case, then there are a fair many programs and participants who openly and extensively criticize Musharraf, his government, the country, the constitution and anything and everything they can think of. All this is telecast on national (and international) television.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
LOL metromomma, i was gonna wait till the other zealots blasted her before i gave it away. you spoilsport you!
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
Faisal uncle, you are wrong. Do you remember what happened to Zardari when he returned form Soodi Rabia? Fist his plane was not given permission to land, when that happened, he had to stay inside the plane for 3 hours and he was stopped from making a speech. So much for your anti-Musharat rhetoric. I think someone pays you so praise non-existent freedoms of press in Pakistan.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
Nice one metro. This is very interesting indeed. the article clearly states that she is a pakistani national. May be the writter was confused. She is merely living in the country?. What do you guys think?. God Bless.
Re: “A letter from Pakistan”
Zardari is a political leader. Chasing him out of the country is one thing. But if you remember he still was able to broadcast all his anti-government rhetoric from his aeroplane in front of cameras from Pakistani TV channels, ARY and Geo. The whole anti-government press-speech was telecast on national tv. If you get a chance to watch some current affairs programs on Geo, you will literally be shocked at how far Pakistan television has come from the days of PTV under Zia. Its a free-for-all now.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
Faisal Bhaijan, it is easier to boradcast these programs from Dooobai. I want to see some Israeli programs shown in Pakistan. Or at least a debate on Paki TV to improve relations with Israel and discuss the shytiness of the Arabian Gulf nations. That will be true freedom of press.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
what has Zardari's (the biggest ******* child ever to spawn from our Country) arrest got to do with freedom of press. God Bless.
Re: “A letter from Pakistan”
madhanee baji, last time i was in Pakistan that was 2 years ago i saw a report on PTV World (yes PTV) about what israels think of Pakistan (they dont even know about us) and what we think of israels. Random People were interviewed from the street and then a discussion ensued based on the interviews. The general message was improve relations with them and how we should avoid what other muslim nations are doing. Stop being so ignorant. God bless.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
Really Gamma Ji? what has been the result of such freedoms? I heard that women had their legs chopped off because they wanted to run in a road race. Is that true? God bless.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
yes it is true and ahmadis are very frequently hung with piano wire in the middle of the streets for no apparent reason. God Bless.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
at least they are not roasted like Shias. so that is comforting to know.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
she is prob born here, of sri lankan parents, but educated elsewhere...thus the feel of alienation and displacement....i like the way she is miserably quipping in every second line "most liberal-thinking urban pakistanis" and the entire sarcastic tone....and talks abt how she should have really gone to florida instead, but but but.....i like it, i really like it...
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
Madhanee uncle. The programs can be broadcast from Dubai, but they are the most watched news channels IN PAKISTAN, by many estimates. And as you can see, if you watch them, they have no scruples in inviting guests on their programs that criticize the President, the government, even the country and everything in between.
Plus the original article suggested that even channels broadcast from Dubai are staying away from criticizing Musharraf. A claim, which I find blantantly wrong, since I see the same channels here. Its quite possible that the rest of the arguments made by the author are as incorrect as this one.
Re: “A letter from Pakistan”
ghulail aunty, where’s this srilankan parents coming from? 
why is it so difficult to accept that her parents were lahoris? hain?
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
Faisal uncle, it defies common logic. How can there be freedoms of press under a dictatorship rule? A little bit open-ness (for lack of control over) is not the same as free press. If the press was truly free in Pakistan, there wont be any dictatorship. The two cannot be mutually exclusive. One can only have independent and free press under a democratic system, not under authoritarian rules. No too long ago, the thugs of ISI burnt down the Jang offices in Karachi and intimidated its editors.
Re: “A letter from Pakistan”
umm, didnt want the poor girl to get roasted more than necessary..
she’s also made a film on gandhi, and a taxi driver in the US called ram kali taxi. would a srilankan show such an interest in cricket, india, pakistan?
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
the 'chandra' factor?...they are all generally sri lankan na!....laikin i cud be wrong, which wud make her lofty detachment even more pathetic actually the way she is getting sarcastic....so who really cares..
Re: “A letter from Pakistan”
It seems to me reading all that, you are not subscribing to any Pakistani channels, aur aisi hi fantiyaaN maar rahay hein aap. First subscribe to Geo, and then re-read all your theoretical explanations *ke ji *it defies common logic.
Re: "A letter from Pakistan"
ghulail aunty,
firstly, chandras arent sri lankan. secondly, you are already on the defensive while you are reading the letter. whats up with that? how about giving the content a chance instead of nitpicking on what the tone of the author could be?
i have had the chance to interact with pakistani director Shahid Nadeem, and watch a screening of his movie "mujahid". he and his wife are not allowed to perform in pakistan because of the "radical bent" of his ideas. his ideas werent even that radical - just that lower income pakistani youth were being brainwashed into fighting other people's battles in afghanistan. he was pretty anti-indian about kashmir, and a very down to earth, non-elitist person.
given that this is the level of freedom the media has in pakistan, it is pretty lame of you to label anyone who speaks up as non-pakistani/srilankan and what not.