Profoundly misdirected

In a misdirected attempt to show patriotism in the wake of the Nato air strikes which left 24 soldiers dead, cable operators across Pakistan pulled the BBC news channel off air late Tuesday night. Addressing a press conference, the president of All Pakistan Cable Operators Association (APCOA), Kamran Arain, claimed the decision was because of the "anti-Pakistan" propaganda by Western media and warned bans on other channels too if they did not stop maligning the country's name. Arain's critique was targeted at, though not specifically mentioned, the BBC's documentary which questioned Pakistan's commitment in fighting the terrorists at home. The outrage by the cable operators comes at a time when anti-American sentiments specifically, and anti-West anger generally, are at all-time high. The feeling of betrayal runs deep in most Pakistanis as they continue to pay the price of ongoing terrorism while international community piles up pressure to do more. The BBC's documentary, already under severe criticism for its anti-Pakistan bias, has added to this sense of victimisation. Yet the decision to ban an internationally respected news channel is myopic and will not serve any purpose. In the age of globalisation, where alternative media is strengthening its position every day, where news is delivered to followers through multiple mediums, it is akin to living in fools' paradise where anybody believes they can "ban" something and it will cease to exist. This kind of hyper-nationalist, rhetoric-driven decision reminds one of the Pravda-esque era of Pakistan when during the martial law regime, any opinion contrary to that of state and establishment would be censored and banished from public view. This ostrich-in-the-sand syndrome has to end. In a country like Pakistan, censorship has almost always helped promote what the officials intended to vanquish from public memory. Progressive newspapers in the first quarter of our independence endured government's iron hand followed by restrictions on TV dramas and serials during the Zia era. The trend has continued while information dissemination tools continued to evolve. The last decade saw government resorting to extend censorship on TV channels, social media websites and independent blogging. The latest in the line of mind-boggling decisions has been the purported SMS ban by PTA, whereby they had issued a "tentative" list of almost 1,700 words which were deemed offensive and immoral. Now this self-serving decision by the cable association is harming the country more than helping it. In order to save the masses from, what these self-righteous guardians of sanctity of national interests call "baseless propaganda", all they have managed is to heap ridicule and scorn on the country. Pemra regulations have a code of conduct which determines what channels can, or cannot show, but it fails to take notice that international news channels do not tailor-make their content to appease the sensibilities of a nation or a group. There are ways to counter what is perceived as a negative propaganda. The cable association has no legal authority to impose this sort of decision without invoking rebuke from Pemra. Ironically enough, Pemra spokesperson was reported saying that the authority is considering summoning BBC officials to "explain" their position. Under which law, that remains a mystery. Ultimately, government of Pakistan and related authorities must wake up from their ignorant slumber. In a democracy, one cannot expect to police its populace of how to speak with each other, or what to see or what to read. The decision to ban the BBC, allegedly over a documentary, will only serve to pique the interest of people to find out what it contains, which they can do by simply downloading it from internet. What the association failed to realise is that the BBC viewership is negligible compared to the total population of the country due to its medium of communication, English. A documentary, already accused of partiality and falling short of exacting journalistic standards, has only been made more popular with this decision. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011