What is the mood of the country this weekend? And what is the contribution of the electronic media in particular towards the creation of the psychological environment two days before the convening of the National Assembly session on 17th March 2008,(48 hours to go from the time this column appears).
I would like to keep in mind some points in the evaluation of this mood. There is black flag week that is on, having begun on 9th March 2008, to mark the completion of a year of the heroic struggle of the lawyers in the country. It is a year since the date when President Musharraf sacked the Supreme Court chief justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry.
The legal community and civil society have been struggling courageously and fearlessly for a year now, and despite the Pemra and other official instruments of manipulation, it has been a relentless,inspiring and sustained battle that the TV channels have waged. The owners and the media men who stood up to the strangulating pressures have played a sterling role, that will not only be valued in the days ahead, but it has set trends and traditions that should augur well for the freedom of the media in the future.
Contributing to the mood is not only the ongoing terrifying ambience of suicide bombers, targeting Lahore this time,(this week) but also the round the clock efforts of the PPP, PML-N and the ANP to form government, and take this country out of the deep mess that has been created by its predecessor. Amongst its priorities is the restoration of the deposed chief justice and others in the judiciary, and to decide whether and how there can be a working arrangement with President Musharraf - against whom there has been a heavy mandate in last month's general election.
There is so much television that we have all watched in recent days, and I for one find it a growing challenge to look for something that the TV channels have shown, and which one can say sums up the times we are in. Would I be relevant were I to say that many politicians like Shahbaz Sharif are contending that if President Musharraf were to resign, at least half the problem of terrorism in Pakistan would be eliminated?
Anyway, the compulsion of watching television is something that has to be accepted. For today it is the only canvass that is saying it all. Well done, private TV. Collectively, and individually, as a TV viewer I feel so rewarded.

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One theme that is regularly being heard now, on TV channels also, is that of banker Shaukat Aziz, a former prime minister who went abroad, after completing his assignment here. And questions are asked about how successful his performance was in view of the economic hardships of the people, and the mismanagement of the economy that are gradually emerging.
On Wednesday morning in the Aaj Markets anchored by Imran Sultan and Riaz Andy with tremendous enthusiasm, it was interesting to hear the comments of Begum Salma Ahmed, a businesswoman and who also heads a trade organisation, unlike some of the high sounding official economists whose jargon doesn't reach the average TV viewers, and even extends into the realm of fantasy and incredibility, it was easy to comprehend what she was saying. And to see her was a pleasant change in the format and the presentation. She questioned the mindset of unbridled consumption, growing imports and contrasted this with rising food prices, broken roads - and the poverty and deprivation in this society.
She sounded credible as she complained about high prices and food inflation, and referred to banker Shaukat Aziz, inquiring why he was handed over the job of the prime minister, for which he was so inappropriate? Infact this is something that is often heard - one TV viewer said, "if his professionalism was so needed he could have been employed as a banker not as a prime minister". There is indeed much to contemplate here.
It has reminded me of what I heard over Aaj TV earlier in the week in which Syed Talat Hussain was revealing that he had made 22 attempts to meet (interview) former Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz and had failed. He said that Shaukat Aziz left Pakistan happy and laughing, and that he must be smiling now!
In this panel discussion there was also present senior journalist Mushtaq Minhas who criticised the former prime minister for the way he worked, and added that at times he would turn out media men from his meetings for being improperly dressed!
Among the themes to be heard more in the media in the days ahead will be those that revolve around Shaukat Aziz as prime minister.
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Kashmir Singh, Khalid Mahmood
Television channels last week appeared so excited about the release of Kashmir Singh, an Indian spy who spent 35 years in Pakistani jails. The Federal Minister for Human Rights, Ansar Burney, played a pivotal role in the release, and was understandably in the forefront on all the media occasions, with some of the TV channels telecasting live from the Wagah border.
It was said that Kashmir Singh had expressed his gratitude to the Minister as well as President Pervez Musharraf for his release, and his return to India, and that during his stay in prison he had also embraced Islam. It was intended to be an attempt to further the process of having friendly ties with a neighbour perceived as an enemy otherwise. In India, Kashmir Singh presented the other side of the story, retracting had what he, said in Pakistan.
I heard over Aaj TV in Live with Talat, Ansar Burney being asked about what he had done for the missing persons in Pakistan, ever since he had become a Minister for Human Rights, and in his capacity as a human rights activist. Talat had asked him this and KESC stepped in (a yet again) to black out my TV viewing. I am sure that Burney must have had answers. The missing persons issue remains strong.
I would like to refer to a March 11 story in The Nation which had the following headlines on the front page "Send their spies alive, get you innocents in coffin" And here is an extract from it: "A few days back, an Indian spy Kashmir Singh walked across the Wagah border, hail and hearty, while a Pakistani cricket spectator (enthusiast) Khalid Mahmood was fetched to the same entry-exit point in a coffin on Monday (10th March)." And next to this story was another one whose headline read, "Congratulations, Ansar Burney". This was a reference to the "absence" of the Human Rights Minister when the mutilated body of Khalid Mahmood was brought to Pakistan, from India.
The story and background of the two examples possibly reflect the nature of the mindsets in the two countries and the complexities of bilateral ties. I have heard TV viewers wonder why Pakistani TV channels were extending so much coverage from this side of the border when the media and the official response from the Indian side was somewhat muted, remarked a TV viewer, angry at what Khalid Mahmood had been subjected to.
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Anita Ghulam Ali on Dawn NewsThere is very often talk of mindsets in various programmes on the TV channels. This time there was the veteran, distinguished educationist, Anita Ghulam Ali, Managing Director of the Sindh Education Foundation, talking on her favourite theme education on Dawn News TV (in The First Blast). She was describing the government mindset as poor when it came to education.
One of the points that she under lined was about the ready availability of volunteers in this society, but regretted that there was no infrastructure available for them. Like always it was very informative to hear her on this subject.
There was another point that she stressed - that Pakistanis are very suspicious when it comes to sharing information. She referred to efforts made to determine the number of school kids in different categories (for instance in private schools, government schools, madrassas). In particular she referred to the NGOs that are very reluctant to share information, even if and when they have it.
On the point of the government plans to completely shift to English medium education across Pakistan, she asked of how practical this would be in the absence of English speaking teachers. Asked about the madrassas in Pakistan, she remarked that they were doing an excellent job and had been present in this society for a very long time. Of course, there are some naughty boys in the business, she added.
CRICKET AND INSECURITY: I would be surprised if there were any TV viewers who were expecting the Australians to come and play cricket in Pakistan in view of their security concerns, based on the instances of terrorism taking place in the country, and the incidents in Lahore being recent on the list of cities that suicide bombers are evidently focusing on.
Given the law and order problems that are being faced at this point in time, the fears that visiting cricket teams can have, is obvious. What is not understandable in this case, has been the optimism and unrealistic attitude of the Pakistan Cricket Board and its insistence that the Australians come and play here. Reports indicate that the PCB offered to the Australians unprecedented security for the players.
But one does wonder at the nature of this security, keeping in view the fact that the terrorists are able to strike in even the high security areas. TV channels, and the print media had stated almost a week ago that the Australian press had reported that the 30 day cricket tour of Pakistan was not likely to begin at the end of this month.
But the concerned authorities in Pakistan remained optimistic, and that was stubbornness and a lack of realism that was enigmatic. Cricket Australia's Chief executive James Sutherland has said that he sympathised with PCB's position, but Australia had no other alternative other than postpone the tour after taking advice from the government and independent security experts.
Not just the suicide bombings but also the assassinations of Benazir Bhutto on 27th December 2007 were factors that made the Australians express their fears. Australia proposed a neutral venue, which Pakistan refused. Australia has not visited Pakistan to play cricket since 1998.
PCB Chairman Dr Nasim Ashraf, whose management of the Board has come under criticism for long now, said a Reuters's story datelined Sydney, that he was disappointed at the tour's postponement, but was hopeful that it could be rescheduled in the near future. What that near future means, is something that time will tell.
For the new government's high priorities will include tackling the terrorism threat that seems to be expand, unfortunately. The PCB chief claimed that there would be no financial losses due to the postponement. However Ramiz Raja, has expressed fears that Pakistan's television rights are going to be up for sale soon, and with this cancellation they may be considerably devalued.
It is pertinent to mention here what the opposition parties, have been saying, and which Shahbaz Sharif said this week also that if President Pervez Musharraf were to quit the terrorism problem would be halved. Of course, there are two opinions to this also.
Anyway back to cricket, which not only has a huge following in terms of TV viewing, but it is said that it brings out the patriotism in each citizen. Now instead of Australians the Bangladesh cricket team has agreed to come. It means that their perceptions of insecurity in Pakistan are different, and that they feel safe to play here. Indian cricket team was also invited, but it declined due to its busy schedule.
Dr Nasim Ashraf, who is a familiar face on the TV channels for the frequency with which he appears, said that the PCB had contacted other countries and that Bangladesh had agreed to come. They will play five one day matches and a twenty20 match in April. Dates and venues are to be decided.
Despite the fact that Pakistan has been a very politically agitated mood for a year now, the interest in cricket in terms of entertainment value has possibly been only slightly dented.
The auctioning of cricketers in India has been another theme that has been focused upon and discussed in recent weeks, especially in the context of the Indian Premier League. IPL cricket gets a new money and glamour dimension, and Pakistani cricketers' have also been "purchased" in the auction.
I would like to mention here the very watchable show Loose Talk that Anwar Maqsood and Moin Akhtar do for the AryOne World every week. This time Moin Akhtar enacted a retired cricketer from the fifties (presumably) and recollected the days when he played Test cricket for Pakistan, and the money that he got for it. The dialogue between Anwar Maqsood and Moin Akhtar was very funny, but did convey the long way that playing cricket has come. It is all about money, in a way. All the way, perhaps.
One must note here that Loose Talk is a very entertaining but hard-hitting show and that both the seasoned stars almost always are in form and scoring freely off each other's loose deliveries! It is a show that has been on this channel for sometime now, and is amongst those that would have wider viewing were the political temperature to go down?
Back to cricket. Look at this dimension now. "Because of the huge amounts of money available in the sport", said the Sri Lankan cricket chief Arjuna Ranatunga, "cricketers may opt to play for others rather than their own country".
He felt that there could be an exodus - and mentioned that in Sri Lanka Arnold Russell and Marvan Attapattu have been banned from holding any post in the country's cricket administration because they are playing for the Indian Cricket League.
Apparently the platforms like the IPL and the ICL are here to stay and it would be watched with extraordinary interest what the cricket administration, in Pakistan is going to do about it.
DEEPTI NAVAL IN AGAR TUM MIL JAO: I wonder how many TV viewers are aware that Deepti Naval (in drama serial Agar Tum Mil Jao, on ARY Digital) was a noted Indian actress going as far back as the early eighties. She also wrote poetry in Hindi. I am mentioning her because I have been able to present some of her work as a TV actress in this serial, at least twice. She has become more graceful with time.
The drama serial written by Naila Ansari, produced by Saleem Khan, and directed by Syed Irshad Ali (Arshi) appears to be handling many relationships simultaneously, reflecting the many levels of meaning and melodrama a script can carry. No such element as comic relief in today's TV drama serials?
Deepti Naval plays a woman, who has married for the second time, and a slightly younger man. It appears that she has not been able to forget her first husband (played by Abid Ali). She apparently also feels insecure with her husband as he is meeting with young attractive women most of the time. In one scene she tells her husband that she can forgive a person for being unfaithful but cannot forgive dishonesty. In Urdu she said "Mein Bewafaee muaf kar sakti hoon, magar be-eemaani naheen".
And because my fondness for sensitive dialogues here is another one that I would like to reproduce. Says Deepti Naval that "Hum Ishq Naheen Kar Saktey, Sirf Bahak Saktey Hain...Jore Naheen Saktey, Tore Saktey Hain". When translated it means that "we are incapable of love, we can only flirt or be wayward. We cannot make we can only break (relationships, I guess)
I hope to see more of this drama serial if I can. I have been able to get away from the news and current affairs programmes and see some drama serials and long play as well. Those that I saw over TV One, late night (Teletheatre), have been very powerful. I hope I can get some details and write about them sometime later.