Protests By Journalists

I happened to be in the Blue Area Islamabad yesterday, when I saw a handful of media journalists chanting anti-Musharraf slogans and waving anti-emergency placards. I immediately recognized some of the faces from the talk shows of AAJ TV and ARYONEWORLD channel.

There he was Mazhar Abbass from ARYONEWORLD, looking so dejected and raising slogans in the front line of 3 lines of journalists. Right behind him was Asma Sherazi, more looking like Veena Malik in “Hum Sub Umeed Say Hein”, and she wasn’t that much interested in raising slogans, than in posing for the cameras. Then there was Talat Hussain, premier person of AAJ TV standing indifferently and smugly at the far corner. Kashif Abbassi from ARYONEWORLD was also there, though he was as usual in a jovial mood, and wasn’t looked much disturbed by emergency or otherwise. Rest of people was the cameramen and lighting men and seemed tired and haggard. There was also a woman with closed eyes and open mouth waving a black flag languidly.

There was also some Police standing nearby, but they were content enough to enjoy the innocent show like many other spectators. There isn’t much protest which we have seen throughout the country from the journalists triggered by curbs on the media. Journalists of Pakistan announced two days ago, that they were starting nation-wide demonstrations against the institution of emergency and ban on private channels, and wouldn’t rest until it got lifted.

It was the second day of the protest campaign announced by the media. After the protest in Blue Area in front of the AAJ TV building, fiery journalists vowed to continue their struggle against the anti-media laws by calling for country-wide demonstrations and setting up protest camps.

Later, through the newspapers, I also heard that Benazir Bhutto, the dealer politician, also visited the demonstrating journalists and tried her best to cash in on it. She did the usual theatrics of condemning the emergency and her demands of handing over the Kursi to her and such and such. I am glad I didn’t stop there to suffer through her blabbing.