Media Muzzling in Pakistan?

Another week, another story of Journalism in Peril abroad.

But where last week’s story was that of Venezuelan President and noted America-critic Hugo Chavez pulling the plug on TV stations, this morning’s Washington Post shows an ally of America taking umbrage at the Fourth Estate. In Pakistan, there is a significant uprising against President General Pervez Musharraf, and the results are beginning to resemble the sixties here in America – riots, rallies, and demonstrators getting shot by police … and, as the ultimate battleground, the media.

Since the beginning of March, Musharraf (you may remember him from sipping tea and being a genial guest on “The Daily Show”) has been combating criticism for his suspension of Pakistan’s Chief Justice, Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudry. Chaudry was nearing decisions on some cases that were going to be crucial to Musharraf’s re-election bid, and those rulings were suspected to be critical.

This showdown came to a head in early March, according to the Post, when:

Musharraf invited cameramen to a meeting at which he expected Chaudhry to resign under pressure for alleged abuses of office. Instead, Chaudhry refused. The image of the judge moments before he stood up to the uniformed president became the first icon of the controversy …. Since then, Pakistanis nationwide have been transfixed by live coverage of police beating lawyers, pro-Musharraf groups firing assault rifles at demonstrators and the chief justice speaking to ever-larger and more boisterous audiences about the dangers of autocratic rule.

And most recently, in order to quell the voices of opposition in his country, Musharraf has begun blocking the signal of at least one outlet, Aaj, and cancelling a popular public affairs program on another, ARY Oneworld.

This story comes at a crucial time for US/Pakistan relations, as it appears on the heels of a recent explosive look at Pakistan’s lack of cooperation in fighting Al Qaeda. As the New York Times reported two weeks ago:

The United States is continuing to make large payments of roughly $1 billion a year to Pakistan for what it calls reimbursements to the country's military for conducting counterterrorism efforts along the border with Afghanistan, even though Pakistan's president decided eight months ago to slash patrols through the area where Al Qaeda and Taliban fighters are most active.

This troubling story, though splashed on the front page of the Gray Lady, didn’t grow any legs in the days after it was reported. But little gets the media’s attention more than attacks on the media. Perhaps the Chaudry affair, rampant with the rumblings and grumblings of democratic debate being stifled, will put more focus on America’s stormy-yet-symbiotic relationship with Pakistan.