PAKISTAN SATELLITE CHANNELS BUCKLE UNDER PRESSURE FROM MUSHARRAF REGIME

[Truth Seeker]

London, UK, October 6 – Pakistani satellite channels, ARY Digital and PTV Prime, have refused to air a TV commercial for this Saturday’s [October 9th] massive demonstration that will call upon the Muslims of Pakistan to rise up and remove President Musharraf and replace his system with the Islamic Khilafah [Caliphate]. The TV commercial carried clips of Pakistan’s formation and its more recent history under Musharraf’s continued subservience to the Bush regime.

 

The decision of Pakistani satellite channels not to air the TV commercial or give coverage to the demonstration was taken under direct pressure from the Musharraf regime. The intense pressure placed on Pakistani journalists and media outlets to tow the Musharraf line, is an increasing sign of desperation and proof that the Ummah’s demand for the return of the Islamic Khilafah is gaining strength.

 

A report by Human Rights Watch in January 2004 said, “Since Musharraf assumed power in a bloodless coup d’état in 1999, the Pakistani government has systematically sought to silence the press through threats, harassment and arbitrary arrests. Many journalists have been detained without charge, mistreated and tortured. The government has sought to remove independent journalists from prominent publications—and in several cases has succeeded. Meanwhile, the arrest of editors and reporters from local and regional newspapers on charges of sedition has become increasingly commonplace.â€

 

The “Stop Busharraf†campaign, organised by Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, has been growing in momentum over recent weeks. The campaign has seen hundreds of thousands of English and Urdu leaflets and petitions distributed throughout the UK exploring the extent of Musharraf’s betrayal. The campaign has evoked an enthusiastic domestic and global response – messages of support and solidarity have been received from across the world, including many from Pakistan.

 

Nadeem Khan, an organiser of the demonstration, said, “Instilling fear in journalists and media censorship are the desperate actions of a weak regime – a regime that has sold out over Kashmir, permitted American forces to establish bases in Pakistan, legitimised the occupation of Iraq, provided logistical support and intelligence to US forces in Afghanistan and surrendered control over Pakistan’s economy to multinationals. Musharraf is now doing all he can to sacrifice Pakistan’s strategic resources to get Bush re-elected.â€

 

Dr Imran Waheed, a UK based doctor and the Representative of Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain, said, “While the Musharraf regime is keen to censor and ban Islam, it is eager to promote secular liberal values through a diet of Pakistani ‘dramas’ and Bollywood movies, that bear no relation to the life of the average Muslim in Pakistan.â€

 

“Despite such bans, the thoughts of Hizb ut-Tahrir are present in the entire Muslim Ummah today. The Khilafah is now on the horizon – now is the time for the Muslims of Pakistan, particularly the people of power and influence, to work with Hizb ut-Tahrir to remove the weak Musharraf and establish the Islamic Khilafah.â€

 

[Ends]

 

Notes to Editors:

 

The TV commercial is available on the campaign website: www.stopbusharraf.com

 

Hizb ut-Tahrir is an independent Islamic political party. The party works throughout the Islamic world, including Pakistan, to resume the Islamic way of life by re-establishing the Islamic Khilafah [Caliphate]. The party adheres to Islamic law in all aspects of its work and considers violence or armed struggle against the regime, as a method to re-establish the Islamic State, to be forbidden by Islamic law. In the Western world, the party seeks to explain the Islamic ideology to Muslims, to create a dialogue with Western thinkers and to present a positive image of Islam to Western society.

 

 

CONTACT:

 

Imran Waheed – Media Representative

Hizb ut-Tahrir Britain

Email: imran.waheed@hizb-ut-tahrir.org.uk

Phone: 07074-192400 [+44(0)7800-548843 from outside the UK]