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Stir hits Balochistan again

Nirupama Subramanian

Media asked to go easy on coverage of province

ISLAMABAD: The Balochistan province shut down for yet another day on Wednesday in protest against Bugti's killing.

The strike, called by Baloch parties, the Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement, and supported by the Alliance for the Restoration of Democracy, also affected some parts of the Sindh province.

In Balochistan, shops and businesses shut and vehicles stayed off the roads till 8 p.m. Private offices, banks, and educational institutions also remained closed. Hospitals could not open as no staff turned up.

Except for a stray incident of violence, the strike was by and large peaceful.

Worried by the fall-out of the continuing tension in the province, the Government has reportedly asked the media to go easy on the coverage of Balochistan.

On Tuesday, President Pervez Musharraf called a meeting of owners of private television channels at which he was said to have taken them to task for stoking the fires in Balochistan by putting out "one-sided" reports. He stressed that the situation was explosive and called for restraint.

No TV coverage

Observers said a direct consequence was the absence of TV coverage on Wednesday to a speech by Rauf Mengal, the sole Baloch National Party (Mengal) member in the National Assembly, before he handed in his resignation in protest against Bugti's killing.

On Sunday, the BNP (M) had decided to give up its four seats in the Assemblies — one each in the Senate and National Assembly, and two in the Balochistan provincial assembly.

Geo TV went off the air for several hours at the height of the crisis, between August 28 and August 29, apparently after cable operators pulled the plug on the channel. Insiders said it was due to its coverage of Balochistan since the killing of Nawab Akbar Khan Bugti. The channel managed to come back on air just in time to cover the debate on the Opposition no-confidence motion.

Advice to editors

Senior journalists disclosed that editors of newspapers have also been advised to refrain from publishing anti-military opinions and observe restraint in their coverage of Balochistan.

Last Friday, after Gen. Musharraf held a meeting with his corps commander about the situation in Balochistan, the media was asked to restrict itself to the three-line statement put out by the Inter-Services Public Relations or the official news agency Associated Press of Pakistan.

The Dawn was the only newspaper that broke ranks and published a more detailed account of what happened at the meeting.

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