The protests ignited by General Pervez Musharraf’s 9 March 2007 sacking of Chief Justice Chaudhry provided a testament to the newfound importance of Pakistan’s media. Coverage of the lawyers’ movement protests and the government’s crude attempts to suppress it were brought to millions via satellite television and FM radio. The media’s role in the events that lead up to Musharraf’s resignation on 18 August 2008 is a study in unintended consequences; the dictator’s earlier
About the Authors
Zafarullah Khan
Zafarullah Khan is a former journalist and currently serves as executive director of the Centre for Civic Education, a nonprofit, nonpartisan civic-education and media-monitoring organization in Islamabad.
The use of force and intimidation against women trying to take part in politics is a growing problem in many places. Such violence assumes a number of different forms, but…
Long prone to coups, Pakistan now for the first time has seen a freely elected government duly serve out its full term and peacefully hand the reins of power to…
Read the full essay here. Political Islam is often cited as the key challenge to democratization in Muslim nations, but deep currents of authoritarianism may prove more of an obstacle.…
