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 military is currently showing signs of wanting to back away from overt political involvement, but this should not be confused with a rejection of praetorianism or an acceptance of…
Elections set the stage for the General’s exit after nearly a decade in power, yet Pakistan still faces deep-seated structural problems that cannot be remedied merely by a return to…
