On November 25, ex-prime minister of Pakistan and head of PML-N, Mian Nawaz Sharif along with his brother Shahbaz Sharif and family finally returned to Pakistan after seven years of exile.

The government gave a relatively free hand to supporters who had come to welcome their leader. Although the number of Mian Nawaz Sharif's supporters in and around the Lahore airport was not more than a few thousand, they were charged and jubilant.

The passion of his supporters clearly indicated his popularity in Pakistan especially in Punjab, despite the mass defections from his party during his seven years of forced absence.

His return is expected to change the complexion of Pakistani politics to a great extent in the upcoming elections.

Political pundits think his return will deal a fatal blow on PML-Q in Punjab. PML-Q that won majority seats from Punjab in 2002 elections was very hopeful to repeat the performance before Nawaz's return. But with Sharif back, PML-N has all the potential to win a good number of seats in Punjab. In other constituencies, even if his candidates fail to win they will manage to get significant numbers of votes, affecting the position of PML-Q candidates.

PML-Q leaders know that the scenario has changed after his comeback. "Nawaz Sharif is a significant leader of Pakistan and he has his support base here as well. PML-Q will suffer due to his return but to what extent, it is premature to say. It is up to the people to decide the real fate of both PMLs but I think PML-Q has very strong candidates and it will not be easy to defeat them," said Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, central leader of PML-Q. He does not think that Nawaz Sharif will boycott the elections "PPP may also benefit because of Nawaz Sharif's return but Benazir should have in mind that after winning everybody will be a Muslim Leaguee."

Sheikh Rashid hints at the likelihood of an alliance of both factions of PML, even after the elections but Mian Nawaz Sharif himself has strongly rejected the idea.

On November 26, while talking to media in his house at Model Town in Lahore, Sharif ruled out any possibility of having an alliance with PML-Q. "We have not thought about and do not want to think about it. Yes, the PML-N may consider the case of those who, despite being part of the ruling party, have not damaged the PML-N during the last eight years."

Nawaz Sharif sounded emphatic about his programme and role in Pakistani politics. "I am not in Pakistan under some kind of deal. I'm here for democracy, restoration of constitution and the people of Pakistan."

Sharif denied to work with Musharraf under any circumstance. "I will not become prime minister even under the constitution with the 17th amendment in place." He spoke out more forcefully against Musharraf than Benazir Bhutto. Unlike Benazir, Sharif strongly called for the restoration of the judges fired by Musharraf and told the media that this was the major sticking point on which he will not relent. "Judiciary will be restored with honour and dignity to its pre-November 3 status."

He also praised the role of lawyers and media. "I salute Aitzaz Ahsan, Munir A Malik, Justice (r) Tariq Mahmood, Ali Ahmed Kurd and all the lawyers for their struggle to reinstate rule of law in the country."

Judiciary is the key issue on which he has disagreements with Benazir Bhutto. "We do not have an election alliance with PPP but are in regular contact with Benazir Bhutto on different issues. We can boycott elections if the judiciary and constitution are not restored, but election boycott will be decided from the platform of APDM."

Nawaz Sharif also praised role of the US and indicated that he was ready to work with the US. "During the last two months there is a big shift in the US role and now they are supporting Pakistan and not an individual. The US should also put more pressure on Musharraf for the restoration of judiciary."

Political analysts see a tremendous effect of Nawaz Sharif's return on Pakistani politics. "He really is on the driving seat and the choices and moves he will make will shape the future of Pakistani politics," says Rasul Bakhsh Rais, Professor of Political Science and Head of the department of Social Sciences, School of Arts and Sciences, LUMS. He does not think that a 'wounded' Musharraf will survive for long. "Benazir had the golden opportunity to become the leader of a new force of lawyers, students and the civil society but she did not show solidarity with them in the real sense. By default Nawaz Sharif has become their leader because of his stance."

According to him, Nawaz Sharif is a national leader and if Punjab stands with him in the elections, which is likely to happen, PML-N will be the only party to benefit from his return.

"In Sindh you already have a very clear divide between urban and rural voters. PPP has a strong base is rural Sindh but at the same time you have many other strong factors like Pir Pagaro, Jatoi and PML-Q. I do not think PPP will benefit even in Punjab with his return. Nawaz Sharif has a very important role to play even if he boycotts the elections," said Rasul Bakhsh Rais.

Sharif's party officials are extremely pleased on his return and think this will boost the morale of the party. They hold that PML-Q is just giving the impression of a united Muslim League to keep the hopes of its members alive. "PML-Q will be liquefied in some days and the PML voter that has become voter of patronage will come back to PML-N," said Ahsan Iqbal, information secretary PML-N.

According to him, before November 25, the political scene in the country was fragmented but with Sharif's return this vacuum has been filled and now there is a leader of national level who is talking about all the disgruntled forces of the society. "Benazir Bhutto is carrying the 'burden' of the deal with her and that is why Nawaz Sharif has become the centre of hope for the people of Pakistan." Ahsan thinks that Sharif's return will also strengthen the federation. "All the nationalist parties from Balochistan, Sindh and NWFP are part of APDM and are ready to work with Nawaz Sharif."

Ahsan admits that PML-Q and PPP have strong candidates in most of the constituencies of Punjab, "but PML-N will win because now the voters are divided amongst two groups, pro and anti-Musharraf and PML-N will get maximum anti-Musharraf votes because its stance is against him." He thinks that PPP is stuck in the middle. "It is not clear whether to support or oppose Musharraf and this will affect its performance in the elections."

"PPP welcomes Nawaz Sharif's return to Pakistan. I do not think that his return will benefit or damage PPP. His return is good for democracy in Pakistan and now all the democratic forces should play their role for democracy in Pakistan," said Makdhoom Amin Fahim. He does not agree with Ahsan Iqbal's point of view and says that PPP is very clear about its ideology. "Every party has the right to make an opinion in its own favour but the elections will decide which party is more popular."

For the second time during President General Pervez Musharraf's eight-year rule, Pakistan has suffered embarrassment due to suspension of its membership in the Commonwealth. On both occasions, the General's undemocratic actions prompted the 53-member organisation to take action against Islamabad.

It is not that the Commonwealth is some critically important forum. Largely a diplomatic association, it doesn't have any economic value for its members. It is basically a club of countries that were once colonies of Great Britain. The United Kingdom still plays an important role in Commonwealth's affairs along with Australia, India, Nigeria and certain other countries.

The Commonwealth summits and conferences are mostly a tame affair as heads of state and government meet in friendly atmosphere and break bread and have drinks together. Member countries, particularly the developing ones, receive some benefits such as students' scholarships and technical training opportunities in the developed states associated with the Commonwealth. The Commonwealth Games are held regularly and cultural exchanges between member states are encouraged.

Commonwealth nations, who have a combined population of more than one billion, in the recent past have become particularly keen to promote democracy values in member states. Countries where democratic governments are toppled are promptly censured. In fact, it is one of the basic principles of Commonwealth to establish peace in the world through cooperation between its member states based on promotion of democratic values.

As member countries don't derive much economic or political benefit out of Commonwealth, losing its membership may not be a big deal. Still getting suspended or expelled from an international organisation is no small matter. No country willingly quits a world-wide organisation and nations often strive to seek membership of new forums and groups to gain political and diplomatic benefits. Association with international organisations also confers prestige and earns good reputation for a country in the comity of nations.

Pakistan was in breach of the Commonwealth principles due to General Musharraf's decision on November 3 to impose emergency rule, abrogate the Constitution and issue Provisional Constitutional Order (PCO), sack independent-minded judges, order crackdown on lawyers, political workers, members of the civil society and other protestors and gag the media. As the Commonwealth member countries felt that the organisation's fundamental values had been violated, they gave Pakistan 10 days to restore democracy and rule of law. The deadline expired on November 22 and as President Musharraf had not taken the steps demanded by the Commonwealth, its committee of foreign ministers in a meeting in Uganda's capital, Kampala, decided to suspend Pakistan's membership. The membership would be restored once Pakistan's Constitution is revived, the judiciary is made independent again, rule of law is ensured and all those arrested following the emergency-inspired crackdown are released.

As decisions by the Commonwealth are taken by consensus, Islamabad is hoping that Sri Lanka's belated move to dissociate itself from the decision to suspend Pakistan's membership would render the whole exercise invalid and ineffective. That hasn't happened yet and may not happen because Sri Lanka's foreign minister Rohitha Bogollagama attended the Kampala meeting of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group on the Harare Declaration (CMAG) that was assigned the task to discuss Pakistan's case. He didn't raise any objection to the decision about suspending Pakistan's membership of Commonwealth in that meeting, which was chaired by Michael Frendo, minister of foreign affairs of Malta.

British foreign secretary David Miliband, who attended that meeting, remarked later that the "decision was taken in sorrow not in anger." This explains that participants of the meeting made the decision reluctantly and, apparently, unanimously.

However, the fact remains that almost all Commonwealth member countries supported disciplinary action against Pakistan following imposition of emergency. No action could have been taken had even one country raised objection at the meeting in Kampala because under the charter of Commonwealth all its decisions are taken by consensus. Even if some countries had their reservations with regard to the move, none made it public and instead went along with the decision to expel Pakistan from the Commonwealth.

General Musharraf's military coup against the democratically elected prime minister Nawaz Sharif in October 1999 had also prompted the Commonwealth to suspend Pakistan's membership. It took Pakistan five years to be reinstated as member of the Commonwealth. And it is now the second time during General Musharraf's rule that Pakistan has lost its membership of the Commonwealth.

In the past also, Pakistan had problems with Commonwealth, particularly its leading lights such as the United Kingdom, Canada, India, etc. On January 30, 1972, prime minister Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto pulled out Pakistan from Commonwealth when UK, Australia and New Zealand recognised Bangladesh as a sovereign country. It was an emotional decision because Bangladesh by then had become a reality. Still many Pakistanis in the then West Pakistan backed Bhutto's move out of a sense of patriotism. Pakistan itself subsequently recognised Bangladesh's independence and established diplomatic relations with it. Many years later, Pakistan's Commonwealth membership was restored.

It is worth noting that not many Pakistanis felt outraged when the Commonwealth suspended the country's membership recently. This explains the political divisions within the country as most Pakistanis consider President Musharraf responsible for the Commonwealth's action this time. In principle, they would not like any other country or organisation to dictate terms to Pakistan. But the issues raised by Commonwealth while suspending Pakistan's membership are relevant and important for most Pakistanis.

It is obvious that Pakistan has had to face embarrassment twice at the Commonwealth due to the undemocratic steps initiated by General Musharraf. Actions of an individual may benefit him or her but it could harm the country's interest. That is precisely the case in the existing situation. The damage could only be undone if the conditions put forward by the Commonwealth are accepted so that Pakistan reclaims its membership of the Commonwealth. Acceptance of those conditions would also benefit our nation as emergency rule would be lifted, the Constitution would be restored, judiciary would regain its independence and all political prisoners would be freed.

I bet you don't know what is the fastest growing, most coveted business in town today. It's Event Management! It used to be the custom, if you were getting one of your offspring married, to get a gang of young people in the family together to help make the arrangements. I remember back in my boyhood, in Multan I and my cousins took the household 'Bail-gari' and went the round of the neighbourhood borrowing sofas and fancy chairs from all the neighbours. Each one had to be discreetly labelled at the back so they could be returned to the owners afterwards.

I suppose this was because there were no what was called 'Tent Wallahs' in Multan , though it is possible my relatives were being stingy. In Lahore there was the ancient firm of 'Rooldoo Muhammad Din and Co.' They set up the tents, brought the chairs and tables and carpets, though I seem to recall you had to make your own food arrangements, which meant calling the local 'Nai', mostly a Kashmiri who cooked and served the 'Palak gosht' and 'Biryanee.'

Next thing I noticed there were 57 'shaadi ghars' in a single string on one street in Karachi, and there were probably hundreds of such streets. People realised that it was too much trouble to have tents pitched and chairs brought in and get food cooked and served for hundreds and thousands of people, and the 'shaadi ghars' stepped in to take the responsibility and make the arrangements.

Now it is a whole new ball game. Large corporations and companies want to hold 'events' to introduce their products or motivate their employees or generally have a ball, and they want their event to make a bigger fuss than the last one, and any number of 'event managers' have set themselves up to arrange these functions so the corporations don't have to kill themselves trying to make arrangements they know nothing about.

It all starts with a company coming up with a 'new' product; although many of these new products are being introduced by banks and I can't imagine what they can be. Counterfeit money? Dud coins? Anyway the idea is either to introduce the new stuff with a bang so it gets in the papers, or to motivate their own people to push it by throwing the big fete for them. For this a think tank of the company's young employees, fresh out of business school and brimming with ideas come up with a 'concept' or a theme. Then they look around and get an event manager who will set it all up for them; and the whole thing has really gone to town.

The last one I was at had to be held in an aircraft hanger, because the concept they had come up with was 'space' and making a set to depict it takes lots of that -- space. In this instance they wanted a fifty foot rocket with a space shuttle attached, standing on the stage as a backdrop. Others have had fifty foot cartons of juice or tooth paste, somehow the emphasis seems to be the bigger the better.

The rocket was not enough, a thousand employees of the firm all had to be dressed up in space suits, shimmering silver over-alls and they had to make two thousand of them because everyone wanted one for his spouse too. The humungous marquee had to be flown in from Karachi because that was where they could find one big enough, black and with sequins to depict the stars and space. Only good thing about all this is that usually the food is excellent!

President Pervez Musharraf has only added to a simmering controversy spread over five years by ordering the establishment of Federal High Court at a time when the constitution was in abeyance. Islamabad's legal fraternity had been supporting the move while lawyers, particularly from Punjab, opposed the move. This has spurred rumours that the president's act was mala fide aimed at further weakening the independence of judiciary.

On November 21, under Presidential Order No 5 of 2007, certain amendments were made in the constitution. In addition to providing legal cover to the acts he has taken since November 3 including imposition of emergency and stating that these can not be challenged or brought into discussion in any court, the order sets up a Federal High Court (FHD) having an exclusive jurisdiction over Islamabad capital territory.

Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, former Member National Assembly from Islamabad, told TNS that by setting up a High Court in Islamabad, the government has fulfilled an old demand of the lawyers and a constitutional requirement. "But I have certain reservations over the method employed by the government to establish the court."

Bukhari, who belongs to PPP, also remained Islamabad bar president on three different occasions. He said that the 1973 constitution in its introduction clearly specifies the Islamabad territory as separate from the four provinces, making it incumbent on the government to constitute a high court in the federal capital.

Supporting Bukhari, Haroon-ur-Rashid, the present Islamabad Bar President told TNS that the new court would not only lessen the burden on the Lahore High Court's (LHC) Rawalpindi Bench but would also alleviate the hassles for Islamabad-based lawyers who had to cover a long distance to reach Rawalpindi Bench.

Not only this, he added, the population of Islamabad would be the direct beneficiary as because of shortage of judges, it takes years to get a case decided from the Rawalpindi Bench of LHC.

Although the government has not yet announced the composition of the federal court, the number of judges and its location but Haroon told TNS that FHC would be housed in front of the Supreme Court in the premises of Federal Shariat Court. There are a large number of rooms lying vacant in the Shariat Court. He said that the number of judges in FHC would be around nine.

There are over 1800 registered lawyers with the Capital Bar. Of the total around half are registered with the high court bar in Rawalpindi. However, more and more lawyers from adjoining districts are also coming to Islamabad to get registered because the district courts are being shifted from the present dilapidated location in sector F-8 to a newly-built judicial complex in sector G-10. There are reports that the lawyers will be allotted rooms in the new complex, making legal practice in Islamabad quite lucrative.

Lawyers in Islamabad also say that lawyers and judges having a domicile of Islamabad could not become a judge of any high court of the country, because Islamabad did not fall in the jurisdiction of any province. Therefore, the FHC would provide them with a career ladder.

The official move may have great acceptance within Islamabad territory but not from anywhere else.

Khalid Anwer, a prominent lawyer and a PML-N leader, dubbed the order as mala fide, meant to curtail the jurisdiction of the Lahore High Court (Rawalpindi Bench). He said new appointments would be made for the new high court and pliant people would be brought in.

Interestingly, this controversy is not ignited by the recent presidential proclamation but goes back to the year 2002 when the Federal Ministry of Law, Justice and Human Rights sought recommendations from departments concerned for the establishment of FHC.

In early 2005, the media reported law ministry's intentions to move a bill in the National Assembly to enact the federal court to adjudicate commercial, financial, industrial, trade, banking and insurance issues with the status of a high court.

The proposed court was to decide disputes, appeals and references within a period of three months with a view to expedite decisions. The preamble to the bill said the court was being established because 'special expertise' was required for the disposal of such cases. It was more or less to be regulated by the federal executive authority with a ceremonial supervision by the Supreme Court.

It was also reported that the proposed FHC would take away from the jurisdiction of high courts cases falling under 29 laws, which were also proposed to be amended by the National Assembly to divest the high courts of the premises to hear such cases and give the new legal forum an exclusive and original jurisdiction to resolve these disputes.

The then controversy revolved around the oath of the chief judge of the proposed FHC -- that he would be administered oath by the president and would then take oath from other judges. The oath, as provided by the draft bill, enunciated that the chief judge "will abide by the code of conduct issued by the president."

The legal community agitated against the text of the oath that it had no mention of the constitution. They understood that the federal court would be obliged to the president and not subordinate to the constitution.

Similarly in the proposed bill, the maximum age of a federal court judge was fixed as 68 years that was higher than the age stipulated by the constitution as 65 years for the judges of the Supreme Court and 62 years for high courts.

As for the qualification of a judge of FHC, the bill said he or she shall be a person eligible to be the judge of a high court, serving in a public organisation in BPS-21 or above, has experience in commercial or financial matter for not less than 15 years, or a retired judge of high court, tribunal or a court under federal laws.

Taking notice of such a move, the Pakistan Bar Council in its meeting held in Karachi in April, 2006 rejected the idea of FHC saying, "PBC is of the opinion that any legislation to establish a federal court or a federal high court or to create independent divisions within the existing high courts would be violative of the Constitution, particularly of its provisions relating to the independence of the judiciary. The council feels that such proposals are being considered in order to weaken the judiciary and make it ineffective and subordinate to the executive."

Although the capital lawyers brush this criticism aside, it seems that these concerns are not unfounded as executive authority of the federal capital territory lies with the president.

The court is being established in Islamabad that does not have an elected government but is controlled by the bureaucracy. The federal interior ministry is the capital's parent body. According to the Presidents order No.18 of 1980, the executive authority of Federation is exercised by the president through an administrator (now Chief Commissioner Islamabad). And the administrator shall have all the power and duties conferred or imposed on the provincial government.

So far the federal government has not come up with any explanations if the new court would be open to executive interference. Whenever it comes out with the details, it is destined to attract controversy. No wonder, the law has been quietly moved under the garb of PCO without drawing any popular public attention.

Peshawar is surrounded by Khyber Agency in the west, Darra Adamkhel in south and Mohmand Agency in the north. All the three places bordering the provincial capital have turned troubled for the past many months where clerics have established parallel administrations and the writ of the state is almost completely eroded. Lashkar-e-Islam is dominant in Khyber Agency. A newly emerged group of militants, allegedly led by an Egyptian, in Mohmand Agency has also spilled over to the settled subdivision of the Charsadda district and Michni area of Peshawar. A new militant outfit, Tehrik-e-Taliban, is said to have gained strength in this area.

The situation is worse in Darra Adamkhel, administratively controlled by the district administration of Kohat exercising powers of political agent (PA). Commuters are being stopped by bearded men, armed with klashinkovs and riding double cabin pick ups, in Khyber Agency as well as Darra Adamkhel to check whether or not they possess musical CDs and cassettes.

Matani, located only 15 kilometres from Peshawar on Kohat Road, borders the troubled Darra Adamkhel tribal area. In the recent past, Matani, which is located on main Indus Highway linking Peshawar with Punjab, Sindh and Balochistan, proved to be a safe haven for kidnappers. Hundreds of people had been kidnapped from the Indus Highway near the village and most of them could return only after payment of huge amounts as ransom. Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Bannu, Abid Ali was also killed by kidnappers in the area.

Since the presence of militants in Matani, the ratio of kidnapping has decreased but attacks on law enforcing agencies saw a sharp increase. First they ambushed a police party near Sra Khawra and killed four cops five months ago. Then they blew up an armoured personnel carrier (APC) as well as dozens of CD shops on different occasions. Most of their rocket-launchers were recovered from Matani and from the nearby Bazidkhel village whenever rockets were fired on Peshawar during the recent past.

In the latest attack, a projectile landed on the roof of the residence of ANP leader Bashir Bilour in the Peshawar Cantonment area and narrowly missed the American Consulate building. Two other rockets landed in other parts of the cantonment without causing any human losses but triggering fear among Peshawarites. In a recent incident the head of a local NGO, Habib Aurakzai, was kidnapped from Darra Adamkhel, adjacent to the troubled Matani village.

Clerics in Michni were said to be gaining strength. Some senior police officers have forewarned that the situation could deteriorate if not handled tactfully. During different meetings with the provincial government authorities, religious seminaries and mosques in these areas have been pinpointed where the militants normally converge to evolve their future strategy. "We are going to beef up security in these villages to maintain law and order," said the NWFP Inspector General of Police Mohammad Sharif Virk.

The situation in Matani forced the government to deploy paramilitary troops in a part of Peshawar. Around 60 personnel of the Frontier Corps are stationed at Spina Thana near Matani for the past few weeks and are waiting for an order to start joint patrolling with police and Frontier Constabulary. The authorities are also looking to get more forces for deployment in Michni village so the spill over of militants can be stopped to the urban parts of town.

Fresh contingents of law enforcing agencies have not been deployed in troubled villages of Peshawar and its bordering tribal areas nor local religious, political and social leaders have been engaged to find a durable solution to the newly emerging threats in the district.

The worsening law and order situation can be gauged from the fact that five bombs went off on five consecutive days, from October 9 to October 13, in Peshawar alone. One of the incidents was a suicide attack on the life of Federal Minister for Political Affairs Amir Muqam, during which he remained unhurt but five other persons, including his cousin and former provincial minister Pir Mohammad Khan, were killed.

"I stopped a promo, after the 5:45 time-check to announce that Pemra people were here, that 103 was going to be shut any moment. That's when they pulled the plug," says Najia Ahmed the RJ (radio jockey) who was on-air with her show 'Music on wheels' when the emergency struck FM103 on November 3.

"Pemra and police officials -- a DSP, an SHO, two ASI's and several policemen entered the offices of the radio station and took away the transmitter cutting off FM103's broadcast permanently," says Anis Mansoori, a journalist there, describing what happened.

"Our crime they said was that we had been behaving like naughty children -- 'shaitan bachay' -- with our 'anti-government' and 'political' views -- the reason why we were the only radio station to be targeted for a shut down," says Najia.

According to a recent survey, FM103 was one of the most the most popular and controversial radio stations in town.

FM103, defiant in its stand, struck back after a brief hiatus, with a candlelight vigil on Nov 25 and a daily 'roadshow' that's continuing from Nov 26 outside the Karachi Press Club -- closely following on Aaj TV's 'Live with Talat' and Geo TV's 'Capital Talk,' two banned talk-shows which were held to live audiences on the street in Islamabad. Their stand-off with the regulatory authority Pemra continues.

The RJs and staff came with their equipment, hoist speakers on top of a Suzuki Hi-Roof, and soon enough a small crowd was moving to the playlist they had put together for this morale-boosting symbolic protest: 'Meri Awaaz Suna' (Junoon), 'Yehi Ant ki Shurooaat hain' (Shaan), 'Aik Aur Jahaan', (Nayyara Noor) and others. Earlier an sms message had gone out: "Closure of FM103, hundreds of families affected! Protest outside Press Club on 26-11 at 5 pm onwards. Join the club!".

"The shutdown has affected the employees who are deeply uncertain about their salaries with Eid ul Azha around the corner," says Abu Rashid, another popular RJ. He says he, like any other RJ, receives 80 text messages a day from people asking about the closure. "They don't know why it's closed."

The Station Manager, eminent cartoonist Feica, estimates that the station has incurred a monthly loss of Rs.10 million.

At the roadshow, Feica, who is known as Billoo bhai at the station, was intensely painting a protest mural on the Karachi Press Club's wall. He had no polite words for Pemra. "We are terrorised by PEMRA,"

'Over 100 families affected' and 'Freedom' was painted on the wall. The protest lasted from 5 to 10 pm.

Along with Geo TV, FM103 remains one of two media outlets still shut by the government. Incidentally FM103 and a channel Aaj TV had the distinction of being shut specifically by having their equipment seized, when the emergency was imposed under a PCO by General Musharraf on November 03.

A visit by the US Ambassador Anne Patterson was expected at the station the next day. She had visited the Geo TV twice while Benazir Bhutto also visited Geo and ARY offices in support of free media since the imposition of the emergency.

Among radio channels FM103 has the distinction of being the only one to deal with serious issues. "The RJs are not told what to say or not to. FM103 is a news channel with music in it," says Najia. When the bombs exploded in Karachi on October 18, Anis Mansoori was giving a live report from Benazir Bhutto's procession -- the bombs were heard 'live' on-air. Anis apologised -- he could taste burnt explosive in his mouth.

So is everything supposed to be hunky-dory now that the general has given up his post of army chief? The fact of the matter is that had General Musharraf, who was appointed to his post in October 1998, acted according to the Constitution he would have retired as chief of army staff by October of 2001. Had he not overthrown a democratically elected prime minister, had he not issued a provisional constitutional order and then another one eight years later in 2007, his term as army chief would have been six years shorter.

Of course, there is a silver lining to all of this, especially as being argued by those who see the president's leaving his army post as a 'good' step. America has called it a 'good first step' as has PPP Chairperson Benazir Bhutto. The argument runs that this is perhaps the first time in Pakistan's troubled existence that an army chief, who became dictator and suspended the Constitution, has voluntarily given up his post and become a civilian. But if one considers the facts and turn of events as they happened, there may be more to this argument.

For starters, the action against an elected prime minister could not have been called a 'counter-coup'. Nawaz Sharif did not go about dismissing the army chief in a proper and fair manner perhaps -- he did this as General Musharraf was returning from Sri Lanka and reportedly still in the air -- but this didn't warrant his toppling. Also, what Mr Sharif did -- i.e. removing the army chief was very much within his constitutional rights. That he (Sharif) himself was tending towards becoming a dictator, especially his seeking passage of the 15th Amendment bill through which he wanted to become an all powerful amir of a khilafat, is not the argument here because even in such a situation his removal or ouster should have come either through the legislature (say, through a vote of no-confidence) or through the ballot via a general election.

While all that may be water under the bridge, to say without any qualification that Musharraf has finally kept his promise is to be professionally and intellectually dishonest -- especially for journalists. This has happened six years too late and had the Constitution not been thrown in the dust bin, this 'smooth transfer of command' would have not taken so long to materialise.

Furthermore, did General Musharraf become a civilian really out of magnanimity or because he felt that the pressure, especially from his benefactors in Washington, London and beyond, was getting too much to bear. This column is being written at around noon on Nov. 29 (because of the deadline) and there are reports that the president may address the nation later tonight and it has been reported that he may lift the emergency. If that does happen (and it very well may have by the time this appears in print) then two questions have to be asked. One, what about the war against extremism and militancy? Wasn't emergency imposed, as the president said in Nov. 3 speech, to fight extremism because the president felt that the media and the judiciary were not helping this important cause and in fact either hampering the hand of the executive or, worse still, fanning the flames of militancy? The curbs on the media and the assault on the Supreme Court and the high courts was done as part of this strategy, so how can the emergency be lifted now? Does this not mean that there was an ulterior motive to the emergency's promulgation and that this real motive was to secure the re-election of the president -- by any and all means possible?

The strategy was to impose emergency, issue a new provisional constitutional order (which was done by the army chief) and go after all the institutions that could pose even a remote danger to this scheme. Hence the frontal assault on the superior judiciary, the lawyers and journalists and the media, and in fact on those members of civil society who had been protesting against the government's misdeeds.

Take the case of Munir Malik, who remains hospitalised and in serious condition because of his illegal incarceration. His only fault -- to speak in defence of a free and independent judiciary and against the army's interference in politics and just about every other sphere of life in this country.

What was Aitzaz Ahsan's fault? He was Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry's lawyer and as for Ali Ahmed Kurd, he gave fiery speeches against the military's involvement in politics -- but then what would one expect given the latter's interference and over-arching influence in this country's socio-politico-economic life. One must also mentioned former judge of the Balochistan High Court, Justice Tariq Mehmood, who as of Nov. 29 was being kept in Sahiwal jail in terrible conditions, and according to his wife, being made to sleep on the floor of his cell.

As for the media, the argument that the media has never been free as it was in Musharraf's time can now easily be rebutted by the state of the media now, with most of the TV channels now running more or less as extensions of PTV. Besides, media freedom is not something that is granted by a government but rather won by journalists and what happened in Pakistan in the last eight or nine years is part of this -- also, the industry here was catching up with the information age and TV channels and increasing Internet use are very much part of this and in fact are a pre-requisite to the kind of universally attractive profile that the government wanted of the country as it entered the twenty-first century.

Hence, the growing number of TV channels and lively programmes that they showed was also used by the government as a kind of brownie point to score with the west, telling them that 'look how free our media is and how tolerant we are -- we even allow shows that make fun of the president and the prime minister.' Of course it's another story that these very programmes are now no longer allowed on air. Also, it remains to be seen what happens to the insidious code of conduct that the government wants all TV channels to sign as a condition of being allowed back on air once the emergency is lifted -- because in its current form and given the media's past experience with even civilian governments, any future dispensation may find it a handy tool to keep the fourth estate in check.In this context, it is perhaps more pertinent to point out that General Musharraf did whatever he did six years too late.