Pakistan : Blogging in a Land Where the Press Isn't Free

To look at a typical newsstand, Pakistan's press appears vibrant and diverse. There are more than 100 national and regional newspapers -- several dozen in English -- and judging by the oft-fiery editorial pages, columnists and journalists are free from shackles. Compare this to other Muslim nations where journalists are routinely jailed, or worse, for the slightest slights against the ruling institutions. Egypt. Morocco.

But according to local blogger Mohammad Khan, "it's one of the biggest hoaxes there is -- the belief that the (Pakistani) press is free."

Indeed. Reporters Without Borders ranks Pakistan 157th out of 168 countries in terms of press restrictions. The Pakistan Press Foundation reported that 33 journalists were recently "detained" for protesting police action against a broadcaster in Islamabad.

So far, bloggers like Khan have managed to fly below the government's radar, but the internet is coming quickly to this nation that borders not just India, but also China, Afghanistan and Iran. A growing middle class already has DSL at home. Internet cafes, though still limited, offer decent connections for just 20 rupees (33 cents) an hour.

A 26-year-old Lahore native, Khan is a web entrepreneur and a regular contributor to Metroblogging's Lahore edition (in English) on topics ranging from local politics to national policy.

We meet for coffee at the Pearl Continental, Lahore's most luxurious hotel, offering fine dining and armed guards to an international clientele.

Khan is sharply dressed in tan slacks and a tailored button-down, and he's clearly well-educated. His step is buoyed by the assurance of filial wealth, and he often ends his sentences with "Insha'Allah," or "god willing." He is the modern Muslim man.

At times, Khan and Lahore's other bloggers are openly critical of their government; some have even taken a stance against religious fundamentalists. Their writing is sometimes razor sharp, at other times meandering.

In other words, they're typical bloggers.

"Yes," Khan said, "there is a free press. Freer press, rather. And yes, that’s a very good thing. For example, you can now make fun of the president. You can make fun of anything. (Then) they say, 'Look at how free we are.' But that would be settling for less. This is not free press. Free press is being able to say anything you want."

For several years, it seemed as though the internet would be ignored by Pakistan's government. In the early days, circa 2001, Pakistanis were free to surf as they wished. Their e-mails, though perhaps logged, were not overtly spied on or censored.

That changed in April, 2003, when the Pakistan Telecommunication Company began to restrict pornographic and blasphemous websites at the ISP level.

Truth be told, few casual internet users noticed. Until March 2006, when Jyllands-Posten's cartoons of Muhammad were published in a French newspaper, and the Muslim world reacted with fury. To satisfy angry protestors, the Pakistani government instituted a blanket ban on 12 websites, including Blogger, where the cartoons had been reprinted. Overnight, Pakistanis were unable to access their own and others' blogs.

"Many bloggers have complained," Khan said, "but we are so small that of course nobody is listening."

There are workarounds. The most popular, PKBlogs (www.pkblogs.com ), allows Pakistanis to connect to banned sites by hiding the destination from the local ISP.

Lahore is Pakistan's cultural center -- a metropolis of 10 million people wearing both burkhas and blue jeans. Like New Delhi, Lahore is a flat and dusty urban sprawl, with several modest skyscrapers and plenty of six-lane highways. But one wrong turn leads to cobblestones, donkey carts and a constant press of humanity that labors on its feet.

Shafqat Jalil, Pakistan's press consul in New York City, summed it up best when he told me his country seeks "modernization, not Westernization."

By : Jeff Koyen (Wired News)