MONITOR Civil-Military Relations in Pakistan April 2018 Pakistan Institute of Legislative Development And Transparency PILDAT Monitor CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN PAKISTAN April 2018 In this Issue This monitor is meant to identify key developments during the month on Civil Military Relations in Pakistan with selected high-profile international developments included 1. Geo TV returns to airwaves riding occasionally on #self-censorship 2. The phenomenon of Pahtun Tahafuz Geo TV returns to airwaves riding on #self-censorship Movement (PTM) 3. Prime Minister and COAS visit Pakistan has elected democratic government in place and Constitutional and legal provisions North Waziristan Agency with safeguarding freedom of media are not 'abrogated' or 'held in abeyance' like a few times in the Defence Minister in tow past when elected governments were dismissed. Yet one of the most watched news channel 4. Army hands back Security of Dir of the country – Geo News - suddenly disappeared off the screens of a large majority of 5. Continuing Role of COAS in viewers, without them wishing to do so. Foreign Affairs 6. Army Public relations and The mysterious order to not show Geo on cable television did not come from the Pakistan development activities Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA), the body with the sole jurisdiction to 7. 210th Corps Commanders' “regulate electronic media” 1 as it confirmed on April 02, 2018 that it had neither suspended, Conference nor changed the order of Geo TV.2 It also ordered cable operators to restore Geo to its former 8. COAS confirmed death sentences position within the next 24 hours. However, after cable operators failed to restore Geo TV, awarded to 10 hard-core terrorists PEMRA directed Provincial Governments to direct Police to help restore Geo TV. 3 9. Prime Minister and COAS attend War games in KSA #silent coup – the hashtag doing rounds on social media. 10. DG ISPR condemns firing at SC Judge's house On April 04, 2018, Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, while hearing a case on code-of-conduct of 11. Civilians and the Army should work media, also noted “Except God, no one on earth can block transmission of Geo channels together: Shahbaz Sharif unlawfully.” 12. NSC endorses Govt strategy for regional peace, security However, Geo remained off-air, and who ordered its disappearance from the airwaves 13. SCO sole provider of 3G/4G remained a mystery. On April 19, 2018, Reuters reported that Geo TV will now be returning services in GB: Court Order to the airwaves after having negotiated terms and conditions with the Pakistan Army, 14. PM-COAS Interactions alleging it was indeed the Army that had ordered Cable Operators to take the channel off air. 15. Thai General Election under The Reuters article alleged that Geo was ordered off air by the military establishment, for Military regime is a Major political criticism of the military, the courts and for supporting the ousted elected Premier Nawaz throwback Sharif. The article went on to reveal that the channel was only allowed on air after having 16. Egyptian President Sisi wins “agreed to change its editorial policy, which was circulated amongst the staff.” The article landslide Victory in Elections quoted two unnamed sources, and also said that cable operators interviewed by Reuters, as well as executives working in Geo confirmed that the military was behind the disappearance of Geo News.4 On April 06, 2018, the New York Times also published a similar article blaming the military for taking Geo TV off air.5 As Geo now returned to the airwaves, on April 26, 2018, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf also ended its boycott of Geo/Jang Group,6 and Mr. Imran Khan gave an exclusive interview to Geo's anchor Mr. Hamid Mir. There appears to be a visible change in the editorial policy of the channel after its restoration. 1. PEMRA Ordinance 2002, amended in 2007. 2. “PEMRA orders restoration of all Geo TV channels within 24 hours,” GEO.TV, April 02, 2018, as accessed on May 08, 2018, at https://www.geo.tv/latest/189192-pemra-orders-restoration-of-all-geo-tv- channels-within-24-hours 3. “Cable operators defy 24-hour notice: Pemra seeks provinces' police help to restore all Geo channels,” THE NEWS, April 04, 2018, as accessed on May 08, 2018, at https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/300269- cable-operators-defy-24-hour-notice-pemra-seeks-provinces-police-help-to-restore-all-geo-channels 4. “Exclusive: Pakistan TV channel returning to air after negotiations with military - sources,” REUTERS, Pakistan Institute of Legislative April 19, 2018, as accessed on May 08, 2018 at https://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-media- Development And Transparency exclusive/exclusive-pakistan-tv-channel-returning-to-air-after-negotiations-with-military-sources- idUSKBN1HP2WV 5. “Top Pakistani News Channel Is Forced Off Air, and Eyes Are on the Military,” THE NEW YORK E-mail: [email protected] TIMES, April 06, 2018, as accessed on May 08, 2018 at Website: www.pildat.org https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/06/world/asia/pakistan-geo-military-censorship.html 6. “PTI announces to end Jang-Geo boycott,” DAILY PAKISTAN, April 26, 2018, as accessed on May 08, 2018 at https://en.dailypakistan.com.pk/pakistan/pti-announces-to-end-jang-geo-boycott/ 02 PILDAT Monitor CIVIL-MILITARY RELATIONS IN PAKISTAN April 2018 The price of bringing back Geo on air, has, in effect opened media up to another challenge of self-censorship. Scores of analysts, including Mr. Babar Sattar, Syed Talat Hussain, Mr. Musharraf Zaidi and Mr. Ammar Masood have publicly shared that their weekly articles were refused to be published as the hashtag of #MissingArticles does rounds on social media. Many others practice self-censorship, which has also been pointed out in Freedom of Press Index 2018 by Reporters without Borders. 7 This entire episode, in the opinion of PILDAT, has very serious implications for the Rule of Law in Pakistan. More than anything else that ails Pakistan the most at present and since long, is the weak, and to some the total absence of Rule of Law. If Geo is involved in activities which necessitates action against it, the law of the land should be invoked and matters should be conducted through the relevant regulator, which in this case is PEMRA, and the complaints - if any - should be finally adjudicated in the Courts of Law, which not only are functioning, but also very active and assertive. Many people had been accusing that there is an 'invisible government' or what once the then Prime Minister Yusuf Raza Gilani termed as 'Government within a Government' in Pakistan. The Geo episode tends to lend credence to such accusations and carries serious ramifications for the efforts, both by the civil and the military, to bring everyone and all parts of the country under the Rule of Law. The phenomenon of Pahtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) These pages in previous months have covered the COAS directing that Watan cards, earlier issued as ID document for TDPs, are no more required and TDPs, or residents of FATA to be clear, are allowed to use Computerized National Identification Cards (CNICs), legal tender as the right of every Pakistani citizen 18 years and above, will now be taken as their ID document. In more ways than one, this issue defines the phenomenon of what is now known as Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM). That those residents of FATA who were made to leave their homes to support Pakistan's fight against terrorism. That, when allowed to return, were Manzoor Pishteen, leader of PTM, addressing a rally in Lahore on April 21, questioned and allegedly humiliated at several gates put up, admittedly 2018 out of necessity, by the military to screen people into the area recently made clear of terrorists. That when they returned to their post-war ravaged areas, were not provided with sufficient funds to establish their lives and livelihoods. Add to this the monumental issue of human suffering understood as 'enforced disappearances.' A somewhat vital simplification of the issues, with the added baggage of successive absolute neglect of FATA into the mainstream of the country, meaning, by comparison, to its development (or lack thereof) with major capitals of the country including Lahore, Karachi, Rawalpindi and even Peshawar. Encapsulated, this, more or less, explains the legitimate reasons behind the phenomenon of Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement – or PTM, as it is more widely known. While accepting many of these legitimate demands such as abolition of Watan Cards, and while the PTM Jalsas claim the return of many missing persons to their homes as a result of their protest in Jalsas, the COAS tells us that “engineered protests” would not be allowed to reverse the gains of counter terrorism operations and cautioned the nation against forgetting sacrifices of “real heroes.” 8 A few days later, Corps Commander Peshawar, Lt. Gen. Nazir Ahmad terms 'some' demands of PTM as “genuine” adding that Manzoor, having studied from Army Public School is 'our [military] son' and is welcomed to come and discuss his issues with 'us' [Pakistan Army]. 9 To analyse it in terms of civil-military relations, one is utterly disappointed by the role (or lack thereof) that civilian elected governments have played in addressing issues faced by FATA. While no less than the Chief of Army Staff is describing the PTM and its cause as an 'engineered protest' – and he may be right somewhat in expressing – as is always the case, of the foreign hijacking of a legitimate issue – the elected political government, despite having passed the FATA Reforms in the Federal Cabinet a year ago in 2017, has failed to implement the suggested reforms due to petty political differences of the allied parties.