INSANITY has finally triumphed and somewhere Hell’s spirits are celebrating the victory of evil. The regime’s various attempts to clip the wings of civil society have reached a point where any attempt to curb this tide of despotism will unleash more insanity (if that is possible). From the time the bloody drama was played out on 5/12 on the streets of Karachi, there has almost been a torrent of senseless actions by the government from all sides, exposing its own weak and vulnerable footing.

There are many stark examples of how threatened the government is feeling at the moment. The clampdown on the media coming soon after the president’s statement that the people and the media should ‘revere national institutions such as the armed forces’ is too obvious a desperate attempt to stop the tide of people’s fury at the government’s atrocious behaviour on and since May 12.

Then there is this trend that the government has taken up of banning entry into Sindh of any and everybody who threatens their ‘peace’. First it was the lawyers who were ‘expelled’ from Sindh on May 12 and nine of them were barred from entering the province for a month.

This week, opposition member Imran Khan too was stopped from entering Karachi, because the MQM raised a furore. If next Punjab decides to hold a convention and call people from Karachi, will all invitees from Sindh be banned from entering Punjab? Someone needs to explain how this fits in with the idea of a free nation-state. Will we soon need a visa to travel within Pakistan?

As anarchy becomes the order of the day, the definition of free and freedom is being redefined in Pakistan altogether. The president declares one day that it was him who had ‘granted’ freedom of expression to the media in Pakistan and then he goes on to put limits on media reporting. First of all, Mr President, the media in today’s world is part of the global village and it was on account of that interconnectedness that the media in Pakistan too became a strong component of human rights, justice and a vital information tool. Its use as a tool has been made particularly by this government as well to spread the much-touted message of enlightened moderation as well as for personal glory and publicity of a private enterprise — namely the autobiography ‘In the line of fire’.

But, unfortunately, the situation seems to have become so convoluted in the president’s mind that the contradiction of his own actions and statements evades him. To curb criticism on his actions with regard to the Chief Justice and the lawyers’ protest, he has attempted to make use of Articles 248 and 211 of the Constitution, shackling the media and declaring that the president is immune from criticism and also adding that the military’s sanctity has to be maintained.

Unfortunately, the president has only further cornered himself rather awkwardly by taking refuge in the Constitution and by hiding further under his uniform. As for the Articles of the Constitutions, lawyers have been quick to point out that those do not pertain to General Musharraf as he has been elected unconstitutionally following the 17th Amendment made particularly for the vote of confidence for General Parvez Musharraf. And whereas the sanctity of the military is concerned, it is the president who is compromising it by continuing to don the uniform while heading an office which necessarily has to deal with political opposition.

In the face of so much turmoil and erroneous governance, the clampdown on the media is one of the worst judgement calls that could have been made by the information department. Being asked to ‘behave’, the media has now been told that it is ‘overstepping limits’. The restriction on live coverage of lawyers’ forums can only serve to augment public interest in them rather than dilute the effect. Will the international media be given the same orders?

Bullets are delivered to journalists daring to raise their voice about the president’s allies in the government; media offices are blatantly attacked; transmissions of popular news channels continue to be suspended intermittently whenever their coverage begins to reveal the dark side of the government, and then in the same breath, the president continues to say the he has ‘granted’ the media freedom of expression.

Does no one have the wisdom to see that the state machinery’s senseless actions are only exposing the government’s weak position? Media clampdowns are only put by despots. And to remind the president, even when the most fanatical despot was ruling the country, the media still did its job of exposing political corruption even if it resulted in public flogging, night-time raids or brutal assassinations.

It would be prudent for all authoritarian rulers to remember that truth does triumph at the end of the day, but sadly, prudence has never been a part of the government’s vocabulary.