One of the good deeds done for us and this country by the military government of President General Pervez Musharraf is that it has allowed the press complete freedom, it has tolerated with equanimity whatever it may publish on white, yellow, red or black newsprint.

It is wise enough to give the readers the benefit of the doubt and assume that they are sufficiently sane and sensible to be able to judge for themselves the worth and weight of the newspapers they read.

The reading public of Pakistan, that mini-minority, have read last week how the chief of Nawaz Sharif's accountability bureau, Ehtesab Saifur Rahman, and his brother, have both been granted bail by an accountability court after a 'deal' was done. We now know the extent to which they robbed, how many millions they looted from the exchequer, and how many millions will be recovered from them over how many years.

We have also read over the past two years of many other 'deals' having been done between the National Accountability Bureau and the many military and civil and political figures, still alive and happy, who over the many years have robbed and looted this country with impunity. Needless to say, all the robbers are anxiously awaiting the 'restoration of democracy', i.e. the restoration of the freedom to loot and plunder the national exchequer, together with the making of new democratic 'deals' undoing the NAB 'deals' which will leave them free to return nothing.

The losers in this case will of course be, as always, the people of Pakistan - its ever increasing population of the poor and deprived who reproduce at the rate of eight births per minute (a rate which grows by the year).

Last Sunday's column dealt with the Nazims and their new rule, and the owners of a textile mill who are being harassed and are suffering due to the prevailing Blasphemy Laws of this country and how the yellow press had played its role in furthering the harassment. They continue to do so.

For example, reproduced (loosely translated from the Urdu) are some of the false, scurrilous, and inflammatory allegations made: (Due to the quaint editorial policies of the Pakistani press it is not done to name another newspaper, be it a competitor or not, so I will have to refer to the relevant newspapers as 'A', 'B', and so forth.)

Paper 'A' (Oct 26): "A joint team of city government, Tehrik-i-Insaf, and social worker leader raided Yunus Textile Mills (YTM) at Daoud Chowrangi on directions of Nazim-i-Ala Naimatullah. Printed cloth has been recovered. The Nazim-i-Ala issued orders for cancelling the mill licence and sealing the mill...... FIR will be registered for blasphemy says Qadir Khan advocate. International Bar President Qadir Khan Mandokhel said while talking to a reporter of the paper 'A' that very soon he will get the FIR registered for blasphemy and get strict punishment for the accused from Shariat Court......" .

Paper 'A' (Oct 29): "Protests by religious and jihadi parties and blocking of Mehran highways by hundreds of people. Fatwa for death penalty be given for blasphemy. Sipah-i-Sahaba announced countrywide strike if arrests were not made. Tehrik-i al Furqan said that police offices would be burnt if the accused persons were not arrested within 48 hours. Tehrik-i-Jafaria has demanded that the people behind such act should be identified and appreciated the efforts of Paper 'A'. Umar bin Abdul Aziz Trust has demanded the cancellation of the licence of the mill...... Resentment against printing of holy names. Protest will continue until punishment, said representatives of the Pakistan Workers' Movement. Following leaders protested against blasphemous acts and demanded arrest of the culprits - Allama Hussain Turabi, Abu Huraira, Hafiz Abdullah."

Paper 'A' (Nov 1): "A mob consisting of Pasban Workers Movement, religious leaders and social organizations carried out processions in front of YTM. Some stones were thrown at the factory but due to police intervention the situation was brought under control. They demanded the closing of the factory and the National Highway was blocked."

Needless to say, the Nazim-i-Ala gave no sealing orders, there was no stoning, there was no blocking of any highway.

Paper 'B' (Oct 24): 'Reproduction of the names of Allah and Mohammad on cloth sheets; citizens very annoyed. Great tension in the area due to production of sheets by YTM. The Nazim of Landhi Town contacted SSP Malir. Warning to YTM administration by Nazim Landhi Town Mr M Shahid that if production of said cloth and its sale in the market is not stopped forthwith he, being a Muslim, would ensure forceful resistance and legal action.... The Nazim of Landhi said that there was a lot of unrest in the area around the mill but still so far he and his colleagues were managing to keep the public peaceful. In spite of repeated messages to YTM management and owners there is a mysterious silence from them which is increasing the unrest among the public.

"The reproduction of sheets with Allah and Mohammed printed thereon has been viewed as a worldwide conspiracy by an organization especially in view of the present sensitive position of Pakistan. After this incident people have started ringing the newspapers and contacting religious scholars."

Paper 'B' (Nov 7): "Qaidabad police refuse to arrest YTM owners. Punishment for blasphemy is death. No action initiated despite registering a case..... The police is avoiding arrest of mill owners and others responsible ... President of the Mandokhel Welfare Trust for Sindh Hafiz Abdul Bar, and president, Hafiz Abdul Ahad, have asked the higher authorities to apprehend the accused as soon as possible so that they may be taken to task in the light of available evidence and witnesses."

Paper 'B' (Nov 11): Workers Movement carried out a protest and demanded the arrest of the owner of the textile mill for printing the sacred names. They reiterated that they would keep on protesting till arrests were made."

Of course, there were no protests, no public unrest, and no worldwide conspiracy. The earth has neither moved nor shaken.

Similar reports have been printed by four other similar newspapers, dailies and eveningers, who sell through sensation.

One weekly Urdu publication (Nov 11) wrote an editorial in the same vein, the final paragraph of which read: "The honourable readers stand witness to the fact that we have tried our utmost to keep up our promise to 'clean our share of space'. Jihad in script is also one among its several other forms. We will stand by our commitment to use our pen as a sword and Insha'Allah, Zarb-i-Islam's stunning strike on the enemies of Islam shall continue as such."

Now from this newspaper, Paper 'C' (Sep 25): "Court dismisses plea against cricketers - Justice (blank) (many say the best of the judges this province has to offer) of the Sindh High Court dismissed on Monday a petition with costs which had sought to institute criminal cases against eight cricketers and termed it an attempt at seeking personal publicity by the petitioner. Advocate Qadir Khan Mandokhel had filed the petition on behalf of the Welfare Trust he heads praying that criminal cases be registered against [names of eight cricketers] and all the bookies whose names had come on record of the inquiry report (by Justice Abdul Qayyum). Justice (blank) observed that the petitioner himself being a lawyer must be aware of the law. The judge dismissed the petition which, he observed, was aimed at seeking personal publicity and directed the petitioner to pay the cost in the sum of Rs10,000."

In yesterday's press, one report told us that Pervez Musharraf will be staying on as president after the elections to be held towards the end of next year as he wishes to complete the reforms he has initiated and started to put into form and practice. Now, in this post-September 11 scenario, when we and the world have learnt exactly how forceful and strong are our so-called religious extremists who threaten to bring down governments, this is the time for Musharraf to competently deal with these outmoded blasphemy laws so that they may no longer be used as personal weapons of vengeance in the hands of the unscrupulous, the wicked and the greedy.