REFERENCE the article ‘Jingoistic media’ ( Sept 26). The writer wrongly equates the venomous , excessive anti-Pakistan content of most Indian news media with the far less nationalistic content of Pakistani news media.The article omits reference to the stark difference between the narrow-minded , intolerant aspect of Indian cinemas and most Indian news media unwilling to screen Pakistani films and music or identify the Pakistani origin of some outstanding artists . On the contrary, the Pakistani print media regularly features inane Bollywood stories. Pakistani cinema house regularly screen Indian films , often at the expense of Pakistani films.

Pakistani FM radio stations broadcast Indian music every day — unlike their Indian counter-parts which , except for Zindagi TV in the past two years, do not project Pakistani music or Pakistani content , except when it is harshly self-critical comment . The article then makes the bizarre contention that the reason why Ge Musharraf’s government permitted privately-owned electronic media was because he did not want Indian satellite channels to give only the Indian version about Kargil .

First , the few Pakistani cable TV distributors who were operating illegally before the PEMRA Ordinance was enforced on March 1, 2002, and during the Kargil conflict did not distribute Indian news channels . So there was no Indian propaganda ‘threat’ to counter .

Second, Kargil occurred in May 1999, while Pakistani private channels came in the second half of 2002 , over three years later , when Kargil had long been overtaken by 9/11 , and other events .

Third, five years before 2002 , the PEMRA Ordinance (virtually the original basis for private electronic media and the PEMRA law) was promulgated by the caretaker government on Feb 14, 1997 .

But because the second elected government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif deliberately allowed the ordinance to lapse, it took an unelected but more open-minded, liberal government led by a military general to introduce the law as a permanent statute .

This article writer should know because I happened to draft both those laws. And I can state with conviction that the introduction of private TV and radio channels was purely an expression of beliefs, values and a forward-looking vision , not a reactive , defensive action .

Senator (r) Javed Jabbar
New York

Published in Dawn, September 30th, 2016