LAHORE, Jan 18: The Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) has been created to continue the state control over private electronic media after the end of Pakistan Television monopoly.

Playwright Shahid Mahmood Nadeem made this statement in his paper on the “Language of Censorship” at the concluding session of the three-day Simurgh Conference on Politics of Language in a hotel here on Saturday.

The conference concluded abruptly due to outbreak of fire in the hotel at the end of discussion on the paper.

Mr Mahmood claimed that all programmes of private channels had been censored since the present information minister took oath of his office.

However, he added, the present government was faced with the most difficult situation with respect to exercising control over information in view of the availability of alternative sources in the form of internet and satellite television and the establishment was trying to invent new tools for sustaining its control over the media.

Continuous restriction of the freedom of expression in the country had posted censors in the minds of writers and journalists, he said and added, such restriction was considered inevitable in exploitative societies where the majority was denied its share in the power.

The monarchs used to silence the voice of dissent by pulling out the tongues of critics, making them drink bowls of poison or hanging them or buying them off. The colonial rulers restricted the freedom of expression by promulgating laws relating to the official secrets, press, dramatic performances and censorship on the one hand and compelling their Indian subjects to adopt their culture by thrusting the English language on them on the other.

The establishment in Pakistan ignored the democratic principles from the very beginning, he said, recalling that an effort was made to censor the portion about religious freedom in the speech delivered by the Quaid-i-Azam in Aug 1947. Only Dawn and a few other papers published the censored portion, he added.

Mohtrama Fatima Jinnah was asked to delete certain portions from her message on the third death anniversary of the Quaid-i-Azam. Certain portions from her recorded speech were deleted during broadcast when she refused to accept the establishment advice.

As many as 31 publications were banned and 15 directed to furnish securities during the first seven years after the independence. Warnings were issued to 50 newspapers during 1952-53. The Daily Civil and Military Gazette was closed down for publication of a news item about Kashmir. Little criticism was voiced over the takeover of the Progressive Papers Limited, the publishers of The Pakistan Times and Imroz, by the Ayub regime in 1959 due to continuous suppression of the media.

The critics of the 1971 army action in East Pakistan were silenced and dubbed as traitors and enemies of Pakistan. Psychosis of fear was made the basis of restriction of freedom of expression by coining terms like “Danger to Islam”, “ Danger to Pakistan” and “Danger to Pakistan Ideology”. Criticism of armed forces also invited similar curbs.

The voice of dissent continued to be suppressed in the name of the people and by the use of the muscle power of Jialas during Bhutto’s rule, who provided the basis for the so-called Islamic rule of Ziaul Haq by declaring Qadianis as Non-Muslims. The general entered into an alliance with the religious forces to curb the popular forces unleashed by him, Mr Mahmood said.

Ziaul Haq introduced press censorship and imposed restrictions on press freedom in the name of defence of Pakistan and Islamic Ideology besides making even the publication of facts an offence through an amendment to the defamation law. He also took advantage of the Afghan situation to strengthen his ideological dictatorship by promulgating Islamic laws and using television and the cultural institutions, the playwright was of the view.

Writer Attiya Dawood said that even the poetry of Shah Latif Bhitai was censored during the Bhutto era. Late Jam Sadiq met a dissenting journalist at his residence in a swimming suit and told him that a naked man could make others naked as well.

Kishwar Naheed said that a newspaper had refused to publish her write-up about the military terminology.

Reading her article entitled “Language and Military Terminology”, Ms Naheed said the army described the arms by masculine names and used feminine terms for weaker elements. “Entry of the armed forces in any area was described as penetration and a commentator had alluded to nuclear explosions by India and Pakistan as loss of their virginity. Whereas other countries had decorated their squares by things of beauty, our rulers had installed weapons there.”

Giving her presentation on the “Female Body in Pakistani Art”, former National College of Arts principal Salima Hashmi said that women in the country had concealed themselves in Burqa till 1980s, but discarded it later on. Woman artistes used Burqa to symbolise the anonymity and oppression of the female. The wearer of Burqa remained concealed herself but could watch everyone on the other side of the veil.

She said that Burqa had now been replaced by scarf and veil. The faith of the wearer could be judged by the dress. She showed slides of paintings of different woman artistes.

Lala Rukh read an article entitled “Politics of Language of Art”.

The conference had to be called off without adoption of the resolution on aggressive US designs against Iraq due to the outbreak of fire.