Shunned by TV, Sharif’s party turns to social media
ISLAMABAD: Former prime minister Nawaz Sharif is increasingly turning to social media to get his message out after his speeches were censored on Pakistan’s news channels over the past few weeks, ostensibly due to pressure from the judiciary.
The censorship started in midApril, when the channels intermittently turned the sound off during their coverage of a speech delivered by Sharif on the back of an order issued by the Lahore high court. The court had called on the broadcast media regulatory authority to censor any statements by Sharif or his daughter Maryam Nawaz that were critical of the judiciary.
At the time, the chief justice of the Supreme Court had assured the media that the ruling had no coercive value, but broadcasters nonetheless opted to comply and to censor themselves by turning off the sound during any sensitive passage in Sharif’s speeches.
International observers have said that in recent weeks, Sharif and his daughter have accused the powerful military of clandestine interference in the civilian government.
With the help of the judiciary, the Pakistan military is able to block out statements by politicians that it feels go against the establishment, say journalists.
A close advisor to the Sharifs, Saeed Elahi, said the control of the broadcast media is in the hands of the military. “Mian Nawaz Sharif says the elections are being controlled by some aliens. This control of the media is an example of this,” he said.
Sharif has said the ruling PML-N party’s real contest is not with the Pakistan Tehreek-e-insaf (PTI) and Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) but with “aliens” – a reference to the so-called establishment. Addressing a public gathering, Sharif addressed PTI chief Imran Khan and PPP co-chairman Asif Ali Zardari, telling them they did not present him any real challenge.
But journalist Hamid Mir has criticised Sharif’s claim about his speeches being censored and recalled how the censorship actually began.
“I want to ask him how this trend started. Did it start when the transmission of Geo News was suspended on cable or it started when on November 25, 2017, all the private channels in Pakistan were shut down when Sharif’s nominee Marriyam Aurangzeb was the information minister,” he said.