Uneven Democracy : The Cry from Chhattisgarh Re: # 1 Replace Ellora with Shiv-sena, who attacked TV station for airing grievance of migrant workers, you get the picture of narrow-mindedness and apathy that exists in urban middle-class towards residents of far-flung under-developed outlands and their rights. Kudos to Anand Patwardhan for writing this.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 86
Ahmed saheb
Jews were loathed for being unpatriotic and they produced the greatest leaders of humanity. Prejudice restricts clear-thinking. Ignorance is rendered invalid by knowledge but there are some who have taken it upon themselves to break all the street-lights in the neighborhood. Their mischief is annoying but I guess one could laugh at them as well in a moment of light-heartedness. Peace.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 78 Ellora, You rightly pointed out that there was no backlash against Muslims in India after 26/11. The perpetrators were not Indian muslims. But wounds from earlier instances like Gujrat are still fresh and muslims of Mumbai denied burial for the attackers in their graveyard because they wanted to preempt a backlash.

Why MQM Wants To Enter Punjab? Re: # 49 Banjara286
This article is not well-written and it could be motivated by bias but it contains facts. Mustafa Kamal emerged as a leader but MQM leadership makes sure that he is not glorified. I am sure that 'Haleem ka chanda' is still collected by the 'Bhais' of the mohalla to verify loyalty. MQM uprooted political opponents by force. Try contesting an election in Karachi and you will know the truth. It is easy to oppose fascistic oppression committed by others but it should not be legitimised when practised by your own ethnic group. Respect. Peace.

Why MQM Wants To Enter Punjab? Re: # 44
Riaz
"I am not familiar with the MQM org to know what kind of structure they have."
This article is on the subject of MQM organisation. I have lived in Karachi until 1992 and visited regularly after migrating. I have experienced the MQM oppression firsthand. This writer might be motivated by some ethnic hatred but I belong to the same ethnic group. I agree with your characterisation of PPP, PML and others as feudalistic, but MQM is middle-class fascistic.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 58 Ahmed Saheb
I went through the link to guidelines for Indian news broadcasters provided by Vivek in#55. The guidelines for sex and religion are interesting. The newsitem you provided in your post below is a positive sign. However your question on my conclusion of change in the status of Pakistani media does not rest on my belief of freedom only. I watched Nawaz Sharif's interview the other day. He countered the propaganda against newborn democracy, restrained himself from calling for mid-term elections and dismissed the idea of a temporary government of technocrats. I look at these as signs of strengthening democracy and civilian rule could become supreme, I hope.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 56
Looking at Pakistani media I would say the ISI/army influence is quite dominant. No enterprise in Pakistan could successfully operate without ISI/army backing. Change is imminent as people feel encouraged by democracy.

Why MQM Wants To Enter Punjab? Re: # 42
Riaz
You totally overlooked the point I made on military-like organisational structure when you compared MQM to some other parties in Pakistan. JI in the 70s had such an element in their organisation. I do not know much about RSS in India. Wonder if MQM and RSS could be comparable in terms of organisational structure and loyalty.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 53 Ahmed Saheb: I agree that the two countries cannot be differentiated by much in terms of illiteracy, lawlessness and poverty. Indians seem to stick to patriotism. Chinese show similar trend. However educated Iranians appear more liberal. These cultural trends need specialised analysis, I think.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 49 Vivek; Thanks for the clarification. I am not aware of these new guidelines you mentioned. If you could elaborate or post a link. The new guidelines could reflect the maturity that we have discussed or it could suppress the access to information.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 46 SPY:
"In that context, your last statement on maturity, I believe the Indian media/audience will achieve faster, but for the Pak media/public it is a difficult road ahead."

Comparison of media freedom between India and Pakistan directly relates with democracy, which is strong in India compared to Pakistan where it is an infant in the incubator. Maturity might not take a whole lot of time if freedom is not curbed and tolerance is exercised.

The case of Major Nidal murdering US soldiers did not entail an outburst of mass killings as they might do in similar instances in the sub-continent. We could expect to reach this level of tolerance through freedom of expression, rule of law, education and poverty alleviation.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 47Ahmed Saheb, Could you please find me a link on this new development regarding self-control on Pakistan TV. Thanks.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 7
Dear coolal
Sorry that I disappointed you but the fact remains that fascistic politics and organisations are hurting freedom of peoples in Pakistan and India. I had recently seen an article by an Indian analysing Mushrif's book and the writer had referred to video footage of 26/11 attacks. Therefore after reading this article I asked my question.

I do not agree with the basic idea promoted in this article which tends to put a curb on journalistic freedom because TV channels promote cheap sensationalism. The media and media watchers will mature overtime and sensitivity and freedom of expression will find its natural balance. Indian and Pakistani media are so hooked on patriotic high that an alternative point of view should find huge number of viewership if fears of fascistic backlash is neutralised. Peace.

Why MQM Wants To Enter Punjab? Re: # 20
Riaz
Like I said PPP and PML suffer from other ills and feudalism, slave-labour, private prisons are some of them but MQM is another animal. It is middle-class chauvinist(ideologically) and has a fascist structure. Please answer the points I raised about no urban population being politically loyal to one political party. What causes this MQM domination? It is their militarised organisational structure. Journalists in Karachi know this well but they cannot raise a voice.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Well, I asked a question. I did not mean to hurt any feelings. As for the link, I found it by doing google because bharat25t had denied the existence of any suspicion. With the defensive response my question recieved so far, I am not going to quote Indian minister Antulay. Peace.

The Strange Case of the Indian Channels That Did Not Air the 26/11 Documentary Re: # 3
http://peacetimes.net/2009/10/a-new-book-who-killed-karkare-blows-away-indias -myth-of-islamic-terrorism/