Please help us live, Geo TV to Musharraf

With Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf lifting emergency, the country's biggest Urdu television network Geo TV that was taken off air last month has appealed to him to allow its broadcasts on cable networks.

'The Constitution of Pakistan has been restored, emergency has been lifted and the PCO (Provisional Constitutional Order) has been withdrawn. Mr President, congratulations, you have kept your promises,' Geo TV said in a letter published on Sunday in The News.

'There is however, one other matter of national interest that requires your urgent attention media freedom.'

The letter signed by 'Geo Team' told the President, who has taken credit for giving freedom to the media:

'Compared to others, you have done more for the development of media, free speech and promotion of constructive criticism. Please let that still be one of your hallmarks and legacies.' The letter concluded by asking the President to 'help us live.'

Geo TV was taken off air along with other channels immediately after the imposition of emergency on November 3. It was later stopped from broadcasting via satellite from Dubai for a short while and has not been allowed to return to cable networks as it did not agree to a government-mandated code of conduct.

Anchors and employees of Geo have been staging protests across the country to protest gags on the media.

The letter said: 'Lifting of the emergency is an ideal time to relax the pressures on the media and also consider the withdrawal of the third amended PEMRA (Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority) ordinance. You (Musharraf) made it clear the emergency was critical as conditions were such that the security and stability of Pakistan were at stake.

'You also acknowledged that measures imposed during emergency were taken with a heavy heart. After lifting the emergency, the restrictions on media must also be lifted so that no future political entity gets an excuse to take such steps even when emergency and its conditions are not in place.'

'It will be difficult for you, in the future, to defend or support the media, when and if it is attacked next. The road to democracy will be further strengthened in the presence of independent media,' the letter said, pointing out that Geo has been incurring losses of million of rupees, which is endangering the jobs of thousands of employees.

Besides its news channels, Geo's entertainment and sports channels have also been yanked from cable networks. Geo also ran up huge losses as it had acquired the broadcast rights to the last India-Pakistan cricket series, which could not be beamed within Pakistan.