Journalists to protest on May 13

He is accused of expressing anti-Pakistan sentiments in a lecture delivered on April 30 in New Delhi where he travelled on the invitation of the India-Pakistan friendship society chaired by ex-Indian Prime Minister Inder Kumar Gujral.

But Sethi8217;s supporters say the salient points of the lecture in India have been published several times in Pakistan by The Friday Times in editorials as well as an article on January 1 this year titled What Is To be Done?8217;

Inaddition, this lecture has also been delivered by Sethi at Pakistan8217;s premier defence institution, the National Defence College, where he earned accolades for his intelligent analysis and patriotism, from the commandant and other senior army officers.

8220;If the Army has no doubts about Sethi8217;s patriotism, who are these people to doubt it?8221; asked a furious Jugnu Mohsin, wife of Sethi and publisher of the The Friday Times addressing a meeting after her husband8217;s arrest.

Mohsin expressed apprehensions about attacks on the weekly8217;s office and Vanguard Books, the publishing house run by Sethi. 8220;I could also be arrested. But if anything happens8230; It is up to you to continue the struggle for full freedom,8221; she said.

An emergency meeting convened by the committee for free press, at the Lahore Press Club on May 8, condemned Sethi8217;s 8220;unlawful arrest8221; and demanded his immediate release.

Pakistan8217;s independent media has had several run-ins with the Nawaz Sharif government, which has resorted to aseries of arrests and harassment recently of journalists who have been aiding the BBC to produce a documentary on government corruption. The first to be taken into custody for two days was Mehmood Lodhi of The News.

Both Sethi and Hussain Haqqani, columnist and Opposition leader who was detained by intelligence agents on May 5 and whose whereabouts are not known, had been interviewed by the BBC team.

Pakistan8217;s independent press has been a watchdog on the government ever since the return of democratic rule in 1988 after more than ten years of military rule with the sudden death of general-turned-president Ziaul Haq.

In fact May 13 is observed as Freedom of Expression and Press Day to commemorate the Black Day8217; in 1978 when three journalists were flogged by the military rulers for protesting against the closure of an Opposition. Twenty years later, Pakistan8217;s press freedom is 8220;selective8221;, commented veteran politician Nawabzada Nasrullah, president of the Pakistan Awami Ittehad Party, at ameeting called by the committee for free press before Sethi8217;s arrest.

8220;The press is free to write anything about the opposition, but that is all. This is naked dictatorship,8221; Nasrullah, widely respected as a long-time upholder of democracy observed.

8220;This government has passed the 14th amendment which disallows members of Parliament from voting against their party8217;s decisions, and the 13th amendment which strips the President of his powers. The attempt to pass the 15th amendment failed late-1998, that would have given the government the powers to decide what is morally and religious right or wrong,8221; he said.

Soon after the government got embroiled in a very public fight with the country8217;s largest newspaper group, Jang, which had turned sharply critical of the government, backing off only after the Supreme Court stepped in.

8220;What they government want is kingship, Mughal-style,8221; commented Nasrullah.