An interesting development has been taking place in Pakistan since the liberation of the TV stations from the Govt. control (although it is still far from complete liberation). We have been seeing its effects in almost every part of the daily life of an ordinary Pakistani. To me this change translates into a new from of empowerment for the common man. Before this change the politicians and the heads of the state could easily argue one side of an issue based on just complete ignorance or intentionally to bluff the viewers by presenting the 'truth' on state television. But now they have a new competitor which will only prove to be more powerful as time passes by, provided this new hope is let to flourish. We have seen quite a few examples like innocent people being rescued from the jails because the media high lightened them. Folks, for a long time there used to be an argument 'The western media is very powerful.....', but you know how it is said 'If you can't fight it, join it' and I think that this is exactly what has been done. Although the sad part is that we are just stepping into a very new field while other nations and countries have built huge empires on it, and it will be a while before the revolution gets enough momentum.
The biggest thing I want to credit the media with is 'initiation of thinking' in the common man. Now one might say that, were we not thinking before, my answer is, no. What we were doing before was accepting what was told to us as right or wrong. E.g. we did not have any other category for India than enemy. We had been told and taught in our textbook that the 'evil neighbor India....' did this or that. About 4-6 years ago if anyone even said or talked about India in a different way he was quickly labeled a traitor. Well all that is about the political issues of Pakistan. A very interesting thing that I came across this week was the discussion on Geo TV about the Hudood Ordinance. This is a very exciting turn for us, as we will be able to eventually open discussion among all sects and about all topics without getting involved in any kind of hatred or violence. This is the one thing that will eventually free the ordinary man from the claws of the mullah and convince him that he 'can' decide right & wrong without becoming a Kafir and that the mullah's stamp is not necessary for everything from how to drink water to which side to stand while urinating. It might be worth mentioning over here that while the mullahs have 'elaborated' and laid out in great detail the day to day activities for us ignorant people they have simultaneously forbidden any discussion on this issue among the people as it might lead them astray with the exception of the one way talk from the mullah's lips to the mullah's audience.
This is certainly the beginning of a new era.
