The independent press grew stronger during this phase; the Urdu press and the English press, as well as the regional language press, such as Sindh language newspapers, showed a new energy in reporting the news and in analyzing the issues of the day. In addition, new technology and use of computers and desktop publishing allowed a more timely and in-depth reporting of the news. Bhutto also ended the manipulative government practice of using newsprint as a means of controlling the press. Specifically, the Ministry of Information no longer required issuance of permits to import newsprint and allowed a free and open system of importing newsprint at market prices. In 1990, President Ishaq Khan dismissed Bhutto’s government, charging them with misconduct, and declared a state of emergency. Bhutto and her party lost the October elections, and the new Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, took over. For reasons not apparent to the public, Sharif restored the issuance of permits system for news-print import. The charges against Bhutto were resolved, and after a bitter campaign, the PPP was returned to power in October 1993, and Bhutto was again named prime minister. She was ousted again in 1996 amid charges of corruption, a caretaker government was installed, and Sharif defeated Bhutto in the February 1997 elections.
[B]Sharif’s Period[/B]
In Sharif’s two and one-half years in power, he used many heavy-handed methods to deal with journalists who dared to criticize his government. He put tremendous pressure on independent journalists, using both covert and overt means of retribution. His Pakistan Muslim League party (PML) achieved a landslide electoral victory in the National Assembly, which made Sharif believe he had been given a heavy mandate to rule the country as he saw fit. He was able to cast aside all democratic checks on his power, except for the press. In the end, the press survived whereas Sharif did not. The press, in fact, through its wide reporting of Sharif’s abuse of power, prepared the Pakistani people for General Pervez Musharraf’s military coup on October 12, 1999.
Musharraf’s Regime
In May 2000 Musharraf’s regime was strengthened by a unanimous decision by the Supreme Court to validate the October 1999 coup as having been necessary; at the same time the Court announced that the Chief Executive should name a date not later than 90 days before the expiry of the three-year period from October 12, 1999 for the holding of elections to the National Assembly, the provincial assemblies, and the Senate.
In Pakistan today a cooperative effort appears to be underway between Musharraf’s government and the journalism community. In general, musharraf’s administration seems to follow a more liberal policy towards the press with fewer restrictions and much less manipulation. However, reports vary widely.
Whereas the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) reported continued harassment of and dangers to journalists, some journalists currently working for Pakistani newspapers offer another version of the situation. A. R. Khaliq, assistant editor for Business Recorder, reported that the press, by and large, is not
faced with any coercion or abuse under Musharraf.
Summary
Pakistan’s turbulent history, coupled with its ongoing political and economic crises, places the press in the position of informing the citizenry while also providing a check on the powers in office. Since its founding in 1947, Pakistan has suffered three periods of martial law and two military dictatorships, yet the press endures. The freedoms that insure the existence of the press are contained in Pakistan’s constitution, which remained suspended in 2002, and yet the press endures and continues to safeguard
those freedoms. Over the years members of the press have been arrested and jailed, have had their offices raided and ransacked, have been publicly flogged, and severely censored. Yet the press endures and has a
stronger voice today than ever before, and yet as recently as 1999, Pakistan’s largest and most influential newspaper, Jang, was raided because it was too critical of the government. Watch groups around the world characterize Pakistan as a partly free nation, and efforts appear to be moving in a positive and democratic direction.

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God has sent us to do something special,Life is once for all but not to be Repeated by a pendulum.