After imposing the draconian PEMRA ordinance that infuriated Pakistani media and civil society and shocked the world, the government deigned to take it back. But it left a Sword of Damocles hanging over the media: that the legal and financial restrictions proposed in the ordinance would be used if the electronic media did not work out some sort of code weighed in favour of the government. In a declaration on Tuesday the South Asia Free Media Association rejected such restrictions on Pakistani television and radio channels and for the print media. At the same time, it called for greater access to information for people -- something which is still lacking despite repeated pledges by the government for nearly eight years now, particularly so when it comes to government records. The declaration was issued at the end of a discussion organised jointly by the Media Commission of Pakistan and the South Asia Free Media Association (SAFMA), aptly titled "Media freedom, media laws". Freedom doesn't mean untrammelled freedom without social and legal responsibility. Even without a code, however, Pakistan's print and electronic media have shown a remarkable sense of responsibility by reporting on issues that have furthered the public good by keeping a check on government policies and actions. By doing so, the private media has provided a much-needed alternative to state-owned radio and television, which over the years have suffered extensively because of a plunge in their credibility caused by a general failure to relay information and news that is close to reality.

If there is to be a code, it must evolve through self-regulated conduct by the media, not imposed by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting or PEMRA, or what the declaration calls non-state elements. Any legislation regulating the media's role should result from bipartisan consensus in both houses of parliament, with the consultation of representatives of the media and of other relevant sections of Pakistani society, as the "Declaration on Media Freedom and Media Laws" emphasised. The government needlessly embarrassed itself by first imposing the unpopular ordinance, then beating a retreat after the national and international uproar against the measure. Its continuing ambivalent conduct is proof of apparent doubts in at least some sections of the Musharraf administration as to whether it should have taken back the anti-media restrictions -- a decision which admittedly was one of its most positive contributions. Let's hope that the declaration will help it take a look at those doubts and see them for what they are: a product of insecurity and fear.