‘’I can’t speak for too long on the phone,’’ Asma Jahangir said in a calm, determined tone, ‘‘the military might cut it off.’’ Nonetheless, Pakistan’s leading human rights lawyer and activist accepted my offer of a phone interview this morning. She spoke from her home, where she was being held under house arrest, via the one phone line that the Pakistani police had somehow forgotten to cut off.
She spoke quickly, not because she was nervous, but because she wanted to tell the world as much as she could about what is really going on behind the scenes of Pakistan’s current political turmoil. She said the electronic media is completely shut down, and satellite dishes have been removed from the supermarket shelves, ostensibly by the military, to prevent people from getting or spreading any information about the state of emergency.
Jahangir urged the world not to turn a blind eye to violations of democracy and free speech in Pakistan, and called for maximum international pressure on General Pervez Musharraf.
However, as she was telling me that these are defining moments for her country’s future, the police interjected, and we lost the connection. I called back immediately. A male voice answered (she had been home alone only moments before) and told me that ‘she was not allowed to talk anymore,’ because ‘she was with the police.’ At the moment I have no information regarding her status.
I originally conducted this interview for Turkey’s NTV-MSNBC news portal, where it was published this morning in Turkish. I worry that the interview itself, intended as a chance for her to speak freely, is in fact a chilling example of the ban on free speech in Pakistan today.
Afsin Yurdakul: What is daily life like for you under house arrest?
Asma Jahangir: For me it has been very busy. I have been writing a lot, I have been receiving news, I have been watching with great anguish how my lawyer colleagues have been beaten up. And, so, for me it is far better than what has been difficult for most of the people in this country. Hundreds and thousands of lawyers have been dragged to jail and a lot of violence has been perpetrated on them. Judges and seniors of the upper courts have been put under house arrest. There is a kind of uncertainty in the air. People are uncomfortable, people are worried. The activists are all out. There is no electronic media, only state-controlled media. So information is slow. People are running to the shops to buy satellite dishes, some of which have sold out. Police are taking the rest away from the shops. So, the government is really coming down hard on trying to ensure that people don’t get any kind of information. And yet, the opposition and the protests are not stopping, though they certainly came down because the leaders are in jail. But the intensity of these protests are there.
A.Y: Is it OK to give a phone interview under house arrest ?
A.J: Normally it would not be ok, but they somehow left one of my land lines open. Sometimes they cut it off and sometimes it is working. Whenever the phone rings, I take the opportunity to speak. I was just told that I can’t leave the house, no one can come and see me. Nobody is allowed inside the house and I am by myself.
A.Y: I would like you to give us some background information about the political turmoil at the moment…
A.J: I can’t speak for too long on the phone, because the military cuts off the phone after three minutes. Well, we have been under dictatorship. We know what it is to be under dictatorship. And the transition from the military to the political forces has not yet been completed in our country. General Musharraf kept promising that he is going to leave the post of Army Chief. He now promised, not only in court but also publicly, that he will leave one post or the other - which he has no intention to do. And as the time goes by, he tries other strict measures to put the country under martial law. People are not going to accept this because there is more awareness.
A.Y: How has the state of emergency changed the dynamics in the country?
A.J: Well, for one, there are no courts. All the judges are under house arrest. They have put in new judges but the lawyers have refused to appear before them.
And secondly, there is no electronic media. So people don’t know, not even BBC, CNN, so people don’t know what is happening in Pakistan, and the rest of the world. It is heavily censored.
The stock market has crashed. So people are very fearful and very [worried.] There are protests, there are traffic jams, a lot of police, which [are using] batons, tear gas...
A.Y: Any message you would like to give to the world, given there is very little media access right now?
A.J: Yes, I think that it is now time for the world to start accepting that dictatorship cannot be excused under any pretext or the other. And it is best not to let it go down to a level where we all become Myanmar, and come to the stage of Burma. That prevention should be taken now. They should have zero tolerance for this.
A.Y: What do you think General Musharraf's motive for declaring the emergency was? Is he taking refuge in this?
A.J: Well, I think General Musharraf could take any decision to keep himself in power. He has no care for the people, he does not care about the country. The only person he cares for is himself and the power that he has.
A.Y: And, how do you see the political future of your country?
A.J: Well this is a very defining moment and it is....
The line cuts off, and I call again. A male voice answers.
A.Y: Hello, can I speak with Ms. Jahangir?
Male Voice: Not allowed to!
A.Y: Is she there?
Voice: No.
A.Y: Is she with the police?
Voice: Yes, police, yes.
A.Y: Is the police there?
Voice: Yes, the police has her.
Afsin Yurdakul is a reporter and editor for Turkish news portal NTV-MSNBC's World News Desk.
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