Surprisingly the two popular TV channels of the country were put off the air in Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas.
The act of terrorizing the media was condemned by all except one party which no one is willing to name.
The provincial information minister and the federal minister both criticized the switching off the TV channels waves by the cable operators but apparently were scared to name those responsible for this act.
According to our sources the culprits were none other than the MQM followers which has a history of terrorizing the media and sending warnings to popular journalists. To put the record straight its not only the MQM which has earned notoriety in pressurizing the media for getting the desired coverage for its activities; other major and minor political parties and their leaders too are guilty of using similar pressure tactics to establish their foot-hold on the media terrain.
No political party can boast of being the true champions of press freedom in this country. Different political parties have used ghoonda tactics including direct raids on media offices in Karachi, Islamabad and Lahore. So who will come to the rescue of the media when the PPP governor in Punjab in one of his interviews condemned and badmouthed the local TV anchors and the media. The PPP government failed miserably to prevent what happened to the media during the Musharraf era.  
It is the responsibility of the state to provide protection to the journalists and the political parties which rely on the media for running its political campaigns and visibility-specially when they are in the opposition relishing the government’s slings and arrows.
The political leaders owe their political survivals to the media and for dissemination of their views to their followers.      
While the condemnation from the top leaders of major political is a welcome gesture the journalists needs more than words specially when the government is too coward to even pin point the source of terror.
The source we know is the same that was responsible for the deaths of 60 innocent karachities during the Chief Justice’s visit to Karachi last year. It is the same party which dispatched bullets to journalists under the tutelage of the Musharraf’s military dictatorship. We wonder what prevents the government from taking action. Lets hope its not the media after the judiciary. The fifth pillar of the state seems to be wobbling under pressure of the political parties. Canceling the PEMRA black laws are not enough, political parties need to sit with the government and vow not to use goonda techniques to coerce the media. The responsibility of providing protection to the media to ensure press freedom is incumbent on all Pakistanis specially the government and the top leaders of every political party.
The MQM needs to wake up and control its militant cadre from applying pressure on the media to show its strength as such activities which would earn it a bad reputation and nothing else. Karachi will not see any flow of capital if judiciary, media are made to operate on gun points. How can cable operators have the courage to bear the wrath of MQM when the government with all its might kow tow to its urban shenanigans.
The PPP government needs to act swiftly and realize that such incidences are tarnishing its image as a party that supports journalists and freedom of the press. Appendages of the Musharraf regime and its black laws seem to be still reigning and running in the corridors of powers.