WTC Update:
Read Najam Sethi's Oct. 2001 WSJ op-ed on Pakistan's Folly

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Sethi and Mohsin visited New York to receive an International Press Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists.
Info: Kavita Menon: asia@cpj.org

Najam Sethi and Jugnu Mohsin---the husband and wife team that runs The Friday Times---are journalistic heroes in Pakistan. Mohsin, the publisher, and her husband Sethi, the chief editor of the weekly paper, fought to assert freedom of the press in the face of the recently-deposed Sharif government's increasingly brutal efforts to control the media. Last May, Sethi was dragged from his bedroom in the middle of the night by government agents who beat him, gagged him and then held him without charge for nearly a month.

During her husband's imprisonment, Jugnu Mohsin courageously refused to succumb to official intimidation. She continued to put out The Friday Times while waging a campaign to learn Sethi's whereabouts and win his release.

The Friday Timesis an equal opportunity offender that has locked horns with all of Pakistan's leaders since its inception ten years ago. The paper repeatedly angered former prime ministers Nawaz Sharif and Benazir Bhutto by calling on them to answer corruption charges.

Sethi's arrest galvanized the public and the local independent press, who saw the Sharif government's actions as a crude attempt to stifle political dissent in Pakistan.

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A Quickie Report (tm) on SAJA's Najam Sethi-Jugnu Mohsin Event
November 24, 1999

A PEEK INTO PAKISTAN'S SOUL

By John Laxmi <john_laxmi@hotmail.com>
John Laxmi is a former banker and freelance writer in New York.
Bio: www.saja.org/laxmi.html

MANHATTAN, NOV. 24, 1999: Najam Sethi, editor of The Friday Times of
Pakistan, has won international recognition for his candid and critical
statements on Pakistan. Tonight, Sethi and Jugnu Mohsin, his
publisher-wife, gave us an instructive insight into the soul of Pakistan.
They appeared in an informal discussion event in New York, hosted by the
South Asian Journalists Association.

Sethi and Mohsin were in New York to accept an International Press
Freedom Award from the Committee to Protect Journalists. SAJAers Kavita
Menon of CPJ and Haider Rizvi, of the American News Service, moderated the
event. More than 100 serious South Asians took time away on the night
before the Thanksgiving holidays to attend the event. Sethi appeared in a
dignified but dull gray suit. Jugnu Mohsin was cheery, in bright garb
and diamond-studded ornaments. Both looked poised and confident.

This past summer, Nawaz Sharif's government arrested Sethi, threatening
him with trumped up tax-evasion and sedition charges. Mosin, publisher
of the Times, put up a brave fight, taking on politicians and
bureaucrats, and won her husband's freedom. Mohsin had already displayed
her independence and courage years ago, when she was sacked from The
Pakistan Times for her bold writings against Pakistan's support of
Afghanistan.

As Sethi delved into the country's quagmire, he betrayed understandable
cynicism and worry. There was reproach towards the forces that brought
economic and political ruin to his country. But he also looked to the
future. "Where do we go from here?" he asked repeatedly. Neither Sethi
nor Mohsin offered a concrete prognosis or prescription; but both were
engaged in a sincere search for answers.

BRUSHES WITH POWER: Pakistan's struggle with democracy is partly explained
by the weaknesses of the country's press. Against seemingly insurmoutable
odds, Mohsin and Sethi have kept The Friday Times independent, relying
almost solely on ad revenues from private firms, while other newspapers in
Pakistan were beholden to government, not only for arbitrarily-assigned ad
revenues but also for allotments of politically-rationed newsprint. The
Friday Times bought newsprint at market prices, much higher than
government controlled prices.

Sethi is not a complete outsider. He has slipped in and out of the
corridors of power (he once held a cabinet post for three months in an
interim government in 1996-97), hoping to influence Pakistan's history
even while remaining distant enough to report it objectively. Despite his
proximity to politicians, he has remained fiercely independent.

Sethi was not always spoiling for a fight. He was deliberately soft on
Benazir in her first year (1989-90). He also "went out of the way, to
give room" to Sharif in his first term. But his independence would soon
lead him to lock horns with the establishment. In 1992-93, Sethi was
warned, point blank, "you better not write about Sharif" by the
Inspector General of Punjab. In a softer punch, when Benazir returned
to power in 1993, she called Sethi to Karachi and said: "If my husband
does something wrong, please first tell me before you write about it!"
But in the next two years, access to Benazir declined, as did the early
cordiality of their relationship. By the end of 1995, Sethi was being
branded an "agent for Nawaz Sharif."

As for the most recent coup, Sethi blames Sharif's "obsession with total
power." Sethi explained, "Sharif provided the necessary conditions" while
"Kargil provided the sufficient conditions" for the coup." Sethi is
sympathetic towards General Musharraf. He says the general acted "in self
defense, " and is "sincere."

Is Sethi being naively hopeful or is this constructive compassion?

RISING FROM ROCK BOTTOM: In the understatement of the evening, Sethi
declared, "Pakistan has hit rock bottom; and General Musharraf has a very
difficult agenda." As the country sinks deeper into debt and the
international community demands a credible plan and a specific timetable,
he noted, "there is no road plan." Sethi said the country's "elite" had
abandoned the people of Pakistan and were taking capital out of the
country. The rich oppose all taxes, while only one percent of the people
pay taxes.

AMERICAN APATHY: Mohsin was emphatic that the coup was spontaneous, not
engineered by the United States. She said "Sharif made it happen. America
may have some psychological influence, but no leverage, especially after
the Pressler Amendment." Making matters worse for Pakistan, Sethi thinks
that United States is now likely to tilt towards India.

SQUEEZED BETWEEN FUNDAMENTALISM AND DEMOCRACY: Sethi sounded
disconcertingly pessimistic on Pakistan's relations with India. His views
were simple, unqualified and definitive. He sees conflict with India as
inevitable.

A Pakistani businessman in the audience asked, "Is the human cost (of
conflict with India) worthwhile?" Sethi responded unequivocally, "India
provoked Pakistan to test the Bomb... India's nuclear doctrine shows that
India wants to become a superpower and be admitted to the [UN] Security
Council." Sethi calls for "minimal deterrence" for Pakistan because he
believes "Pakistan cannot afford an arms race."

Does he think Taliban is influencing the junta? He admits that
fundamentalism was the "cost of the jihad in Afghanistan," but thinks the
majority of Pakistanis do not believe in a Koranic constitution. He noted
that most army officers are moderates from the urban middle class, but
said, the "army is nationalistic versus Hindu India, but is not extremist
or fundamentalist."

WOMEN IN PAKISTAN: Mohsin was generous, spirited and optimistic on the
role and rights of women in Pakistan. She pointed to the presence of
several women in prominent positions, including one in the current
National Security Council. "Even if it is a token, it is good" she said,
pointing to other symbols in contemporary Pakistan. In an uncommon
gesture, General Musharraf reportedly introduced his mother at the very
first photo op since the coup. Also, Mohsin noted that, in a recent BBC
documentary, the General Musharraf's wife was seen seated at the head of
the table while the General himself was seated at the side.

Clinging to such tokens is a sign of this couple's undying spirit and
their hopes. As Pakistan's self-inflicted crises keep recurring, it's a
source of solace that Sethi and Mohsin stay free and fearless. It takes
courage such as theirs not only to record, but also to heal, Pakistan's
wounded history.

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