‘Humor Censorship’ in Pakistan

One of the long standing criteria for distinguishing dictatorships from democracies was the degree of press freedoms. A free press is considered to represent the popular voice and keeps a tab on all branches of the Government. A recent directive by the Government of Pakistan has added a new dimension to this discourse. What about freedom of expression through email, blogs and text messages? How would you respond if your expression of humor is censored? For those who find this strange should thank their stars if they are not residing in Pakistan. And for those who are living in Pakistan remember this before you crack a joke next time: Pakistanis who send jokes about President Asif Zardari by text message, email or blog risk being arrested and given a 14-year prison sentence.
A recent article in the Telegraph.co.uk carried a news report on the censorship of humor in Pakistan. According to the report, the country’s interior minister, Rehman Malik, announced the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) had been asked to trace electronically transmitted jokes that “slander the political leadership of the country” under the new Cyber Crimes Act. Mr Malik, said the move would punish the authors of “ill motivated and concocted stories through emails and text messages against the civilian leadership”.
The ban has become the focus of intense television debate in Pakistan, as Mr Zardari’s aides have attempted to justify the move using every argument ranging from counter-terrorism concerns to saying that women parliamentarians had received abusive messages. Mr Zardari’s PPP-led government tried to target text messages and emails last month when it levied a new tax on all text messages. The tax was abandoned after it emerged that it would ruin a major source of revenue for Pakistan’s five mobile phone companies. As soon as the tax was announced, a text message began making the rounds saying: “The government has imposed a tax on all messages. This means that until now President Zardari was getting abused for free. Now he’ll get paid every time someone abuses him!”
Since I am fortunately beyond the jurisdictional range of the Pakistani Government I can share a couple of jokes being circulated through text messages. These jokes were quoted in the Telegraph.co.uk article.
“Terrorists have kidnapped our beloved Zardari and are demanding $5,000,000 or they will burn him with petrol. Please donate what you can. I have donated five litres.”
“To commemorate the ascension to the Presidency, Pakistan Post has officially launched a new stamp. But the people of Pakistan are confused which side on the stamp to spit on.”
P.S. For those in Pakistan, be careful before you laugh, the FIA could be monitoring!