Everybody knows that the ban on coverage of Nawaz Sharif’s speeches does not have as much to do with protecting the state’s precious institutions as limiting his ability to take a rather controversial message to his followers, just as the ban on comments relating to sub judice matters is more about limiting the political side of the analyses, but what on earth prompted PEMRA to stop TV channels from covering police progress in the motorway gang rape case? Surely it cannot be simply because the matter concerns some very indecent activity so authorities felt compelled to do this in order to keep the victim’s honour from being compromised any further. Clearly all media outlets have been very responsible in their reporting of the matter and the victim’s identity has not been revealed. In fact, if anybody is guilty of any disgraceful comments about the tragedy it is the Lahore CCPO, who first effectively held the poor lady responsible for getting raped in such a horrible fashion, then apologised, but then went right back to his ridiculous accusation. And it is a shame, plain and simple, that nobody in the Punjab government took serious enough notice of his behaviour and he still has his job. Now the media is simply supposed to keep its nose out of the official investigation, which is another way of saying that ordinary people will not have access to such information anymore and everybody will just have to rely on what the police tells them and when it chooses to do so. It is incredible that this government needs to be reminded every now and then that media, in the 21st century especially, has grown in significance to be recognsied as one of the pillars of state all over the world. And without a free and fair media the government can never be held accountable properly. It is the people’s right to know what is happening just like it is the media’s core responsibility to report everything honestly. The government should try to create good news instead of being afraid of what people might think it is really doing. *