Following is a letter addressed to UAE Ambassador in Washington D.C. directing his attention towards the suspension of TV Channels GEO and ARY One World by UAE Authorities.

His Excellency
Mr. Saqr Ghobash
UAE Ambassador
Embassy of UAE
Washington, D.C.

Your Excellency Mr. Ghobash:

I am a US Citizen of Pakistani origin and writing to you this letter with great pain. The people of Pakistan consider UAE, a brotherly Muslim country and have great regard and respect for its ruling family. However, the people of Pakistan are deeply hurt and disturbed by the action taken by the authorities in UAE against Pakistani TV Channels, Geo ARY. It is a big shock for all of us and can't find words to express ourselves. It is contrary to the internationally recognized basic principle of free press. It sets a wrong precedent and discourages investors and corporations to come to UAE. The decision creates a negative image for the Emirates.

The press is, in fact, central to public life in Pakistan because it provides a forum for debating issues of national importance. The competitive nature of politics helps to ensure press freedom, because the media often serve as a forum for political parties, commercial, religious, and other interests to compete with and criticize each other publicly. In general, the quality of journalism is very good in Pakistan but the recent crackdown on press by the government of Pakistan is a huge setback for the free press and denies the right to information to the people of Pakistan. Freedom of Expression has been recognized by UNESCO in 1997. It is very important that we all respect freedom of press and shouldn't take any action that may be contrary to the internationally recognized principle of free press.

"The rights to life and to liberty and integrity and security of person and also to freedom of expression are fundamental human rights that are recognized and guaranteed by international conventions and instruments." (UNESCO Resolution, General Conference 1997)

I do hope that authorities in UAE will re-evaluate their decision and authorizes the TV Channels for a return to normal transmission immediately. I am confident that you will use your good offices as an Ambassador of UAE to convince the authorities back in Dubai to lift the ban immediately. It will be a nice gesture and will recognize Freedom of Press as a fundamental human rights.
Thanking you in anticipation for your help and support in this matter. Your prompt attention is requested.
Best regards,
Waqas Shaikh

Freedom of thought and freedom of speech, a standard by which all societies are judged.

When I told my children that their father, Imran Khan, had been arrested I tried to make light of it, joking that to get anywhere in Pakistani politics, a stint inside is mandatory. Then I heard that he had been charged with 'state terrorism' and that if convicted he faces the death penalty or life imprisonment.

It was harder to muster up a laugh, even for their benefit. The latest news is that he was shifted, in handcuffs, to a high-security jail in Dera Ghazi Khan, Interior Punjab. His crime? Criticising President Pervez Musharraf and attempting to address a peaceful student protest at Punjab University. For that he was first beaten - according to reports - and then carted off to Kot Lakhpat jail. His supporters were also beaten, arrested and several have broken bones.

The following day, Imran's three sisters attended a women's rally in Lahore to protest against his detention and the imposition of martial law. They too have been arrested. As has Imran's elderly aunt (God help the jailers) and several female cousins. Many of them have small children at home and husbands who are already in jail. I watched footage of the women that I lived with for five years being dragged across the ground screaming.

Other friends of mine recently arrested include my children's teacher, a housewife and a journalist, not to mention the hundreds from Imran's political party.

An estimated 25,000 innocent people are now in jail. In fact, the jails are so full, they are holding people in police stations. Unlike my ex-husband, the majority of those being held are not politicians. They are judges, lawyers, journalists, human rights activists, as well as teachers, students, shopkeepers and housewives - anyone who has protested or criticised the government, which these days is hardly an exclusive club.

There are reports of torture and beatings within the jails. And those that have been arrested have not been allowed access to lawyers or visitors.

This has become a personal vendetta for Musharraf, with his harshest detractors being repaid with the toughest penalties.

Musharraf's response to his critics abroad is that these steps were necessary in order to fight the extremism that threatens Pakistan's democracy. So, to fight terrorism, he has terrorised an entire nation. To tackle extremists, he has arrested all the progressive, secular-minded people Pakistan has to offer, including a chief justice, two former presidents, thousands of lawyers, several newspaper editors, senior journalists, opposition politicians and a UN special rapporteur.

He has imposed martial law and suspended the Constitution, ostensibly to protect democracy, gagged the media to protect liberty and presumably sacked and jailed the judges to protect the judiciary.

Meanwhile, in the words of Asma Jehangir, Pakistan's (jailed) leading human rights lawyer, Musharraf is busy offering "negotiations and ceasefires to the terrorists". Maulana Fazlullah, a bearded Fundo type that the West would really like to see behind bars, has orchestrated a militant uprising in Swat. According to reports, he has succeeded in taking over a vast swathe of the country, where he has imposed Shariah law. The army was too busy rounding up the liberals to defend Swat.

No one is taken in by Musharraf's justifications for declaring a State of Emergency - the Pakistani army's favourite and oft-used euphemism for a complete break with the Constitution. Most realise that his actions were aimed at countering the anticipated judgment of the Supreme Court against his re-election as president while still head of the army.

Musharraf is still viewed by the West as an important ally in the "War on Terror". But, despite billions of pounds worth of Western aid, Osama bin Laden has not been captured, the Taliban are resurgent and the extremist elements in Pakistan are more active han ever.

The reality is that Musharraf needs the extremists. Their existence and the fear they inspire has guaranteed the support from the West he needs to stay in power - his real goal. And the extremists need Musharraf, an unpopular dictator, to give them something to rally against.

Understandably, the greatest fear of the West has always been that, left to itself, the country would fall into the hands of Islamic extremists, resulting in the doomsday scenario of nukes in the hands of a Pakistani Taliban - a fear that Musharraf has consistently used to his advantage, even on yesterday morning's Today programme on Radio 4.

Despite his claims, judging by history, the most likely outcome of a free and fair election in Pakistan would be a secular, democratic government.

Backing Musharraf on the basis that he is the only viable alternative to the extremists may have turned out to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. Only he and the extremists remain free. And the very people the West needs to converse with to avoid that doomsday scenario are in jail.

In a country that is no stranger to ruthless dictators, Musharraf now looks set to become its most repressive ever. In retrospect, the signs were always there.

When the General first came to power (by a military coup), I was taken in by his declared intention to clean up Pakistani politics and to hold corrupt politicians accountable. These are the same politicians he is now trying to do deals with. Two successive prime ministers had been dismissed on corruption charges (twice each) and everyone living there at that time was fed up.

Regrettably, Imran and I even supported Musharraf's ridiculous heads-I-win-tails-you-lose referendum devised to give him a pseudo-mandate to stay in power.

I remember I was summoned to meet him a week before the elections, in 2004, to convey a message to Imran who was away campaigning in his constituency. I was asked to arrive after midnight and was sneaked into his residence after being searched for recording devices. The self-appointed president outlined the results of the impending elections, reeling off the exact number of seats the various parties would win.

It turned out he was spot on, and not, I suspect, because of any great political foresight. Musharraf also guaranteed Imran's fledgling party a significant number of seats and a ministry of his choice if he joined forces with his coalition of government-friendly parties. Imran refused. He had already become disillusioned by Musharraf.

The General may have picked up the lingo of democracy but he feels more comfortable with the idea that "might is right". There's a reason why the Pakistani Constitution does not allow anyone in uniform to become president; inevitably he reverts to what he does best. What Musharraf is doing spells death for his own political career and perhaps also for the country. But you get the impression he just can't help himself.

It reminds me of the fable of the scorpion and the frog. The frog gives the scorpion, who cannot swim, a lift across the river on his back. When they are half way across the scorpion stings him. "Why did you do that?" asks the frog. "Now we'll both die."

The answer? "I'm a scorpion; it's my nature."