Last seven minutes of Geo News transmission:

A live recording from Geo Radio with people’s comments, salutes; a report on Lahorites showing solidarity with Geo News by placing flowers at the Lahore Bureau; an emotional tribute of a woman; and a few more news stories:

Despite Geo News’s transmission being cut off from Dubai to rest of the world, Geo Television Network has been successful in keeping its Live Radio Stream alive.

You can listen to the Live Geo Radio Stream by clicking the above image.

When IMB’s A for [pine]Apple broke the news of GEO TV closing down last night, it was a reality hard to believe.

Due to enormous pressures by the Pakistani Government, the Dubai Government has decided to pull the plug on uplinks of Geo TV and ARY networks.

GEO TV, Pakistan’s premier Urdu news channel, also seen round the world as the main source of news and current affairs, was shut down at 1 a.m. Pakistan time (12 midnight Dubai time) after President Pervez Musharraf put tremendous pressure to silence a media outlet which had refused to bow down to his dictates.

Informed sources said President Pervez Musharraf himself intervened to stop all GEO news transmissions from Dubai, after a two-week standoff in Pakistan during which all major news channels were shut down by cable operators, who are directly controlled by the Pakistani authorities.

The shutting down of the Geo News was universally condemned by almost every political party and member of the civil society minutes before the anchors, almost in tears, signed off ——– The News

This man was one of the many thousands who protested against IJT at the Punjab University New Campus on Thursday. He speaks of what the students of PU are against and why IJT should be condemned for what it has done. Accordingly to him, he and his friends have been members of the IJT and had resigned in protest following the Wednesday events.

TRANSLATION

First Person: “Imran Khan was our guest and guests should never be treated like this. Whoever he was, whatever decision IJT had taken to keep politics out of the University’s campus, still, we students are apolitical and everyone that has gathered here in protest is not supporting any political party. It is not a political movement, and the cause to fight for democracy is one for which people stood united and these guys from IJT have tried to break that unity. Its totally a very shameful act. ”

“Especially we being students of law, why are we studying the PPC (Pakistan Penal Code). We are studying the constitution for its restoration, improvement and to stand for the rule of law and for that we are with the Chief Justice, we are with anyone who is fighting for saving the constituion.”

Second Person (on the left): “Just as my brother has said, we are law students and we cannot see IJT going after Imran Khan who is fighting for the cause of free-judiciary in Paksitan. Yesterday, the IJT has only played to its own political interests and has tried to politicize a neutral movement.”

First Person, again: “Students were beaten by the IJT workers and we still are being threatened by them”

Eye-witnesses have put the number of students, who continued a protest rally against IJT, again, today, almost in double numbers (close to 6,000)!

What happened on Wednesday at PU was a little too wrong to be forgiven and forgotten that easily. IJT has condemned and announced on their website that they’ve suspended the membership of the 17 activists involved in Wednesday’s sorry turn of events and that they’ll investigate the matter further to bring those involved to task. I haven’t come across any news regarding suspension of IJT’s bozo-e-aala, who gave a clear and a certain statement against Imran Khan’s presence in PU. That, in itself, speaks volumes about IJT’s sincerity in bringing them to task.

The events of 14th November may have been a major setback for the movement against the Martial Law but I guess we need to plan and look towards the future now, while keeping a watchful eye for the enemies within. After all, there are even bigger traitors out there…

Apart from the huge anti-Jamiat protest rally at PU yesterday, another peaceful rally took place in front of Barkat Market, Garden Town – where Imran Khan’s sisters, other men and women were pushed, beaten and mercilessly thrown inside the police vans. I couldn’t find the video clip that appeared on Geo News anywhere online, but if you get the chance to have a look at it, the brutal beatings and the screams are bound to distress any sane mind.

Click the link below for some more pictures of Imran Khan being manhandled by IJT activists.
(more…)

Here are some views of how ‘big’ this protest actually was. Can you count the heads?

Some members of the Law College chapter of IJT also resigned in protest and joined this rally to raise voice against their ex-party.

Reportedly, IJT activists fled the University when they saw the rally grow bigger and bitter in both numbers and strength…

In a striking series of events following IJT’s betrayal, manhandling of Imran Khan and him being arrested earlier this Wednesday, students of the Punjab University turned out in huge numbers to protest against Jamiat and its horrendous acts.

The situation at the University’s New Campus started to develop at around 11:00 AM when students from the University’s Law College, Institute of Communication Studies, IBA, and adjacent institutes started a march to protest Jamiat’s role in Imran Khan’s arrest by proceeding from one department to another, gathering more people with them. In no time, the youthful crowd had grown to more than 200 people, mainly from the departments where Jamiat traditionally has little or no presence.

After doing a round of the English, Psychology Departments, Institute of Business & Information Technology (IBIT) and IAS, a fully charged group of now more than 400 students marched towards the Hailey College of Commerce, which is usually considered to be a stronghold of IJT activities. Many of the participants chanted slogans against the IJT, its mother party, the JUI and their leaders while showing full support to Imran Khan and his struggle to restore democracy in Pakistan.

As soon as the students reached Law College, a dramatic increase in numbers resulted by law students joining in hordes made this a rally of over 1,000 participants; all students; all apolitical; all having no backing of any puppet party and consisting only of willing participants, both male and female, holding play cards and shouting against IJT as loud as they could.

The ever-increasing crowd of more than 1,500 participants, now, proceeded towards the more IJT influenced parts of the university including the Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Geology departments (IJT’s office at Geology Department was slightly damaged by the students), CHEPS and the main building near Faisal Auditorium.

Proceeding towards the University Hostels via Chemical Engineering Underpass, the number of protesting students had by now grown to 2,000+, all marching rather peacefully through the hostel buildings and returning back to the main campus near Hailey College of Commerce.

At the end of the day, eye-witnesses have put the approximate figure of protestors at about 2,500 to 3,000 students making this the largest-ever anti-IJT protest in Punjab University’s history as well as the biggest post-emergency apolitical rally of students in Pakistan!

For those who do not know, Islami Jamiat Talaba (IJT), is the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami (JUI), and is quite well known for its hard-line approach to religion and politics. IJT has been involved in several violent acts and used to have a strong presence in public educational institutions of Pakistan.

Dogs and wolves, by their very nature, have a habit of scent-marking their territories, patrolling regularly their poo-marked areas in search of food, injecting fear in non-hostile critters and such are their insecurities that even a slight sniff of intrusion turns them violent and bloodthirsty. Such have been the acts of Islami Jamiat Talaba, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, in Lahore’s Punjab University since long; threatening, harassing and even murdering those who do not subscribe to their point of views. And such were their shameless actions yesterday, which were contrary to the spirit of their recently announced Pakistan Bachao Tehrik. Perhaps. they feared being reduced to insignificance in their own sty had they let someone else lead the procession – after all, the majority of the students in PU aren’t their followers and they themselves could one day be forced out if the genuine students ever rose against them. Their bozo-e-aala Nasrullah Goraya has come up with the lamest of reasons for handing Imran Khan over to the police – and that is, they’d vowed to keep the student movement free from politics. An apolitical movement by Jamiat is as oxymoronic as Altaf Hussain delivering a telephonic sermon on Human Rights. Whatever the real reason may have been, there can be absolutely no remission for such actions.

The students of PU and other institutions will be well advised to stay away from the protest rallies of gun-totting crackpots that make up IJT.

A collection of clips showing Imran Khan’s arrival at University of the Punjab and later events following his presence at the Centre for Higher Energy Physics (CHEPS).

A crowd of more than 400 students and jounalists from national and international news networks can also be seen running and gathering again round the building in different scenes.

The protests against the imposition of Martial Law are taking place daily at LUMS – even during the exams. Last night, a candle vigil took place outside the PDC building.

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Image Credits: rchughtai @ flickr