Zardari trying to smother Shut up! outburst video?

[raju]

Numerous Web users in Pakistan reported problems in trying to access YouTube on Sunday evening. When the website returned an hour later, one video had mysteriously disappeared - a clip showing President Asif Ali Zardari shouting "Shut up!" at a rally crowd.

The incident having gone unreported in Pakistan, we were unable to verify the exact date and location of the rally. It is thought that the footage was recorded in mid-January when Zardari staged exceptional (he seldom leaves the high-security presidency) rallies in the Sindh province (southeast) and Punjab province (east). Posted online at the end of January, the video had been watched around 45,000 times by the time it was blocked on the evening of Sunday Feb. 7.

[flv:vlht437k]http://www.france24.com/static/observers/video/100209%20shutup.flv[/flv:vlht437k]

This order probably came from either the presidency itself or a minister high up

One of our Observers, dentist Awab Alvi from Karachi, was monitoring the situation on YouTube on Sunday.

It initially started off with a simple white page saying: This site is restricted' (see below). Subsequent reports submitted on Herdict Web show the inaccessibility lasted for about an hour but then everything recovered back to normal.

It was then noticed that the crackdown by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority was on this one particular video. The clip had been posted about 25 times, and all of the versions were inaccessible, so it was no coincidence.

All traffic in and out of the country goes through the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority - they can filter whatever they want up to two years back. The authority takes orders from the government, which means that this one in particular probably came from either the presidency itself or a high-ranking minister.

This government will continue to be edgy on a number of issues as they get pushed further into a corner. With the Supreme Court having ruled out the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) [which granted politicians and officials amnesty from a number of charges], they are left technically ineligible to occupy these high-level positions. There's no doubt that, after all the bad press resulting from the NRO, the president and his core group must be feeling the heat. This outburst is a direct result of that."

Screengrab of the blocked site, posted by one of Observers in Pakistan, Huma Imitaz, on her blog, "The World Has Stopped Spinning".

 

[raju]

I remember many of my relatives in Pakistan complaining that Youtube.com isn't working for them. so it turns out that was the reason [funnny]

 

[tiger54]

if our leader has such a low character then what can we expect from our nation?
the whole pakistan needs to get out on street and protest against him... we cant have him as our leader anymore! what are we waiting for? there is no food no electricity no security what worse can happen now?
im sick of watching this ugly man seriously!!! [anger]

 

[sok]

The video is not that big. While the govt can censor the websites and/or you tube videos, they can't control emails. So I suggest that people who are outside the country email it to those in need in Pakistan.

Especially web based email accounts like hotmail, yahoo etc will work like a charm.

 

[waseemjee]

Every thing depending upon us.
This bloody man is chosen by us.
Jaisi rooh waisy frishtay.
In next election we must flush these peoples.

 

[Ussi1]

sharam karo tarkari

 

[Adeel]

[video]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvyX1yD3jfI[/video]