People in Pakistan awoke Sunday morning to find all private news channels blacked out from their TV sets.

They had paid their cable bills all right. It’s just that the President and Chief of Army Staff General Pervez Musharraf imposed emergency rule in the country the night before, suspending the constitution and with it the fundamental freedoms of speech and public congregation, giving authorities carte blanche to arrest people without informing them of charges.

For those who had witnessed General Musharraf’s first coup eight years ago, it was a familiar situation.

Manal Ahmad (’09) writes about the situation in Pakistan for North Gate News.

Read the full story HERE.