``If they can take away Sethi sahab,'' says a staffer, ``then who are we, do we stand a chance?'' The first signs have been far from positive.

Two days ago, the web site of The Friday Times was hacked and staffers blame those who ``weren't very thrilled'' at the increasing international concern over Sethi's arrest. Every day there's a call from some group or the other--including the local unit of the ruling PML-N party--asking for the magazine to be closed down.

Since Sethi's arrest last week, for the staff at the editorial office on Lahore's Mall Road, every day is a nervous wait for ``anything to happen.'' News editor Ejaz Haider says he's got threats on the phone from people who've asked him about the magazine's printingpress.

That's the next target, says consulting editor and columnist Khaled Ahmed. ``They want to stop the weekly from being published,'' he told The Indian Express. ``But we are working so that Friday's issue comes out on time.''

In fact, this issue will be kind of a vindication against tough odds, a fact that is also inspiring many staffers. Morale is high, contributors have rushed to provide support to the editors. Says a staffer: ``There is a sense that we are actually doing something historic...we are upholding the truth. And are proud to be part of this.''

Khaled Ahmed, however, is more guarded and doesn't see much reason to cheer. He says threatening articles have started to appear in local papers against the weekly and this ``does not bode well.'' The government is convinced that ``we are unpatriotic,'' he says.

As for the journalistic community, there's already a divide over the fact that Sethi ``chose'' India to air his views on Pakistan. A typical opinion is Taimur Ali Khan's whowrote a letter in the Daily Dawn: ``What was the point of going to India and making such derogatory remarks about Pakistan? Highlighting the problems faced by Pakistan to the Indians would delight the Indians and no way solve the problems faced by the two countries.''

Some local journalists say that Sethi had ``all the freedom'' to criticise the country from ``within'' but the fact that he went to India and ``belittled'' Pakistan is ``condemnable.'' To this, journalists from the other side say that the India speech is only a ruse: the actual bone of contention is a BBC documentary on the wealth of the ruling family. Sethis is said to have helped them with it.

Some reason to hope has come in the form of notes of dismay and concern from several international organizations, diplomats, journalists, activists. Even World Bank president James Wolfensohn has phoned in to offer support.

This is bad news for the Pakistan Foreign Office which has taken ``strong exception'' to a US State departmentstatement condemning Sethi's arrest, calling it ``unwarranted interference.''