It is bizarre that of all the financial austerity measures that were possible, the government’s first choice was to slash funding for education. Higher education is apparently an unbearable waste of money for this nation whereas the millions of rupees spent annually on feeding the super-rich MNAs and their cronies are not. These MNAs gorged on food worth Rs11.57 million in just 10-15 days in the recent budget session. All around the world, parliament buildings have cafeterias where the “servants of the nation” pay for their own meals. Why can’t the super wealthy MNAs of Pakistan do the same? Their average declared wealth stands at a staggering Rs80.89 million (2008-2009). Mind you, that’s “declared” wealth.

Higher education, from which the middle class benefits the most, is more expendable than the lavish expenses of the Prime Minister House and the Presidency, the fleet of customised, luxury vehicles, lavish protocol and five star foreign trips. This nation needs PhDs. It does not need fleets of bullet-proof Mercedes for the rich and powerful. But this country will continue to fund the rich and powerful, cutting essential public services to subsidise elite privileges, because the very people who are the beneficiaries of these special privileges are sitting in the assemblies. They decide what to tax and what not to. It seems that your tax liability is inversely proportional to your wealth, if you are a member of the elite class. Nawaz Sharif reportedly paid just Rs5,000 in income tax last year, less than the average office worker would pay per month. Many other prominent figures across political parties have a similarly appalling record, including the president, Prime Minister Gilani and a host of prominent figures. Only the wretched middle class pays taxes. Their salaries, already decimated by rampant inflation are slashed at source to fill the coffers of an inept and corrupt government. They are further burdened by indirect taxation on food, fuel and utilities.

Given the measly tax base, the finance minister has appealed for both houses (of parliament) to put pressure on the “elites” to bring their wealth, including agricultural incomes, into the net of taxation. Yet the power elites will never pass legislation to tax themselves. They will continue to burden the middle class with new taxes; a “flood surcharge”, which will meet the fate of tax revenues already being squandered away. What is not siphoned off in corruption is wasted, due to the ineptitude of those appointed on the basis of nepotism and cronyism. Reveal the identities and you find an incestuous network where the same extended families hold the bureaucracy, political parties, the assemblies, industry, banking, agriculture and land ownership in their grasp, forging alliances with the military and judiciary through marriages, businesses and patronage. Bank loans in the millions are given to the chosen few and then written off. Vast swathes of agricultural land escape taxes on income as well as benefitting from generous subsidies on fertilisers, inputs and fuel. Support prices for agricultural produce are fixed by the very people who are the producers.

Blatant conflicts of interest and duty pervade every important committee and institution. Yet the urban middle class is squeezed with inflation, taxation and ruthless enforcement of loan repayments – one missed instalment incurring life changing consequences with homes and small businesses seized, family vehicles repossessed by banks and credit card companies even in times of genuine distress, triggering suicides and ruin. The rural masses are fed on empty promises, kept poor, illiterate and beholden to the landlord, the patwari and the SHO. Does this sound like democracy of “equal rights for all and special privileges for none”? Not at all — it is a perversion, a greedy oligarchy. But the politicians have been telling us all along what system we live under – just listen carefully. We have “demo – crassy”. It’s exactly what they say it is folks!

Published in The Express Tribune, September 25^th, 2010.

When a pastor from Florida vows to burn the Holy Quran in order to “stop Islam” whilst standing on the lawn of his church, which proudly displays the sign “Islam is evil”, his acts are only representative of himself, not his faith, Christianity nor his country, America. The international media is meticulous in highlighting the smallness of the pastor’s congregation, in investigating his past to mark his beliefs as divergent from the mainstream, the display of a lunatic fringe tolerated in a free society but not reflective of it. The sane voices from civil society and celebrity are accorded prominence and ample air time to demonstrate that the pastor’s behaviour is an aberration, that all Americans do not despise Islam.

Yet the reverse is true when the perpetrators of deplorable acts belong to the Muslim faith. There is no disclaimer to point out that “Al-Terrorists” are but a percentile of the Muslim world. Pastor Jones’ congregation numbered 200 out of a population of 300 million Americans. Terrorists claiming allegiance to Islam, even if double the intelligence estimates, would constitute a similarly miniscule percentage of the 1.4 billion Muslims worldwide. Yet the 9/11 atrocity which killed 3,000 people, many of whom were Muslims, was overwhelmingly portrayed as an attack in accordance with the wishes of Muslims worldwide, sanctioned by Islam itself. The voices of moderation from the Islamic world were given scant attention. Instead, the inflammatory remarks of the Muslim equivalents of Pastor Jones were highlighted, repeated and presented as reflective of the “true” feelings of “the Islamic world.”

Such misrepresentation and lack of contextualisation is largely to blame for the fact that about 70 per cent of Americans believe it would be disrespectful to 9/11 victims to allow the construction of an Islamic centre, two blocks from Ground Zero. It would be disrespectful if you believed that Islam itself was to blame for 9/11. President Barack Obama acknowledged and attempted to counter this public sentiment with a reiteration that “the enemy is al Qaeda not Islam”. He also described the pastor’s proposed actions as “un-American”.  Indeed they are. Book burning, effigy immolation, stone throwing and chanting “death to …” — these are the tools of protest of the poverty stricken, the powerless, the oppressed, the occupied. Kashmiris pelt Indian soldiers with debris, Palestinians hurl stones at Israeli tanks, politicians’ effigies are burned in the slums of New Delhi and Mexico City, Pakistanis wave banners, hand painted, misspelt and unsophisticated. The powerful have no need for such crude displays — they have sanctions to apply, profiling and policies to humiliate, international financial institutions to manipulate, 21st century technology to tweet, display and disseminate, news wires and publishing houses, movies and celebrities to propagate, their point of view.

For the Muslim masses the street is the only outlet for their opinions, which are rarely given a voice in the international media and are seldom advocated by their own, often weak, governments. The sufferings of Muslims are minimised, even justified, going unpunished and unrecognised, fuelling feelings of injustice and indignation. This week dozens of unarmed Muslim protesters were gunned down by Indian soldiers in Kashmir yet, typically, their deaths warranted no headlines or lead stories in the mainstream media.

Street protests of the chanting and effigy burning kind are often held up as evidence of rampant “anti-Americanism”. Yet these protest rituals are commonly used against local politicians, rival groups even fallen sports stars. They do not reveal a deep hatred of America, anymore than the pastor’s inflammatory plans are evidence of America’s intentions towards Islam. The reality is that the attitude of ordinary Muslims towards Americans remains hospitable, unlike the post 9/11 reaction that Muslims face on the streets of Europe and America, which have seen a record increase in hate crimes. Muslim societies still warmly welcome Americans, purchase American products, and aspire to recreate American success because Muslims do not hate America and its way of life. They detest and oppose the foreign policies of the US government, especially its repercussions in Afghanistan, Iraq, Palestine and Pakistan. Unlike many New Yorkers, most Muslims differentiate between the two: as the Christian saying goes they “hate the sin, but not the sinner”.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 18^th, 2010.

The first memory I have of praying, for anything, was as a young child on a summer’s day in London. After playing in the garden, I had come across my father, poised anxiously in front of the television, edgy and excited. “Pakistan khel raha hai”! Two men stood in the middle of a green lawn surrounded by other men, all dressed in white. It meant nothing to me until the indelible words that would precipitate a lifetime ritual: “Dua karo kay Pakistan jeet jaye! Buchon ki dua puri hoti hai.” I rushed off to my room, stood near the window, face tilted towards the sky, eyes shut in the earnest concentration that only the very young can display, infant hands raised: “Allah mian! Pakistan jeet jaye!”— 10 times. I ran back, confident the job was done: “Abboo – Pakistan jeet gaya?” The look on my father’s face was one I would become very familiar with over the years, such a confluence of emotions, flickering between sadness, resignation, annoyance, frustration and deep disappointment.

Such is the passion for cricket, particularly in Britain, where colonialism and cricket collide in the psyche of British Pakistanis. Following Pakistan’s fortunes, especially when they play on English soil, is almost a cathartic exercise. The Pakistan team represents much more to British Pakistanis, than just a sports team. In the early 1980s, in a Britain scarred by race riots and bitter racial divides, for young British Pakistanis, especially boys, a Pakistan versus England match was the only outlet for the anger, frustration and deprivation wrought by the racism they faced. Every big hit by our batsmen was a retort against racial slurs on the high-street, each English wicket demolished, a proclamation of physical prowess otherwise trampled by thugs, each Pakistan victory, an affirmation of pride in an identity that was otherwise denigrated.

The summer of 1987 was the turning point. Imran Khan led the Pakistan team to their first Test series victory in England. For the first time, British Pakistanis experienced pride in their identity — a pride that was endorsed as legitimate, by the usually caustic British press. Imran was a bona fide hero, an icon, on the cover of magazines, his talent and charisma lauded by the cream of English society. Smashed was the media stereotype of shopkeepers, taxi drivers and doctors with weird accents. Finally, there was something to be admired for: cricket.

For Pakistanis, cricket is their first love. We oscillate between giddiness and joy in good times, fervent prayers at each twist and turn and inconsolable grief in bad times. We argue, analyse and pour over each detail, staying up all night to yell encouragement at the television. The 1992 World Cup win is our national “JFK moment”. We know where we were when it happened. VCR machines stave off obsolescence just to replay the video “Imran’s Tigers”, highlights of the journey to cup-winning glory. We are hurt and angry, swearing never to care again, when our team loses. Yet at the very next win, all is forgiven, all is forgotten. We fall in love afresh, rejoicing in the streets, showering rose petals and adoringly kissing posters.

So the allegations of spot-fixing, made by a sleazy British tabloid, have been like a stab in the heart for Pakistanis, especially for British Pakistanis. Apart from the distress, they will also have to face the litany of snide remarks at the office, be the butt of jokes in school, seethe silently at brutal headlines and feel conflicted and confused, embarrassed and uncomfortable. In Pakistan, even more is at stake, as cricket is one of the few elements that unite Pakistanis from all provinces, social classes, sects and generations. Given the depressed state of the nation, there is little capacity to bear more loss, should these awful allegations ring true. As we wait anxiously for the outcome of the investigation, the child in me is still praying for Pakistan to win – not on the field this time – but in the courts of law and officialdom, for its very future in world cricket and because, no matter what, you never forget your first love.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 3^rd, 2010.

This past week has seen columns, in these very pages, promoting a new brand of hatred – self-hatred – inciting loathing amongst Pakistanis for themselves and their culture. Using the horrific Sialkot killings, these “western, liberal” columnists have labelled all Pakistanis as “degenerates” and “barbaric”, hurling abusive and shameful generalisations to justify a verbal lynching of Pakistan, its culture and people.

The thrust of one column was as follows: the Sialkot murders mean that ALL Pakistanis should now view themselves as “human cockroaches” that should be “quarantined” from the rest of the world. So what should the wretched Rwandans call themselves? They wiped out half of their population in a killing spree. Is quarantine enough or should they be culled to prevent them exporting their genocidal tendencies? A liberal fatwa is issued: due to the Sialkot atrocity all Pakistanis are now “undeserving of sympathy”. Not even the ones stranded in swirling waters, bereft of food and shelter, not the millions of hardworking labourers, drivers, and builders who toil in foreign lands to support families back home, not even the ones who have been maimed by terrorists, none of them.

The article “Don’t act surprised” penned by an Englishman resident here for a few years is full of gross generalisations, defective reasoning and inflammatory one-liners: “We (sic) are, and have always been, a barbaric, degenerate nation revelling in bloodlust (sic).” Firstly, his arrogance in speaking for all Pakistanis, particularly to emit such defamatory and prejudiced words, is nauseating. Next, the claim that the horrific violence during Partition was “revelled in” and gave “heady, almost orgasmic delight” is a blatant perversion of history. Muslims were more the victims of communal violence, as documented by various noted historians who also describe the role of the departing British colonisers as culpable.

This “bloody” Partition is used by George Fulton to conclude that Pakistan has always been a “barbaric and degenerate nation”. An intellectually feeble extrapolation, as most nations are born out of violence or war. Israel, in 1948, was born out of  the terrorisation and forced displacement of Palestinians — tales of which are regaled with much pride to this day by Zionists, their chief leaders even going on to become Israeli prime ministers. Does Mr Fulton think that “Israel is a barbaric and degenerate nation revelling in bloodlust”?

He goes on to state that the Sialkot lynchings are typical of Punjabi culture because Maula Jutt movies prove Punjabis are a bloodthirsty, vengeful lot. So the popularity of gore fests like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre prove that Americans, who also spend hours playing violent video games killing, maiming and torturing for entertainment and relaxation, obviously “celebrate barbarity and vengeance” as per the writer. Attributing the propensity for violence to a specific culture or race is the bigoted reasoning of a racist. Africans were also called “degenerates”, “uncivilised barbarians” who deserved to be enslaved due to their “savage” ways.

These columnists would not dare to write in such sadistic terms about western cultures. No, they only prey on weak – pure lynch mob mentality – developing nations like Pakistan, battered by natural catastrophe, war and poverty. The reality is that Pakistanis are inherently no better and no worse than any other people. The best amongst us lay down our lives to rescue those in need, open our homes and hearts to complete strangers, protest peacefully for justice. The worst amongst us are as brutal as the mobs which massacred women and children in the streets of Gujarat, with the Indian police looking on, harbour as much bigotry as the preachers of hate, whether they be Christian, Hindu, or Muslim. When the rule of law is eroded, men, irrespective of race, turn into an unruly mob – as evidenced by numerous studies and the good citizens of New Orleans who looted and rampaged in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina – police officers turn into executioners and ordinary people into accomplices. Pakistanis will and must maintain pressure to obtain justice in Sialkot. They will do so not out of self-loathing or in response to the verbal lynching liberals, but because they believe it is the right thing to do.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2010.

Pakistan’s cricket team redeemed itself this weekend beautifully, defeating England at the Oval, and providing a nation in grief with a ray of happiness. Mohammad Amir is a superstar all-rounder in the making, racking up bowling figures reminiscent of the great Wasim Akram and coming through with a gutsy batting performance to see a home victory. With 5-52 Amir became the youngest cricketer to take the prized five-wicket haul in a Test match on English soil. Salman Butt is also coming into his own as captain, with a responsible second innings and an articulate speech at the presentation ceremony, a refreshing change from the usual rehearsed stock-phrase ineloquence of captains past.

Meanwhile here at home, the government tried to redeem its “poor image” by adding another acronym to the list of bureaucratic bodies which do nothing and cost a lot. The new National Oversight Disaster Management Council (NODMC), is aimed at providing much needed transparency and credibility to the government’s relief drive. But is likely to end up as “Not Another Dreary Meetings Committee”, with a few society fat cats battling for their political patrons rather than engaging in any robust or constructive oversight. The prime minister had little choice but to form the council, as a response to the wiles of the PML-N chief, who, in his customary fashion, is trying to squeeze political mileage out of the government’s handling of the floods and the UN’s indictment of its lack of international credibility. The UN statement has made one thing crystal clear to the Zardari-Gilani government that democratic credentials may confer legitimacy but not credibility — that has to be earned.

If ever there was an opportunity to earn that credibility, this national crisis is it. The government and the opposition, made up of many sinners, could all redeem themselves. President Zardari is estimated to be worth $1.5 billion and is the proud owner of numerous luxury properties, including a Surrey “mahal” and a French chateau. How about selling just one of those palatial estates and donating the money to the wretched masses who have voted the PPP into power? The Sharif clan is estimated to be worth $1.4 billion. Surely they could spare a petty $100 million for the “ghareeb awam” they claim to “serve”? In recent speeches, both Zardari and Sharif claimed they would give their last drop of blood for Pakistan — or words to that effect. Well we don’t need your blood — give us your (our) money instead! Add in just five per cent of the declared assets of the multi-millionaires sitting in the assemblies and we could easily match the $459 million UN appeal. That would restore some credibility to our leaders and politicians, both at home and abroad as well as providing some solace to the Pakistani people.

After a slow start, ordinary Pakistanis, burdened by taxes, inflation and corruption, have nevertheless taken up the mantle of providing relief to their tragic brethren, alongside the army, which is stretched to the maximum. Over 60,000 soldiers make up the backbone of the relief operation, running camps and clearing roads and infrastructure damage. The flow of relief goods to most of the flood-hit areas is now quite adequate, with a few exceptions where pockets of people are completely stranded, entirely dependent on helicopter drops. I had the opportunity to travel with a group of people to witness some of the work being done in Jamshoro, under the aegis of the Sindh Rangers. There were also many private groups there, with trucks full of aid. Clearly, these efforts are making a qualitative difference. On a national level, celebrities and others are to be seen in full throttle for relief fund appeals. Money is flowing in by the crores into accounts set up by various national personalities and media groups.

So, in this holy month of redemption, Pakistanis are displaying the zeal and generosity that is the hallmark of our nation. Redemption is within our reach, but the road will be long, arduous and painful. Our rediscovered national spirit cannot be just for Ramazan — it must be for a lifetime.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2010.

What do I write today? To mark the day, as each year, I hoist the flag on my terrace. It flutters in the breeze, as if this is just any other day, unaware of the tragedy that has engulfed the land it represents. I take in the patriotic messages from our mobile service providers, with inspiring vignettes of local heroes and uplifting slogans, in the midst of advertising. I read the articles, the customary homage to Quaid-e-Azam, the reminiscences of independence, the lessons in history. I fume at the self-hating write-ups, the ones that question the value of freedom, doubt the worthiness of independence, casting doubt on the meaning of this country. Someone once told me — ask the Kashmiris, ask the Chechens, ask the Palestinians how precious freedom is. Even an imperfect one.

Our freedom is precious but when will there be good news? Each year we pray and hope and dutifully forward patriotic, even spiritual, emails and text messages. This year will be the turning point — it has to be. Things can only get better now. Surely, we have had our fair share of crises? I want to write something brilliant and inspiring, something that could help turn everything around, something to provide a solution to the morass of problems which face us. I am tired of the endless analysis, self-righteous criticisms and pointless discussions that pervade our airwaves. I do not wish to spread any doom or gloom, contribute to division and mistrust, give up hope. Yet I cannot gloss over the fact that most of our people have no faith in the men that call themselves our leaders. It doesn’t matter what letter of the alphabet they have appropriated for their political identity, what they claim to be or represent.

They are fundamentally the same — unable to provide any vision, any hope, any leadership, let alone any solutions. So I understand the national paralysis gripping us all because no matter what outrage is committed, what thefts and lies are exposed, the same people are still in control and the alternatives to them are no better. No matter what befalls the people, the power elite remain in place, undeterred and unfazed by their excesses. So, we, the people are no longer outraged, disappointed or even surprised that the world has given such paltry amounts for a catastrophe of biblical proportions. We can identify with the qualms of the international donors at handing over aid to those who display such a wanton disregard for honesty or humanity. For we too are experiencing the same feelings. We want to help Pakistan so much, but do not know how to.

That is exactly what Pakistan has an abundance of. What neither crisis, calamity nor corruption has eroded — the tens of millions of people, ordinary folk, throughout the world who keep faith with Pakistan, no matter how near or far away they may be, who keep trying to find ways to help in whatever way they can. Who pray with their heart and soul, with tears and yearning for their dear Pakistan to be protected, to be safe, to become prosperous. Whose heartbeat resonates with the pain and suffering of their fellow countrymen. The millions of people that work honestly day and night, saving each penny for their families and futures, and yet are the first to give to their brethren in need. Even those Pakistanis who may have left their motherland for places where their merit was given opportunity, but whose every thought is still for their homeland. And those who remain in this land even in times of turmoil and distress, whose only wish is to be able to live in peace, who love this land unconditionally. That is where the future is. We will not find salvation in the rapacious hands of those who are too busy consolidating dynasties and industrial empires. We will find it from within ourselves, from the masses and the middle classes, who will never give up on Pakistan. For it is the only land they truly belong to.

Published in The Express Tribune August 14^th, 2010.

The worst floods in living memory. Hundreds are dead or dying. Millions displaced. Crops destroyed, livestock drowned, homes, roads, bridges and irrigation systems washed away. Decades of development submerged under deep waters of despair. Then, the nation’s economic jugular, Karachi, starts bleeding. It’s almost too much to come to terms with.

So, instead of galvanising a spirit of national unity in the face of such adversity, consolidating national and public opinion, and raising morale, the nation’s attention and energy has been squandered instead on a lesser issue. There has been a chorus of outrage and disbelief at the president’s decision to leave Pakistan for a private trip to France and the UK. Although much of the criticism has dubious motives – there is clear political opportunism by the PML-N, which has unduly magnified this issue, and barely masked glee, as anchors have roasted hapless government spokespersons on the presidential itinerary – the trip is indefensible. At a time of multiple national crises, it is insensitive, unnecessary, and very poorly timed. The French leg seems to have revolved around a quick handshake with Sarkozy and a helicopter jaunt, more suited to a Hello magazine spread, to view a 16th century castle, apparently a part of the Zardari property portfolio. The UK schedule has a few run-of-the-mill meetings and a face to face with David Cameron, whose recent statements have been spectacularly prejudicial to Pakistan and reflected his superior ability as a salesman for British goods to India, rather than as a statesman on serious international issues. Pakistan’s indignation and protest is not best conveyed by a summer trip to the UK by its head of state.

What is safe to predict is that the presidential trip to Europe will be relatively insignificant, one way or the other, whereas the short- and long-term effects of the flood will be grave and serious for all Pakistanis. The hoopla over the visit has taken up valuable time and attention. A detailed assessment of the relief efforts is only just getting under way in the media and, more importantly, Pakistanis have been so distracted, that there seems to be a paralysis of thought and action amongst the public as to how to assist their fellow countrymen. Raising money for flood victims has started but not on the level that was seen in the earthquake of 2005, even though this tragedy is far more widespread, already swamping three provinces. The long term impact on agriculture, livestock and food inflation could instigate a crisis of unimaginable proportions. The Prime Minister’s Flood Relief Fund is woefully low because people have no faith that their donations, which could easily amount to the billions required from zakat and sadqa alone during the more benevolent atmosphere of Ramazan, will reach the victims. Thus far, the volunteers, rescuers and soldiers deployed for rescue and relief have made up for the lack of equipment and funds by sheer zeal and determination. Almost 70,000 people have been successfully rescued and shifted to safer ground, hundreds of tons of food aid from the army has been air-dropped to stranded communities, and the armed forces are relocating as many as possible as the flood waters course through Sindh in the next few days.

It is time for Pakistanis to concentrate their efforts and attention to the victims of the flood, in whatever capacity is possible, by raising and donating money and collecting items requested. Many charities are asking for sums of around five million dollars for their flood relief programmes in Pakistan — this would be less than 0.5 per cent of the estimated wealth of the Zardari family (estimated at $1.5 billion) and the Sharif clan (trailing slightly at a reported $1.4 billion). As Imran Khan has pointed out, Zardari and Sharif alone could rescue and feed millions of desperate Pakistanis with what would be spare change to them. Instead of emotional speeches and empty promises, impassioned chest thumping about the “ghareeb awam”, let’s see if they donate this miniscule proportion of their wealth. Ordinary Pakistanis here and abroad, celebrities and media are now becoming active in the relief campaign, demonstrating yet again that Pakistanis have resilience, resolve and empathy. We may be a nation in crisis but our spirit is not.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 7^th, 2010.

The loss of Airblue flight 202 this week again underscored the dark side of our national attitude to tragedy. Air planes crash regularly all over the world — a global channel even has a whole series dedicated to the phenomenon by the name of “Air Crash Investigation”. It reveals that even the most sophisticated aircraft piloted by highly trained professionals are subject to human error, the vicissitudes of extreme weather and equipment failure. However, the coverage of the Airblue crash reflected our insensitivity and immaturity as a society. In death, as in life, we accord our citizens scant privacy, dignity or peace.

I was in Islamabad on the day of the event — in fact, I am writing this piece from the departure lounge at Islamabad airport, awaiting a delayed flight to Karachi, the day after the tragic event. The plasma in front of me is tuned to a news channel which is regularly displaying images of wooden coffins going home, the ticker faithfully updating figures of bodies now successfully identified. Behind me sits a family which has shipped their brother’s body back home. Dishevelled and apparently still in shock, they keep turning to the screen whenever footage of the crash appears.

I hope they haven’t seen some of the coverage that I monitored throughout the day. Within a few hours of the crash, one young reporter was inside the family home of one of the air hostesses. She asked the mother “Aunty what were your last words to your daughter?” On so many levels this interaction was unacceptable. How does it advance the cause of journalism to intrude into a home of a family on the verge of unimaginable grief where most are at a loss for words? Further, at this point, there was still hope that some people may be alive, so the use of “last words” was insensitive and inaccurate.

Then there was the ranting and raving of a prominent senior anchor who, apart from being a doctor, is also apparently an aviation expert. Within one hour of the crash, he was lambasting the CAA and air traffic control for ‘negligently’ telling the pilot to turn back barely minutes from landing — an unverified account, at such an early stage. Frothing at the mouth, he then concluded that the crash showed that this government was incapable of running anything, dealing with any crisis and was grossly incompetent. Now we all know the failings of this government but his outburst was irrelevant and displayed an intellectual immaturity unbefitting of a professional journalist.

Then there was the reporting from outside the PIMS hospital, late in the afternoon, when bodies had started arriving there. One reporter stood amongst the victims’ relatives whilst they were sobbing and breaking down. She reported (in Urdu) “they found bits of bodies and have now joined them up (sic) to make four complete bodies”. Further details included the description of bodies so badly burnt and disfigured that they were in pieces and being brought in shopping bags. Are these ‘reporters’ human? Would they ever describe their own mother or sister’s death in such morbid, lurid detail? Fatal plane crashes generally render bodies unrecognisable due to jet fuel fires — that sentence alone would have been sufficient to explain the delay in identification. But to indulge in macabre details, with no probative value, is senseless and callous. I can’t imagine what horror and additional pain the families of the deceased must have felt. Another layer added to tragedy — gruesome relish in uncovering what should remain alluded to — of ripping the shroud of decency and dignity from the dead and destroying even a semblance of compassion for the living.

For these ‘intrepid’ reporters, who will no doubt get a pat on the back from equally callous superiors revelling in tabloid sensationalism, this is just another story. For the families of the victims, the grief will be unending and multi-layered. Once the media interest wanes, the relatives and inquisitive folk stop visiting, the indelible impact of this loss will magnify. Long after Airblue 202 becomes a case study relegated to aviation history, these families will live with the weight of tragedy. Our hearts go out to them.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 31^st, 2010.

“I don’t watch TV anymore”. It’s the new mantra of the educated middle class, the “thinking classes” who are quite literally switching off their television sets and proudly making it known at every social gathering. From the excitement and hype that met the glasnost of the Pakistani media eight years ago, how has it come to this state of affairs? Is it simply that multiple channel choice has lost its novelty or is the quality of what’s on the box to blame? Well, despite being a part of the media fraternity, I would have to say that what’s on our channels, particularly in the current affairs and news genre, ranges from atrocious and offensive to mediocre and vacuous.

With over 80 channels, the majority being so called “news” channels, the Pakistani viewers should be spoilt for choice. Except they are not. Far from it. Most of the “news” channels are miserably short on original content and high on opinion masquerading as reporting, bias dressed as analysis, and rabble rousing substituting for impassioned debate. The multiple political talk shows resemble clones of each other, with standardised sets and unoriginal formats for nightly shouting matches between the political egos that appear as guests. There are of course a couple of notable exceptions where solid research and in depth analysis are presented in an informative and intelligent manner. But, by and large, what is offered is an ungainly assortment of “anchors” browbeating their guests, who themselves are regulars, often appearing simultaneously on multiple channels thanks to pre-recording. The end game is to encourage, cajole or instigate by any means necessary, a cat fight amongst the handful of politicians offered up for the evening. With the majority of anchors gunning for the government of the day, the result is a shouting match — the television equivalent of a neighbourhood backyard argument laced with scurrilous allegations, name calling and low blows.

This Jerry Springer version of political talk shows on our screens is literally turning “thinking” people away. For what does anyone learn from this daily exercise of the same old faces screaming allegations and counter allegations? All whilst serious issues remain unintelligible to the common man and insufficiently analysed for the more educated viewer. Instead, public personalities are openly and repeatedly slandered and defamed along with the offices they hold, often on the flimsiest of grounds, let alone evidence. Does the viewer come away with a better understanding of events or issues? Declining ratings for most of these shows would say not.

Okay it’s not all bad — yes the news/current affairs media has played a constructive role on some issues, most notably in the change in public opinion towards those who commit acts of terrorism on our soil. The self-imposed code of conduct has worked fairly well and stemmed the horrible trend of showing carnage and panic in the aftermath of tragedy, of sensationalising terror acts by adrenaline fuelled breaking news. But the electronic media is crucial for shaping public opinion on key issues, especially in a largely illiterate society and has a much greater duty. Yet the vast majority of these shows are compromising content quality to suit the lowest common denominator rather than raising standards and providing viewers with informed discussions.

I shall resist making appeals to sense of duty, since that has a poor track record for results. So let me exhort self-interest instead. Most news channels are losing ground and revenue due to the downward trend of viewership, so they should take action to avoid losses. Anchors are turning people away from the news/current affairs genre and losing audiences to entertainment — just witness the increase in TV drama productions and ratings in the past year. And, most of all, politicians are damaging their own (little remaining) credibility by taking part in these verbal brawls, so they need to take a stand by opting to not to appear on shows which openly disrespect and lower the tone of our political discourse. The viewers are already voting with their remote controls. They have had enough of this mindless media-ocrity.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 9^th, 2010.