Your story referred to above, in a rush to belittle the PPP, changes nouns into verbs in its headline
KARACHI: This with reference to the article by Kamal Siddiqi, “A wider net”, the editorial “Pulling up the PPP”, both in a single day’s issue (June 22, 2015) and the news item “PTI snubbed PPP invite over Zardari’s comments” published a day earlier, in your esteemed newspaper. We find it very strange that the sidetracking of action against terrorism and its transformation into a propaganda tirade against mass-based political parties finds appreciation and support in the article referred to above. Law-enforcement agencies have been provided all the resources. Laws have been enacted in suppression of fundamental rights to give legal cover to their actions. Criminals do not have any political ideology, moral platform or community support. It is inconceivable that they can withstand the wrath of the organised power of the state for even a fortnight, unless there is some sort of mutually beneficial understanding between the two.
Your sarcastic concern about “pulling up the PPP” is welcome. This concern is not something new. Even before the 2013 elections, so many of our ‘well-wishers’ were concerned that the PPP will be routed in Sindh due to its ‘bad governance’. Despite, what was effectively a ban on running our political campaign by militants, we were able to increase the number of seats in Sindh. It is a pity that no one in the media or even the present judicial commission points a finger towards the role of militants in the 2013 elections. Thousands of ballot paper bags are being opened. What do they expect to find in the bags? Certainly not Mr Ali Haider Gilani. Yet the great silver lining for some is that the PPP could not secure many seats in two subsequent elections. Elections are won and elections are lost. But for God’s sake, hold fair elections in Pakistan.
Party spokesperson Senator Farhatullah Babar had clarified (repeated by many other PPP leaders) that the co-chairman had hosted the iftar dinner for past allies of the PPP government. Your story referred to above, in a rush to belittle the PPP, changes nouns into verbs in its headline, what to talk about the contents of the story. Notwithstanding our own shortcomings, about which as the PPP Sindh general secretary, I am much more informed and concerned than any outsider, the PPP has stood for the dignity and freedom of the media in all circumstances. Unfortunately, the politically motivated coverage has brought down the credibility of the media and that hurts. The recent glorification of raids on the office of a political party only resulted in the casting of more than 100,000 votes for that very party, in an election that no one has termed rigged. This credibility gap remains a concern for all readers and viewers of the national media. This just doesn’t work in a situation that demands objectivity.
Senator Taj Haider
General Secretary PPP Sindh
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2015.
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