The axe falls

The report on the Dawn leaks controversy was delivered to the Prime Minister’s Office three days ago, and the fallout has been swift. But the reaction from the military’s media wing, Inter-Services Public Relations, has been a lot swifter. Although the body of the report is not in the public domain the letter regarding recommendations in para 18 is, and it is clear and decisive. The prime minister’s special assistant on foreign affairs, Tariq Fatemi, has been removed from his position, as has Rao Tehsin Ali, the principal information officer of the information ministry.  The PM has further directed that the role of two Dawn staffers in the matter shall be referred to the All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) for investigation and disciplinary action taken if deemed necessary. Further, the APNS is being asked to develop a code of conduct for the print media when reporting stories that have a bearing on the security of the state; and that newspapers will abide by ‘basic journalistic and editorial norms.’ The ISPR chief tweeted that the notification was incomplete and not in line with the inquiry board’s recommendation.



Two large heads have rolled and face an uncertain future, their careers at best on hold and at worst terminated for the foreseeable future. Their rehabilitation is not impossible but it would have to be with the agreement of the military. As for the civilians a rather more equivocal outcome. Handing the responsibility to the APNS for an investigation of two named individuals, both respected in their respective fields, as well as the future formulation of a code of conduct suggests that the government is not expecting an early result. Knotty issues such as terms of reference are going to have to be decided, as will the status of any evidence gathered by an inquiry and whether that evidence will ever be made public, as questions are necessarily going to have to be asked and answered as to all aspects of the affair. Not all of those questions and answers are going to lie within the comfort zone of the government. For now two heads are in the basket before the guillotine. Whether that is enough to satisfy all the aggrieved parties will only be revealed in the coming hours and days.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 30^th, 2017.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.