tariq.rahman@tribune.com.pk
How did the debate go all wrong? Well, because Hamid’s brother Amir Mir — himself a journalist whose many books about the spread of militancy in Pakistan should be compulsory reading for all — said that his brother had named the ISI and its head as suspects if anything happened to him. Such suspicions are normally expressed by the victims or their families on the basis of previous experience such as the pattern or type of threat. They may well be incorrect and the law does not consider the people named as guilty till there is evidence to prove them so. Sometimes, the high and mighty are also named. Famously, the prime minister, Mr ZA Bhutto, was named in the murder of Ahmad Raza Kasuri and the FIR was dug out later to hang the former when he was out of power. More recently, Benazir Bhutto named the sitting president of Pakistan, General Musharraf, as well as the Taliban. So, if Amir Mir repeated what his brother had told him it was something which has precedents. That the Geo Channel showed it on TV was also something which has happened before. However, I would agree that the picture of the head of the ISI need not have been shown for such a long time. I also agree that the whole thing need not be repeated ad nauseam nor made into a media trial. This was done by someone in the channel and, of course, Hamid Mir was unconscious at that time. However, all channels, in most parts of the world, do repeat visuals over and over again. They also carry out what amounts to a media trial and this is something which does need to be changed by a responsible code of fair conduct.
While nobody can be sure who shot Hamid Mir; on the basis of our past history, I am sure that nobody will ever know for sure. Moreover, intelligence agencies, set up to protect people, are blamed for misdeeds all over the world. This is either because their perception of national interest is too chauvinistic or distorted or because they have rogue elements. John Stockwell, once a star of the CIA, wrote about the crimes of the agency in his book The Secret Wars of the CIA. The MI6 is said to have killed Princess Diana because she was going to marry a Muslim (Dodi). The British yellow press defamed the intelligence and did not even spare the royal family. Savak, Mossad, KGB — you name it! All intelligence agencies have had stories told about them. Ideally speaking, this is incorrect as these agencies are blamed without solid proof. I am not saying this is ideal but I am saying this is normal. Even in Pakistan, senior military officers have told us about the rigging they carried out in the elections. Moreover, Generals Pasha and Musharraf talked about the possibility of there being rogue agents in the ISI. Our interior minister, Chaudhry Nisar, used to blame the ISI for supporting Imran Khan against the other political parties. These allegations were all offered without proof so this is not the first time a suspicion was expressed without proof.
The gist of the matter is that if all journalists do not unite now to save the freedom of the press, to save media personnel, to save democratic rights we will slide towards a reign of terror. If the civil society does not take the side of the victims we will repeat what Niemoller said:
“First they came for the Socialists, and I did not speak out — Because I was not a socialist.
Then they came for the trade Unionists, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a trade Unionist.
Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out—Because I was not a Jew.
And then they came for me — and there was no one left to speak for me!”
So, we should defend the media and the media persons to leave somebody to speak out for us.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 29th, 2014.
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COMMENTS (15)
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I know Tariq Rahman is right in asking journalist to unite or other wise they will loose earnings in the name of democracy, free judiciary, human rights etc., etc.,,,,,
I know that Pakistan is run by different groups of self interest. The Journalist, the judges, the lawyers, the media, the politicians, the Generals, the political Maulvis, all have their own interest in uniting themselves.
I know that the common man, is the most stupid commodity in Pakistan. We can be fooled as long as people like you are around us. We can be manipulated according to your thinking as long as you have rights and access of freedom to speak out. You earn this way like others.
I know my fourth generation, in years to come, will be living in the same stagnant position. Nothing will change. and that why I do not want freedom of speech, I do not want freedom of vote, I do not want free journalist or free anchors. I need basic rights Roti, Kapra and Makan and off course drinkable water. So we the common man should unite against all the cartels who are exploiting us in different ways.
Thank you dear author for " The gist of the matter is that if all journalists do not unite now to save the freedom of the press, to save media personnel, to save democratic rights we will slide towards a reign of terror." Dear all the journalists, thinkers, writers, intellectuals, you all need unite yourself and then go on to make continuous effort to exhort the people, yes the people, to come together and unite. Unite to organise a party of the people by the people in control of the people guided by the collective of intellectuals among the people. To this end all the journalists, thinkers, writers, intellectuals and educated people can play a very useful part in exhorting people to come to unite. Unite to look after each other. Failure to do so will make every one see even worse days than what the Germans saw under Hitler. The Egyptian people, as we all can see are today getting the taste of their folly in coming to unite when they had to opportunity to do so. Ignoring the call of the intellectuals and command of the Lord Creator to come to unite is the biggest folly people commit. Wher will people go to unite? In the localities where they live and where everything good or bad happens.
Notwithstanding the reference to the controversial Pastor Martin Möller..... who was anti- communist and infact the supporter of the Nazi party, who later fell out with the Third Reich because of Hitler curbing the power of the church and establishing a secular Government. He was not a jew but landed in the concentration camp and later freed by the American forces......, the authors conclusions, however, that those in the civil society unite now in solidarity with the journalists victims and the media as a whole, simply to uphold our freedom which is guaranteed by democracy. Consiparicies or merely suspicions, ISI and all other intelligence units of the Army and the detention centres, set up during the military rule,must be brought under the democratic order of the civilian Government and the control of the parliamentry gremium.
Rex Minor
@saeed and @Ahad
You are going against Geo because they accused ISI and Army wrongly but you are conveniently forgetting what has happened to the journalist. This is exactly the point that the author is trying to make. It looks like the Pakistani society is missing the woods for the tree.
what abut the responsibilities on media men . Media is blowing issues out of proportions creating chaos and panic for the poor , innocent masses. Instead of doing the job of perception management positively it is spreading negativity all along. In this knowledge based , technology driven context media has to realise its potentials with which it can at least keep the hope alive.. there are anchors and programmes every night , after watching it one feel like to quit Pakistan as it has been projected as a failed state by own media. We are reinforcing whose idea? and carrying whose flag ? Media better decide it is the part of solution or part of problem.
Do not worry Mr. Rehman, the current Nawaz Sharif government has a sharp resemblance with Gorbachev and Boris Yeltsin eras of former Soviet Union.How much Pakistan,s style of Glasnost and Peristrioka would you suggest to the current rulers.
Hamid Mir is a brave journalist? He's a crackpot and glorified blogger with a slot on a major "news" channel. While we're on the topic, GEO is akin to Fox News.
First sensible article I have read in a long time.We must all unite for the sake of our journalists and the freedom of the media in our country.
I lost all respect for journalists when you they are openly asking for favors off camera from a real estate mogul, or when anchors are appointed government positions by the government. If that is not conflict of interest than what is it. Pakistani media like the pakistani awaam and the government can be bought, they are no different. They may act like they are on this high altar of justice or whatever but their pedestal is rotten.
Dr Tariq Rahman : R E S P E C T! . Cheers
Although u have given a number of examples of different countries where agencies are involved in high profile murders, but u failed to give an example where the picture of there DG was shown on television as a suspect for 8 hrs. Excess of everything is bad so does the untamed freedom of speech. Inaddition to becoming the champions of freedom of speech, media needs to rectify its own shortcommings and mark ots boundaries. Secondly media houses should realize there job is reporting and not to carve out economical or foreign policies of a country.
My heartfelt gratitude to brave journalists who face the wrath of the military when they expose the adventurism, greed, misdeeds and crimes of generals - committed over the past 55+ years.