There was a recently
blogged article on this newspaper’s website that suggested a rivalry between
agencies that spilled into the media, citing this as a cause for the leaked
tape. This makes eminent sense, and again underlines the need for bringing these
intelligence agencies under control. However, this will not happen by just
issuing a notification placing the ISI under the interior ministry as Rehman
Malik tried to do in the early days of this government.
The role our intelligence
agencies — and especially the ISI — have played in Pakistan’s politics is a
matter of public record. From rigged elections to the disappearance of scores of
citizens, much has been laid at the doors of our spooks. Such is their
reputation for unsavoury deeds that even when they have nothing to do with some
incident, they are considered guilty. For precisely this reason, it is in their
interest to be less secretive. -- Irfan Husain
By Irfan Husain
Having heard the leaked
conversation between a person who sounds uncannily like the TV personality, and
another who is apparently very close to the terrorists then holding Khalid
Khwaja, I will take a lot of convincing that it is a fake. However, in this day
of technological marvels, anything is possible. As this newspaper suggests in a
recent editorial, it would be a simple task to check the tape for
authenticity.
So where do we go from here?
Hamid
Mir’s connections with Islamic militants are hardly a secret. Indeed, he first
made a name for himself by interviewing Osama bin Laden, and writing a book on
the Al Qaeda leader.
Clearly,
it is a journalist’s job to develop contacts among all manner of people,
including criminals. However, to talk to terrorists to get a story is one thing;
to virtually tell them what to ask somebody they are holding is to transgress
all limits of journalistic licence.
The fact
that Mir is still at liberty, issuing legal notices and proclaiming his
innocence to the world, is a comment on just how powerful the electronic media
has grown. Predictably, he has called this entire episode a conspiracy to
silence him and the media group he works for. According to him, it is the
group’s opposition to this government and President Asif Zardari that has made
it a target.
It is
true that the newspapers and TV channel in this media stable have waged an
unrelenting campaign against the PPP-led coalition. Other anchors have gone to
the extent of forecasting when the government will fall. For me, even more
odious than the political mudslinging is Mir’s allegedly taped fulminations
against the Ahmadi sect. In this prejudice, he echoes his colleague Aamir
Liaquat, the religious chat show host who has now moved to a rival TV
channel.
Another
refrain in the taped conversation is the allegation that Khalid Khwaja, the
ex-ISI operative, is actually a CIA agent, and should therefore be further
‘questioned’ by his kidnappers. Confusingly, Osama Khalid, the murdered man’s
son, has demanded action against Hamid Mir, branding him a ‘CIA agent’. It would
appear that there is civil strife among agents of the American agency in
Pakistan.
For such
people to wield so much power over the airwaves should give us pause for
thought. It is an open secret that many journalists in Pakistan are on the
payroll of various intelligence outfits. This became most obvious during the
acrimonious public debate over the Kerry-Lugar Act last year when all hell broke
loose over our TV channels.
It was
no secret that our army high command had been annoyed by the legislation’s bid
to strengthen democratic institutions, and to prevent future coups. The quick
activation of the media brigade in support of the military’s position exposed
their ties and their loyalties. Nor is the army’s distaste for this government
concealed; and its reflection in TV chat shows is hardly a
coincidence.
There
was a recently blogged article on this newspaper’s website that suggested a
rivalry between agencies that spilled into the media, citing this as a cause for
the leaked tape. This makes eminent sense, and again underlines the need for
bringing these intelligence agencies under control. However, this will not
happen by just issuing a notification placing the ISI under the interior
ministry as Rehman Malik tried to do in the early days of this
government.
The role
our intelligence agencies — and especially the ISI — have played in Pakistan’s
politics is a matter of public record. From rigged elections to the
disappearance of scores of citizens, much has been laid at the doors of our
spooks. Such is their reputation for unsavoury deeds that even when they have
nothing to do with some incident, they are considered guilty. For precisely this
reason, it is in their interest to be less
secretive.
Their
use of journalists as pawns in their murky games erodes the media’s credibility.
On the other hand, public memory is notoriously short, especially when an
anchor’s slanted views coincide with the
audience’s.
Thus,
when certain anchors support the Taliban or denounce the Ahmadis, they can
always be sure that many viewers will applaud them. Clearly, it is for media
groups to control what is being said on their channels: after all, there is a
responsibility higher than the search for ratings and advertising
revenues.
Unfortunately, as our TV channels have
mushroomed, there has been little effort to regulate their content. I am not
talking about political censorship here. But surely we must draw the line
somewhere: TV anchors should not be allowed to justify terrorism in the name of
religion. Many of us have fought hard over the years in the cause of a free
media. What we did not fight for is the licence to brainwash the public for an
evil cause.
While
Khalid Khwaja had a murky past as a supporter of the very militants who killed
him nobody deserves the end he met. If a healthy debate about the role and power
of our media emerges from this sorry episode, his death will not have been
entirely in vain.
Source:
Dawn, Karachi
10:32 PM
Sultan Shahin
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