Geo TV, reality show and the death of a young Pakistani man.

Saad Khan, a young Pakistani man took part in a reality show sponsored by a multinational company earlier this summer; he was flown to Thailand for filming what he must have thought would be the opportunity of a lifetime.

The show was planned for a large media group in Pakistan (Geo TV); the person's family was never adequately compensated, the media producers were offered an NRO by the Jang Group / Geo TV; and the news of this death was censored by the media mafia in Pakistan.

Here is an excerpt from an op-ed on Pakistani media's ruthless commercial orientation by Bina Shah.


Think ‘American Idol’, ‘The Apprentice’, ‘Fear Factor’: seemingly ordinary people are thrust into highly sensationalised but tightly controlled versions of real life, given ‘challenges’ or ‘tasks’ to overcome, and punished or rewarded for their performance. Audiences at home are invited to vote for the participants, and the result is a complete blurring of the lines between reality and fiction. Contestants may be asked to set up a business in one week, swap families for a month, or eat locusts and cockroaches in order to win a competition for their team. The contestant is a willing participant in his or her own humiliation for prize money, but it’s the advertisers who hand over the real money in this game.

Given how exciting life already is in Pakistan, you’d think we’d be immune to this kind of gimmickry. But our media thinks otherwise. In order to keep up with the worldwide trend and secure the accompanying advertising profits, local channels have begun to produce a slew of reality shows in the last few years, some ridiculous, others simply horrifying.

One example on the worse end of the scale is a show called ‘Living on the Edge,’ which appears on a Pakistani music channel and whose clips are freely available on YouTube. For the not-so-staggering amount of Rs 1,000, young men and women flock to the show’s auditions and beg to be allowed to perform a ‘dare’ while a sociopathic host screams abuse at the would-be contestants, especially women who dare to come dressed in western clothes or speak English. One unfortunate man, in his quest for fame, was filmed pushing a safety pin through his lower lip, while his hapless companion called his mother on air and begged permission to repeat the stunt.

This cringe worthy parade can be seen as mindless entertainment: the sardonic grin of the presenter as he screams ‘Rejected’, the stunned looks of disbelief on the contestants’ faces, the drama of security being called to drag away the troublemakers who can’t accept failure, all overshadow the actual performing of the ‘dare’ itself. But you’ve only got to look at the legions of youngsters desperate for a taste of fame to realise that this is one of the most unhealthy trends in an already sensationalist media with little to no standards of quality, taste, or safety. What exactly does this say about the emotional health of vulnerable young people? Where are the media standards, the watchdogs to make sure that our children are not being exploited by money-hungry producers and advertisers?

And let’s not forget that things can go horribly wrong. Saad Khan, a young Pakistani man took part in a reality show sponsored by a multinational company earlier this summer; he was flown to Thailand for filming what he must have thought would be the opportunity of a lifetime. One of the challenges thought up by the show’s creators was an underwater challenge, where contestants were asked to cross a waist-deep expanse of water while lugging a backpack filled with weights. Unfortunately, the 32-year-old man, a father of four and reputed to be an excellent swimmer, drowned in his attempt to perform the stunt successfully.

Filming was halted while the Thai authorities conducted an investigation; the media company producing the show for the multinational claimed that the stunt was tested, that competitors had signed waivers absolving the media company of all responsibility, and that all the other competitors completed the stunt safely. But the multinational and the mainstream Pakistani media broke their silence over the incident only after pressure from the online community, who asked hard questions about the incident in blog posts and online forums. Still, the multinational only issued a vague corporate statement about ‘rightness’ rather than addressing the questions raised by the young man’s death. Even worse, they have not addressed the legitimacy of reality television as a concept, and why exactly they felt the need to sponsor such a dangerous programme. People need to know the risks of participating in stunts for reality shows, at the very least, and corporate unwillingness to come through with an adequate explanation for their motives and procedures will leave countless others unaware and unprotected.

Where, again, are the media standards, the watchdogs to make sure that lives are not being destroyed by money-hungry producers and advertisers? Where are the people who can give guidance to our youngsters, to show them that there’s a world of difference between being brave for a good cause and risking their lives for no good reason? The young are reckless, and don’t always value their health and their safety, but surely there’s someone out there in the big bad world of media with a conscience who can give them all a much-needed reality check. And take that hideous show with the misogynist presenter who likes to scream at young girls and urge young boys to push safety pins through their lips off the air, please. This is not the kind of entertainment that we Pakistanis really need to see.

binashah@yahoo.com

Source

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Pakistani People's Action against Geo TV and Jang Group

’اسٹیبلشمنٹ نہیں کچھ اداکار حکومت ہٹانا چاہتے ہیں ‘

کراچی میں پاکستان پیپلز پارٹی کے تینتالیسواں یومِ تاسیس کے جلسہ عام سے ایوان صدر اسلام آباد سے بذریعہ سیٹلائیٹ خطاب کرتے ہوئے صدر آصف علی زرداری نےکہا کہ پارلیمنٹ اور اپوزیشن بالغ ہوچکی ہے، اس لیے اپوزیشن اور نہ ہی اسٹیبلمشنٹ چاہتی ہے کہ یہ جمہوری نظام پٹڑی سے اترے۔ صدر زرداری نے کہا ’صرف سیاسی اداکاروں کی یہ خواہش ہے۔‘

انہوں نے کہا کہ سندھ نے پاکستان بنایا اور پیپلز پارٹی نے آج تک اسے قائم و دائم رکھا ہے اور آئندہ بھی رکھیں گے۔’چند لوگ یہ سمجھتے ہیں کہ اداکاری کرکے ان سے ان کا حق چھین لیں گے۔‘

صدر زرداری نے پاکستان کے ایک بڑے میڈیا گروپ کا نام لیے بغیر کہا کہ ایک چینل کی اجارہ داری قائم ہوگئی ہے ’وہ اپنا ریٹ لینا چاہتے ہیں مگر ہم اس کے ریٹ دیئے بغیر یہاں پہنچے تھے، ان کے ریٹ دیئے بغیر یہاں بیٹھے ہیں اور ان کا ریٹ دیئے بغیر آنے والے انتخابات میں کامیاب ہوں گے ۔‘

By Abdul Nishapuri

Pakistani People's response to blackmailing by Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his slaves at Geo TV / Jang Group

The informed and politically aware people of Pakistan will not succumb to the blackmailing of Geo TV / Jang Group (Jang / The News).

This is our message to Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his anti-democracy propaganda team, namely Dr Shahid Masood (President of Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists), Ansar Abbsi (Taliban agent), Shaheen Sehbai (the Zionist mouthpiece against ISI, the USA passport holder), Muhammad Saleh Zaafir (Taliban apologist) and others.

DO NOT act as pawns of the establishment in trying to derail democracy. Do not weaken the already fragile institution of constitutional government in Pakistan.

DO NOT defame politicians while remaining criminally silent over corruption and mismanagement by the holy cows of the military and civil establishment in Pakistan.

DO NOT exploit the innocent people of Pakistan by creating an artificial Islam versus USA hype. Don't defame the war on terror; don't eulogize Taliban butchers.

If Geo TV, Jang and The News do not refrain from yellow journalism, and do not refrain from hatching conspiracies against the people's government, then we, the people of Pakistan, will be entitled to use the following legal means to express our displeasure:

1. We will stop buying Jang, The News and other newspapers published by the Jang Group.
2. We will stop subscribing to Geo TV and other TV channels of the Jang Group in Pakistan and abroad.
3. As owners and managers of private and multinational companies, we will not seek to advertise our products and services through Geo TV, Jang, The News and other publications and outlets of the Jang Group.
4. We will ask cable operators in our cities, towns and local communities to stop transmitting Geo TV to our homes and businesses.
5. We will put public pressure on federal, provincial and local governments to refrain from pumping the public advertising revenue to the media outlets, newspapers and TV channels of the Jang Group.
6. We will file cases in the courts of law in all the four provinces as well as in FATA, Kashmir and Gilgit Baltistan against the administrators and owners of Geo TV and the Jang Group for trying to subvert the legal and constitutional government of Pakistan through unconstitutional means.

List of publications and TV channels by the Jang Group:

• Daily Jang
• The News
• Geo TV
• Daily News
• Daily Awam
• Weekly Akhbar-e-Jahan
• Weekly The Mag
• Geo News
• Geo TV (entertainment)
• Geo Super
• Aag TV

Request to our visitors and contributors:

We at 'Let us build Pakistan' request you to provide us with substantial legal evidence and documents against the wrongdoings of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman and his team so that these blackmailers could be dragged in a court of law in due course of time. We assure you of complete confidentiality and anonymity. Please write to us at: pakistanteam@gmail.com

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Geo: journalism without conscience

Pakistan’s conspiracy theories stifle debate
Ahmed Rashid

Switch on any of the dozens of satellite news channels now available in Pakistan.
You will be bombarded with talk show hosts who are mostly obsessed with demonising the elected government, trying to convince viewers of global conspiracies against Pakistan led by India and the United States or insisting that the recent campaign of suicide bomb blasts around the country is being orchestrated by foreigners rather than local militants.

Viewers may well ask where is the passionate debate about the real issues that people face - the crumbling economy, joblessness, the rising cost of living, crime and the lack of investment in health and education or settling the long-running insurgency in Balochistan province.

“ The principal obsession is when and how President Asif Ali Zardari will be replaced or sacked ”

The answer is nowhere.

One notable channel which also owns newspapers has taken it upon itself to topple the elected government.

Another insists that it will never air anything that is sympathetic to India, while all of them bring on pundits - often retired hardline diplomats, bureaucrats or retired Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) officers who sport Taliban-style beards and give viewers loud, angry crash courses in anti-Westernism and anti-Indianism, thereby reinforcing views already held by many.

Collapse of confidence

Pakistan is going through a multi-dimensional series of crises and a collapse of public confidence in the state.

Suicide bombers strike almost daily and the economic meltdown just seems to get worse.

But this is rarely apparent in the media, bar a handful of liberal commentators who try and give a more balanced and intellectual understanding by pulling all the problems together.

The explosion in TV channels in Urdu, English and regional languages has bought to the fore large numbers of largely untrained, semi-educated and unworldly TV talk show hosts and journalists who deem it necessary to win viewership at a time of an acute advertising crunch, by being more outrageous and sensational than the next channel.

On any given issue the public barely learns anything new nor is it presented with all sides of the argument.

Every talk show host seems to have his own agenda and his guests reflect that agenda rather than offer alternative policies.

Recently, one senior retired army officer claimed that Hakimullah Mehsud - the leader of the Pakistani Taliban which is fighting the army in South Waziristan and has killed hundreds in daily suicide bombings in the past five weeks - had been whisked to safety in a US helicopter to the American-run Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.

In other words the Pakistani Taliban are American stooges, even as the same pundits admit that US-fired drone missiles are targeting the Pakistani Taliban in Waziristan.

These are just the kind of blatantly contradictory and nut-case conspiracy theories that get enormous traction on TV channels and in the media - especially when voiced by such senior former officials.

The explosion in civil society and pro-democracy movements that brought the former military regime of President Pervez Musharraf to its knees over two years has become divided, dissipated and confused about its aims and intentions.

Even when such activists do appear on TV, their voices are drowned out by the conspiracy theorists who insist that every one of Pakistan's ills are there because of interference by the US, India, Israel and Afghanistan.

The army has not helped by constantly insisting that the vicious Pakistani Taliban campaign to topple the state and install an Islamic emirate is not a local campaign waged by dozens of extremist groups, some of whom were trained by the military in the 1990s, but the result of foreign conspiracies.

Economic crisis

Such statements by the military hardly do justice to the hundreds of young soldiers who are laying down their lives to fight the Taliban extremists.

Nor has the elected government of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP) tried to alter the balance, as it is mired in ineffective governance and widespread corruption while failing to tackle the economic recession, that is admittedly partly beyond its control.

Moreover the PPP has no talking pundits, sympathetic talk show hosts or a half decent media management campaign to refute the lies and innuendo that much of the media is now spewing out.

At present, the principal obsession is when and how President Asif Ali Zardari will be replaced or sacked, although there is no apparent constitutional course available to get rid of him except for a military coup, which is unlikely.

The campaign waged by some politicians and parts of the media - with underlying pressure from the army - is all about trying to build public opinion to make Mr Zardari's tenure untenable.

Nobody discusses the failure of the education system that is now turning out hundreds of suicide bombers, rather than doctors and engineers.

Or the collapsing and corrupt national health system that forces the poorest to seek expensive private medical treatment, or the explosion in crime or suicides by failed farmers and workers who have lost their jobs.

Pakistan cannot tackle its real problems unless the country's leaders - military and civilian - first admit that much of the present crisis is a result of long-standing mistakes, the lack of democracy, the failure to strengthen civic institutions and the lack of investment in public services like education, even as there continues to be a massive investment in nuclear weapons and the military.

Pakistan's crisis must first be acknowledged by officialdom and the media before solutions can be found.

The alternative is a continuation of the present paralysis where people are left confused, demoralised and angry.

Ahmed Rashid is the author of the best-selling book Taliban and, most recently, of Descent into Chaos: How the war against Islamic extremism is being lost in Pakistan, Afghanistan and Central Asia.

If you have a comment on this article, please use the form below.
Story from BBC NEWS: http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/south_asia/8369914.stm

Published: 2009/11/24 02:02:54 GMT

© BBC MMIX
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Myths of the Electronic Media

By Imran Kureshi

The ruling party’s sweeping victory in Gilgit should be an eye-opener to our ‘holier than the electorate’ media-men. They should realise that no party or leader is losing or gaining significant popularity despite their best efforts

Political programmes on our television channels are probably the only political institution here noisier than the Assemblies. The fiction they present is better than the soap operas, leaving the viewer on the edge of his seat waiting for the next episode; the crises they cook up have more ingredients than the cookery shows; the superheroes and villains they create are more imaginative than the cartoons and like the advertisements, they are bent on ‘selling’ their political agendas. Following are some myths that our anchormen seem to project again and again:

The NRO is a black law. Recently, both the electronic and print media went to town to denounce the NRO as shameful and universally unpopular. They should ask the people of Sindh and the thousands who suffered rampant political persecution during the period prior to1999 to tell what they honestly think of the law. This was an ordinance that undid injustice and enabled fair elections to be held. With the tyrannical proclivity that dictators and quasi-dictators have evinced to oppress political rivalry, this was the first democratic step to counteract this trend. In the alleviation of injustice to many innocent people under this ordinance, if some black sheep were also exonerated it is unfair to point fingers at them, since many other black sheep are strutting about the meadows smugly.

The lawyer’s movement was a success of the ‘long march’. Notwithstanding that undoubtedly it was morally and institutionally correct to reinstate the deposed judiciary and the worthy Chief Justice, by now it is tacit knowledge that there was a hidden hand behind the success of the ‘long march’, whether you like to believe this or not. Unfortunately the manner this movement succeeded seems to have unleashed an agenda of destabilisation (which our leading anchormen appear to welcome) and it has given a perception of a politically compromised judiciary.

Action against ‘Lal Masjid’ was bad. Please, let’s be quite clear about who are the enemies of our country and defy the writ of the law. If they are in the capital, so much the worse.

There should be price control on commodities (especially sugar). Again I will appeal for a more knowledgeable attitude. Price control is at best a short-term solution and detrimental to production in the long run. The worthy Supreme Court in its judgment on the sugar crisis consulted the Competition Commission of Pakistan (CCP) to advise it about the price of sugar and when the CCP recommended letting market forces establish the price, the CCP was criticised for exceeding its mandate. Consequently now the only way sugar comes into the market is by strong-arm tactics. Wait till you face the sugar crisis next year!

The government is doing nothing for the people. Often anchors rattle off ‘sugar crisis, atta crisis, energy crisis,’ in one breath. Let’s face it. Load shedding is currently a lot less than it has been in the last two years, though the consumption has increased. Why are we so negative? Why do we not give credit where it is due? Atta was a bumper crop because the government gave a much-needed increase in price to the farmer and this is the only crisis regarding wheat. Conversely because of low price and delay and deductions in payment for sugarcane to the farmer by mill owners, we had a shortfall in sugar production this year. Apart from forcefully trying to keep the price down and importing sugar at great cost, our government is trying earnestly to alleviate the crisis.

It will be pertinent to mention here that after the worst economic slump this country has known, when this government came to power, we are now on the verge of a turnaround. The cement sector is booming; OEMCs are showing good results; the textile sector has shown some improvement after two decades; our exports have increased; foreign investment had suddenly skyrocketed though in the first quarter of 09/10 it has declined because of increased terrorist attacks and instability; our agricultural production has increased substantially. In fact according to an international report we are on the verge of a turnaround and the only things holding us back are the power shortage (which is not this government’s fault) and the instability the electronic media is determined to promote.

Every issue that the media promotes is supported by the ‘14 crore awam’. This assertion is also repeatedly made by leaders of certain parties that did not participate in the elections and got no votes. I think the ruling party’s sweeping victory in Gilgit should be an eye-opener to our ‘holier than the electorate’ media-men. They should realise that no party or leader is losing or gaining significant popularity despite their best efforts and referring particularly to the channels in Punjab, they appeal only to a limited urban segment.

Unelected advisors are ruining the president’s image. Let’s be quite clear that advisors are not political personnel but experts in their field; they need not be elected. The above myth appeals only to those who want to think badly of some people. If we consider the facts fairly, our security is doing an admirable job in the face of a difficult and deadly situation. Who knows how many countless lives have been saved because of at least five occasions when suicide bombers have exploded themselves at check-posts and thus been unable to achieve their objectives; also because of the innumerable caches of explosives and arms that have been intercepted and terrorists apprehended. We only see the tragic devastation of these blasts; we do not see the frustration, demoralisation and setbacks in the ranks of our enemies when their efforts are foiled, operatives caught and their networks smashed. We should give credit where it is due, no matter what your personal feelings about a certain individual.

PPP is losing popularity and becoming isolated. This myth falls in the same category as an earlier myth that there is a rift between the prime minister and the president, which died because it was untenable. Of course, with the trend of logic of some anchormen (and women) it is natural they come to such conclusions to prove they are correct. However, these scripts about the opinions of supporters of a political party should be written by actual party supporters and not those wanting to find fault, don’t you agree? There is an important difference in attitude to be noted here. In totalitarian regimes it is important for the leader to be correct every time and obedience unquestioning, whereas in more democratic setups difference in opinion can prevail and wrongs corrected. However, people who only appreciate dictatorships may consider these procedures as mistakes and signs of weakness. The most important fact to note is that in a recent Gallup poll it was found that 31 percent to 46 percent people think that the media is causing instability. If you have not heard this before — because the media is not covering this — you have read it now. So whether the PPP is losing popularity or not is doubtful, but the media definitely is!

The media is free. No! In fact, the electronic media is very costly; still they manage to find a lot of sponsors for both advertisements and agendas. Of course the government is supposed to have influence and exert it in its favour but unfortunately the PPP is probably the only political party in history that even when it is in power seems to be treated like the opposition.

So let us remember that hallowed adage from the Holy Book, ‘Amr bil marroof, va nahee anil munker’ and interpret it in its true constructive sense. Let’s not spread fasaad and only criticise what needs to be criticised and praise what needs to be praised. Source
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Pakistan’s internal dynamics and security

POSTED BY: JARRI MIRZA

This column by Ismail Khan originally appeared in Daily Times on November 20, 2009.

In a diverse country like ours, parliamentary democracies largely settle these things. With institutions like the Senate, where there is equal representation of all the provinces, consensus and shared threats emerge. Without consensus, the state is hardly monolithic in terms of its direction.

These days, news from Pakistan is full of rumours, accusations, and counter-accusations. It is speculated that the days of Mr. Zardari, if not the PPP government, are numbered; that Mr. Zardari is thinking to play the Sindh card; that Clinton has winked at a change in Pakistan’s setup, etc. The source of this speculation is the media, which when asked, calls itself an impartial observer.

On top of it, despite the severity, this news is full of innuendoes. Worst of all, there is excessive usage of labelling. So many commentaries on the news from Pakistan have become a dirty affair insinuating that at the end of the day, you are either an agent of the ISI or of the CIA, either a covert jiyala or on the payroll of the agencies, either a flag-waving patriot or trying to divide the country.

In the midst of all of this, the debate over the content of discontent gets lost. Imagine, even if someone is a full-time employee of any agency, forget being on contract, does that bury the content? Not at all. Then why not address the content? Maybe it can offer answers to our accusations against one another.

Although bad governance has recently been quoted as a concern for the masses, which it is, the list of entries in the charge sheet against Mr. Zardari has hardly anything to do with governance. Here is the list that haunts Mr. Zardari: the PPP government tried to bring the ISI under the Ministry of Information; the president announced the no-first use of nuclear weapons in the context of India; the rulers appeased India after the Mumbai attacks; the civilian government signalled ‘yes’ to the Kerry-Lugar Bill, so on and so forth. On all these issues, the media has largely stood with the PPP’s critics in the power corridors.

The common theme in all these issues is security. Of the many fallouts of the military’s prominence in Pakistani politics, the lack of consensus on security issues arguably occupies the top post. Remember how Sharif and Beg disagreed over sending troops to Iraq or how Sharif distanced himself from Kargil, despite the level of his involvement. Benazir Bhutto also never identified herself with the Kashmir jihadist movements.

Although it can be rightly said that irrespective of factors, the threat identification of a state remains the same, but in Pakistan’s case, the threat was not the same because our internal dynamics were not addressed properly.

The civil-military imbalance is one such dynamic; due to the deep imprint of the military on the security paradigm, civilians have tried to distance themselves from it. This is because security is a dividing line between the two groups; in fact, it would not be wrong to argue that the security paradigm overrides Pakistan’s national policies. The present debate over Mr. Zardari’s fate too finds its roots in the security issue.

There are other dynamics too. In the traditional sense, security is against an enemy state, which in Pakistan’s case remained India. The Pakistani narrative owes the genesis of this threat identification to partition; however, as scholars have argued recently, the threat was more extreme with those identities that experienced the ‘threat’. In Pakistan’s case, Punjabis and Urdu-speaking people can be identified as such groups, who would still recall the suffering of their ancestors at the time of partition.

Back then both the groups were well-represented in the institutions of state, which is why the nation-building task was done more by them. However, concerns change with time. Even in Punjab and among the Urdu-speakers, the local threat may not necessarily be India’s acquisition of resources. This change is clearly seen in the concerns of MQM, for which it has been disliked by many.

The paradigm remained fixated on India. This is not to suggest that with the involvement of other groups’ concerns, the paradigm would have remained the same or not. What did not happen was the representation of the variability of security of all the identities in the state’s identification of the threat.

Examples are abundant. A person living in Waziristan has been in a state of war since 2002, but it was only recently that the state went for its help. Worst of all, his or her message is being relayed just recently, which is why they are extremely frustrated over being left alone. Similarly, while Pushtun nationalists wanted to take on the militants early on, they had to relent because some groups in Islamabad were dissatisfied, until the militants were found making headlines of being “sixty miles away from Islamabad”.

Concerns of identities in Pakistan are economic and about acquisition of resources for the self. The Baloch, for instance, dislike their rapidly-changing equation with the Pushtuns, not least after the influx of Afghans into Pakistan; in Sindh, different groups want to secure their interests amidst all the groups. Thus while Pakistan has its finger pointing against India for blocking water, Sindh has levelled the same charges against Punjab for stealing water. Worst of all, the best way to get rid of an issue is to dub the person raising an issue as being a sympathiser of India.

Recently, this has been amplified by the commentaries on the electronic media; it must be noted that popular electronic media in Pakistan is Urdu-medium in nature. For their perceptions on historical experiences, many anchorpersons believe in the Indo-centric security paradigm. The Mumbai attack is a prime example, where there was a sense of madness by the media over the government’s alleged appeasement of India. Hardly anyone knew about Swat. Now they have expressed surprise over discontent in Balochistan or in Sindh. The media’s concern over security is questionable because of its ignorance of the debates within; it would not be wrong to imagine that had the same media existed in 1999, Sharif would have gone much earlier than October 1999.

In a diverse country like ours, parliamentary democracies largely settle these things. With institutions like the Senate, where there is equal representation of all the provinces, consensus and shared threats emerge. Without consensus, the state is hardly monolithic in terms of its direction.

Like it or not, the military has to equally face embarrassment as it is left in the wilderness every time it fights. Worst of all, the state’s security policies are hardly defended by all actors; that in itself is a cause for confusion within the military.

Today when there is an elected government, it finds itself grilled whenever it takes a security decision. Even if faces get changed, the underlying factors will once again re-emerge, raising the concerns with more severity. It would be much better if we read correctly the relationship between security and the internal dynamics in Pakistan. Calling someone a covert agent and blaming the whole course of history on this is hardly what a serious academic would find time to read. Today, everyone is busy making the same mistake.

Muhammad Ismail Khan is a graduate student of International Relations at Boston University.

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The majoirty of Pakistanis blame media for political instability in the country.

It seems that the Pakistani nation is, in general, aware of the evil designs (i.e. anti-democracy and pro-Taliban activities) of the Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists (also known as the Mullah Media Alliance).

Perceptions on Media and Political Instability
GILANI POLL/GALLUP PAKISTAN
Islamabad, November 13, 2009

According to a Gilani Research Foundation survey carried out by Gallup Pakistan, despite being enthusiastic audience of media, more than half of all Pakistanis (57%) blame media for political instability in the country, 37% disagree while 12% of the respondents were unsure.

A nationally representative sample of men and women from across the country were read out a list of statements and were asked “People in Pakistan have different viewpoints. Please tell us whether you agree or disagree with the following statement?” Fifty seven percent (57%) are of the view that ‘Media is responsible for political instability in the country’. Thirty one percent (31%) disagree whereas 12% were unsure. The findings of the survey reveal that, proportionately fewer ruralites, older Pakistanis, and men blame Media for the political crisis prevailing in the country. The proportion of those who blame is higher among urbanites, youth and women.

Dr. Ijaz Shafi Gilani, Chairman Gallup Pakistan and Gilani Foundation had the following comment: “These findings surely cause a concern among those who value media freedom because the freedom of media rests on and emanates from popular support rather than the barrel of gun. The findings highlight some introspection as well as the issue of image making, After all ‘image makers should also address the issue of their own image’.

The study was released by Gilani foundation and carried out by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International. The latest survey was carried out among a sample of 2765 men and women in rural and urban areas of all four provinces of the country, during October 2009. Error margin is estimated to be approximately + 2-3 per cent at 95% confidence level.

Gallup Pakistan proposes that its poll results be attributed as Gilani Poll conducted by Gallup Pakistan, the Pakistani affiliate of Gallup International. This is to distinguish our polls from polls on Pakistan sometimes released by other organizations not part of Gallup International Association (www.gallup-international.com) and referred to by the same title.

http://www.gallup.com.pk/Polls/13-11-09.pdf

Some comments: (pkpolitics)

block said:
When they will write history of Pakistan sp about its downfall, Hamid Mir will figure as a prominent name in the list of those journalists who brought harm to this country thru their substandard journalism.This guy is a huge supporter of talbans and always attempt to poison mind of innocent people by blaming US,Jews and Indians for all our problems.Hamid Mir and all talban supporters you may like to see these footage and thank your God that these ladies are not your sisters and mothers. If you are still not convinced google talbans beheading innocent people and you will be able to see scores of footage in which these SHAITANS are killing people like goat and cows for qurbany.Shame on you Hamid Mir. Mufti Kafayatullah (JUI-F), Iqbal Zafar Jhagra (PML-N) are worst enemies of Pakistan and Islam and should be subject to the same tretemant as Talbans.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zXCDOA-NL_U&feature=fvw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OOjNO-UO5ds&feature=related


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The collusion of commercialism and the right wing in the Pakistani media

The hypocrisy of the Pakistani Taliban Union of Journalists (PTUJ)

The media is a commercial entity and therefore can always be expected to cater, first and foremost, to its profit-making needs. In Pakistan the private TV media revolution was welcomed by ordinary people who have historically been fed a surfeit of state ideology via Pakistan Television (PTV). Only a few short years after a glittering christening, however, the private media has proven that the profit-motive can coexist quite well with the ideological agenda that we all thought had been left behind with the state’s monopoly on information.

The fire is spreading

Aasim Sajjad Akhtar

Some six months ago I wrote a critique of the media on these pages for not abiding by professional journalistic ethics in its coverage of the military action in Malakand. Among other things, I emphasised how the daily Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) press releases were printed almost word for word without independent source verification (or a mention that no such source existed).

It is perhaps not surprising that the same exercise is being repeated now with Operation Rah-e-Nijat. But it is a damning indictment of those who claim to be committed to freedom of information and other principles of media democracy all the same. Through the course of this year, as the state’s long-standing policy of patronising religious militancy has unravelled in the face of increasing pressure from Washington, the media has answered the call of the powers-that-be to be loyal to the “greater national interest.” It is perhaps considered by and by that protecting the “greater national interest” requires the sacrifice of basic journalistic principles.

For a few days recently some media personalities made hay about restrictions on media coverage of “terrorism” which apparently all parliamentary parties deemed necessary. The expected furore never came to pass, and it has recently been reported that most media outlets have voluntarily agreed to a code of conduct vis-a-vis what can be shown on live TV and what cannot. No democratic government should ever employ draconian measures against the media. On this occasion, however, it appears to make sense that a confrontation was avoided by the media’s own admission that showing mutilated bodies strewn around bomb sites is not beneficial to the public interest. But in general the media’s practice of self-censorship is motivated rarely by public-interest concerns.

The media is a commercial entity and therefore can always be expected to cater, first and foremost, to its profit-making needs. In Pakistan the private TV media revolution was welcomed by ordinary people who have historically been fed a surfeit of state ideology via Pakistan Television (PTV). Only a few short years after a glittering christening, however, the private media has proven that the profit-motive can coexist quite well with the ideological agenda that we all thought had been left behind with the state’s monopoly on information.

In recent times the media has clamoured about the imperative of military action in Waziristan while at the same time recovering the familiar narrative of an Indian-Israeli-American conspiracy to deprive Pakistan of its nuclear arsenal and eventually dismember it. It is amazing that these two narratives can go together, but that is exactly how the choreographers behind the scenes would have it. In short, the ideational leap that was first made immediately prior to the Swat operation – that the once loyal jihadi protégés of the state are now its most lethal enemies – is being taken to its logical conclusion; that is, through the insistence that those who claim to be undertaking jihad against the Pakistani state are actually agents of RAW, Mossad and the CIA.

The “foreign hand” theory is back in a big way, and the media is proving to be more loyal than the king in propagating it far and wide. Caches of arms captured in high-profile operations read “Made in India.” Newspaper headlines accuse the “foreign hand” of constructing special aircraft to storm our nuclear installations. In a very conspicuous parallel development, the Afghan Taliban have reportedly dissociated themselves with the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), claiming that real warriors of Islam never target Muslim innocents. This fits the media narrative that has now cast away all pretensions in making a clear distinction between genuine holy warriors and “enemy” agents masquerading as jihadis. The former are essential to the security of “Islam,” and therefore the Pakistani state, whereas the latter are out to malign Islam and wipe Pakistan off the map.

The right-wingers in the media, educational institutions and within the state are of course aided in drumming up nationalist hysteria by the increasingly conspicuous man-management that Washington insists upon. It is a fact that there has been an influx of American “security men” into Islamabad and other cities. It was widely reported that Americans completed deserted their positions on the Pakistani-Afghan border as soon as the South Waziristan operation started. Then there is the recently published story in The New Yorker by Seymour Hersh rehashing the tired theme of Pakistani nukes’ safety.

Notwithstanding the disastrous role that American imperialism has played, and continues to play, in the wider region, it is crucial to understand why anti-Americanism (and its anti-India corollary) is being cultivated by the media at the present time. The goal is not to facilitate democratisation or foster genuine anti-imperialist sensibilities; the media’s harping on about America and India directly aids the security establishment’s attempts to paper over the contradictions that have erupted in recent times to reassert its strategic vision and its control over state affairs.

American forces must leave Afghanistan and American control over policymaking in Pakistan must be resisted. But the same security establishment and right-wing media that got into bed with the Americans in the first place some 30 years ago are part of the problem, and are not the heroic defenders of the people that they claim to be.

As the operation in South Waziristan is concluded, to great media fanfare, the people of Pakistan will be no closer to lasting peace than they were before the “mother of all operations” was started. In fact, very little appears to have changed. Change will only happen if and when we undertake an exercise in collective introspection and accept that the Frankenstein that we have created cannot be understood, and therefore tamed, by engaging in unaccountable military operations in one part of the country after another.

This is not a “war” against the proverbial “foreign hand,” or even, as the liberals would have it, against the “extremists.” After all, those who blow themselves up are products of this society and the ideas that circulate freely within it. The real battle must be waged against the obsolete and poisonous ideas that litter our textbooks and the hyper-nationalist propaganda that is spewed out by those who claim to be providing us with unadulterated facts. Underlying all of this is a gory struggle for power in which all players invoke state sovereignty and willingly expend human lives in the name of this sovereignty.

If we are willing to get to the heart of the matter, there may yet be hope that we can build a self-respecting nation on the basis of a new social contract. Such a nation can resist Empire, and make friends with its neighbours. If we persist with fire-fighting, the fire will only spread further.

The writer teaches colonial history at Quaid-e-Azam University and is affiliated with People’s Rights Movement.

Email: amajid@comsats. net.pk - The News, November 16, 2009
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Story of a 14-year-old suicide bomber brainwashed by the Friends of Taliban

It has been learnt that Taliban use the anti-Pakistan (i.e. anti-democracy, anti-Pakistan Army and anti-west) hate propaganda spread by their friends in Pakistani media (e.g., Hamid Mir, Shahid Masood, Ansar Abbasi, Javed Chaudhry and others), in order to brainwash the ill-educated and ill-informed Pakistani youth. Here is a detailed account of a 14-year-old suicide bomber by BBC correspondent Orla Guerin.

'I agreed to become a suicide bomber'

A 14-year-old boy in the tribal region of Bajaur, in north-west Pakistan, says he was detained by Taliban forces who tried to turn him into a suicide bomber. The boy is now in army hands. He provided a detailed account to BBC correspondent Orla Guerin. His story cannot be independently verified. The boy says he was beaten until he agreed to become a suicide bomber There were five people who came after me from a place in Bajaur. They tricked me. They told me they were going to behead my father. I went with them but my father wasn't there. They tied me up. They said: 'You have two choices. We will behead you, or you will become a suicide bomber.' I refused. There were two more guys of my age. They were also training to be suicide bombers. If we refused they would tie our hands behind our backs, blindfold us and start beating us. They brainwashed us and told us we would go to heaven. They said 'there will be honey and juice and God will appear in front of you. You will have a beautiful house in Heaven'. We used to ask them to let us out to pray. They would reply 'you are already on your way to heaven. You don't need to pray.' They beat me hard for five days. I wasn't given any food. While they were beating me I agreed to become a suicide bomber. They separated me from the other boys. Mosque mission They took me to a dark room and started giving me pills. I was handed over to Maulvi Fakir [the Bajaur Taliban commander]. After all this preparation they said I was to go and do the job in a mosque. Before the Taliban came we used to enjoy freedom. We used to play, and go to our schools 'Haunting' Taliban problem It was an ordinary mosque but the cleric there used to talk against the Taliban, and they declared him their enemy. They told me the cleric was a non-believer, a non-Muslim. They took off my shirt and put the jacket on my shoulders. There were two hooks on my chest. They told me that when you go there you say 'Allahu Akbar' [God is Great] and then you pull apart these two hooks. Then they took me there, showed me the mosque and went off. I was drugged and I couldn't feel anything. I only came to my senses when I arrived in the mosque. I saw the peaceful kind face of the cleric, and I saw the mosque was full of holy books. I saw the people praying. And I thought, they are all Muslims. How can I do this? I decided not to and I came out. I sat under a tree outside the mosque and waited for prayers to be over. After that I made my way back to the Taliban. Then they called me 'a son of a bitch' and asked why I had come back without doing it. I told them I could not do it because they were carrying out body searches of all the people entering the mosque. They took off my vest and handed me over to Maulvi Fakir. They tied me up but I told them to give me another chance and I would do it. They trusted me. I was roaming around with them for a couple of days. I got to the road, found transport and came home. They followed me to my house. They wanted to know if I was still there or had run somewhere else. Watch Orla Guerin's TV report from Bajaur The Taliban had beaten me so harshly my back was scarred. When my parents saw that my mother started to cry, and told me not to go back to them. My father asked them why they were after his son. One day he took his weapon and went after them. But they wanted to kill him so he came back home and closed the door. Before the Taliban came we used to enjoy freedom. We used to play, and go to our schools. There were no restrictions on us. Morning and evening we used to play games, and sit and chat with friends. We used to listen to music on our mobile phones. They banned that. They stopped us doing anything. They stopped us playing cricket and going to school. We felt like prisoners. I want to join the army because they are the defenders of the land. They are fighting for the right cause. I want to fight against the Taliban. I have no other intention except to defend my country. The Taliban should be eliminated. I want to tell the Taliban that they are cruel, and what they did to me was unjust. I can't kill innocent Muslims. I am not afraid of them. I am only afraid of God. I am answerable only to Him. Source

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Meera's English and our colonial hang-ups

Our colonial hang-ups
Fly on the wall

Thursday, November 12, 2009 (The News)

Zafar Khalid Farooq

We Pakistanis love to mock. As a nation we enjoy nothing more than sneering at other people's behaviour and pretensions -- especially those of the rich, powerful and famous. And so it should be. Not only is it cathartic to deride our leaders, but also ridiculing the mighty is an important function of a democracy. It also happens to be mostly justifiable. I thoroughly enjoyed sneering at the inappropriate behaviour of former Law Minster Wasi Zafar when he, in what can only be described as an uncouth manner, verbally attacked Ansar Abbasi on 'Voice of America' (VOA), threatening him with his 'big arm'. Even better was watching the very same minister visibly perform a 'cabinet reshuffle' on 'Capital Talk'. Considering this was the minister at the time responsible for overseeing the whole chief justice fiasco, laughing at his oafish and vulgar behaviour provided much-needed catharsis for us mere mortals.

But what we choose to ridicule as a nation often exposes our own insecurities and foibles. This was evident last week when a clip of the Lollywood actress, Meera, speaking English poorly, erupted onto several social networking sites. My Facebook page was inundated with postings of the clip and barring a few exceptions, the overwhelming response towards Meera's verbal clumsiness was of one of contemptuous jeering from Anglophone Pakistanis. Here are just two of the comments (both from women):

"Hahahah! She is sooo embarassing! Stupid woman!

"She's such a weird personality I swear. I dnt know y she has to try out such things to mke her self luk stupid."

Setting aside for a moment the wonderful irony of their own substandard English, what do these reactions tell us? Besides reinforcing the view that in Pakistan, gross misogyny is not the unique preserve of men, it also reminds us once more of the language contradictions and hypocrisy that plague the country.

How's this for a juicy paradox -- in the week that we were commemorating the life of Muffakir-e-Pakistan (the thinker of Pakistan), Shair-e-Mashriq (the poet of the East), Mohammed Iqbal, our English speaking elite, who are unable to tell their 'alif' from their elbow, were insulting someone for their language failings.

Rather than Iqbal, our high society, the likes that attend Fashion Pakistan Week, prefer to ape the linguistic achievements of that other architect of Pakistan -- Mohammed Ali Jinnah. Jinnah couldn't read or write the official language of the country he founded. Fluent in both English and Gujarati, at least he had the grace to acknowledge and apologise for his linguistic shortcomings. Having given a faltering speech in Urdu, delivered in the distinct clipped tones of the Lincolns Inn-educated barrister that he was, Jinnah regretfully informed the crowd in English that "my Urdu is tongawala Urdu".

The same can't be said of our present upper class who, instead, actively revel in their ignorance of Urdu, wearing it as a badge of pride to distinguish themselves from the illiterate proletariat. They delight in the cultural and social apartheid that this language divide confers -- preferring Fashion Week over Faiz, Mamma Mia instead of a mushahira. Yet, an elite that can't communicate properly with the majority of its people is one that is in perilous danger (just ask Marie Antoinette who was unable to read and write her native German). Name me a strong functioning society where such stark language segregations exist between its people?

So before we laugh at Meera, let's take a mirror to ourselves with our colonial hang-ups. At least she can speak her national language which is more than many of us, with our broken Urdu, can say. Surely, it should be us, the English elite that should be ashamed that we are unable to engage with our fellow Pakistanis on either a cultural or linguistic level. We should be embarrassed that English has become a barrier for capable people progressing in their careers in Pakistan. We should cringe that we are so far removed from our cultural heritage that we can't read our own alphabet. Suddenly, it is us who are the illiterates. So what if Meera's English is bad? She isn't English, nor is she someone who has enjoyed the best education that money can buy, unlike my Facebook deriders.

Considering her humble background and the exploitation she's had to endure throughout career in order to provide for her family, we should be saluting her, not mocking her. Ironically, with the proceeds of her exploitation, she is bettering the prospects of her family by sending her sister to the UK for study. Meera's belief that a foreign education is the only way to improve her family's social standing is a truly terrible indictment on Pakistan society. Sixty-two years after Jinnah created Pakistan, his people are still following his footsteps and getting their education abroad. Now that's something worth sneering at.

Email: zkfarooq@gmail.com and www.zafarkhalidfarooq.blogspot.com
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Anchor-istan: Media jihadis and their vision of Pakistan

Guest blog by: Bahadar Ali Khan

After watching Pakistani media’s talk shows, the assertions made by learned anchor-persons of these talk shows and reading the Urdu columnists I have visualized a future scenario of good governance for Pakistan. Under the recommendations of the media persons of our country and right wing parties, I have come to the conclusion that we should make a government just as they recommend and infer every day in their allotted air time. My understanding is that after we have this government inplace all of our problems would be resolved for ever. We’ll no longer be accepting US dictations nor we would be needing their arms. India would flee from Kashmir. Another popular hate-subject, Israel would be annihilated. The Western civilization would cease to exist and US and European will get back to stone age. All the corrupt elements from the Pakistani society would chastise theirself and anyone who obtained expensive plots from government would return it in the greater interest of the general public. Also anybody who got anything except salary would return it.

Now let us see how this government of ‘angels’ would look like. Nobody can doubt that best person for Pakistan’s presidentship is General (rtd) Hamid Gul. Syed Munawar Hassan is the best candidate for the Prime Minister of Pakistan. None other than Imran Khan suits the best for ministry of religious affairs. He is so good at collecting donations that he would run his ministry purely on donations and nothing would be taken from national exchequer. Shireen Mazari can be appointed ambassador to US. Qazi Hussain Ahmed would become Pakistani High Commissioner to India because by doing so one day he would fulfil his life long wish of heralding Pakistani flag on Delhi’s Red Fort. He can do this secretly on any weekend. Rest of the portfolios of economy, defence, foreign affairs, strategic affairs, science and literature and many other section can be filled by the appointments of very talented and expert on every subject media anchor-persons. These people are so capable that every ministry would run in an exemplary fashion.

There would be a National Consultation Council whose members would be from the board of the directors of “Ideology of Pakistan Limited”. General Mirza Aslam Beg can be appointed as governor of Baluchistan and because of terrain of his province he would be more effectively keep an eye on the ’strategic depth’ and US activities in Afghanistan. MQM suits best for the governorship of Sindh because though they are kind of misfit for this set up but the problem is that if we appoint anybody else the governor, MQM would not let him enter the governor house.

I believe if this government comes into being all of our assets including Talibans and nuclear weapons would get safe for ever. We will defeat NATO and allied forces in Afghanistan and later on will continue our march towards Central Asian states until we get our strategic goals and during this course our strategic depth would expand as far as North Pole goes. This government will neither take any foreign aid nor will return anybody’s loan. In order to appease Taliban this government will shut down all the girls colleges and schools.

Maulan Abdul Aziz ( Lal Masjid fame ) will be appointed Pakistan’s permanent representative in United Nations where he will brief the rest of the world about Pakistan power and importance. He will construct a mosque in the UN building whose students would march in the streets of New York and anybody ( any women ) not following the proper dress code will be kidnapped and brought to UN Mosque where she would be tortured to get the dose of spirituality. If the US, because they are host of UN office, do something derogatory or put any restrictions on our envoy’s actvities , our government will transfer the head quarters of UN to Waziristan. Osama bin Laden will be our Ambassador at large where he will work on the puritinization of the infidels and if some infidel not followed his line, he would be slaughtered.

Our new government will keep friendly relationship with China only one condition, if all Chinese men stop shaving their faces and their women put on modest dress. If China not followed these condition then we would teach them a lesson by sending our Mujahideen in their Sinkiang province. This government would definitely fulfil the longing for waging a war against US and in that war our government would destroy US.

The only problem that is left to be tackled as what will happen to the current lot of Politicians. So our pious government would arrange their punishments from the federal Shariah Court. And their worst punishments would be to appoint them on higher posts but stop them from taking bribe and perks.

So what do you think?

Source: http://bkhan.wordpress.com/2009/10/23/anchor-istan-a-vision-of-a-pure-government/

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The ‘Ghairat Brigade’ and the hyper-nationalism

By Kamran Shafi
Tuesday, 10 Nov, 2009

...Meanwhile back at the ranch, what is now increasingly known as the ‘Ghairat Brigade’ proceeds apace with its denunciation of the elected government in particular and politicians in general. The Internet is inundated with stories about the corruption of all politicians; the inefficiency of the only government in Pakistan which seems to be doing a half-decent job — the Punjab government; and of the selling down the river of Pakistan, its nuclear assets, its sovereignty et al, by the ‘bloody civilians’. Scenarios predicting the imminent fall of the government, followed by the wrapping up of the whole shoot are doing the rounds of the drawing rooms of the rich and the famous, what I call the Beautiful People.

Yet, just look at the shenanigans of the newest godfather of the ‘Ghairat Brigade’: “I said to the Americans, ‘Give us the Predators.’ It was refused. I told the Americans, ‘Then just say publicly that you’re giving them to us. You keep on firing them but put Pakistan Air Force markings on them.’ That, too, was denied” — Gen (retd) Pervez Musharraf, former chief of the army staff, Pakistan Army, in a most recent interview with Seymour Hersh of the New Yorker. I ask you!

Where is the ‘Ghairat Lobby’ now when Musharraf’s subterfuge to trick the Pakistani nation has been made public: whilst going all the way with the Americans in allowing the drone attacks, asking them to camouflage their drones in PAF colours. Yet his acolytes have the gall to put the blame for drone attacks entirely on the present lot?

The Commando has also had (one of his) comeuppance(s), however. Asked if he had met any senior Obama administration official, he said, “I did not ask for a meeting because I was afraid of being told no.” Well, serves him right.

What else can I say but that sense should be knocked into the knuckleheaded, actually venal and dishonest establishment and its paid hacks by the lay people of this country who are up to here with being fed the worst tripe for the past 60-plus years; who are at the end of their tether with the sickening and ever shrill crescendo of blame and accusations and the strictest censure of politicians, and only politicians.

Case in point, a move in the Senate of Pakistan initiated by Senator-for-Life Wasim Sajjad: “Notwithstanding anything to the contrary contained in any law and treaty, and undertaking or conditionalities agreed with any foreign country, the president of Pakistan shall certify in January each year on behalf of the government of Pakistan to each house of parliament that the sovereignty and honour of Pakistan have not been compromised in any manner whatsoever, that no compromise has been made on security (sic) or effectiveness of the nuclear programme of Pakistan; that no understanding has been reached with any foreign country for interference in the change of command or promotions in the Pakistan armed forces or in the structure or role of the security forces of Pakistan; and that no conditionalities have been accepted from any source.”

He also said that the KLA (Kerry Lugar act) raised many concerns and caused serious worries in almost all civil and military circles’. Er, is this Senator Waseem Sajjad the same person who allegedly carried the army’s message to the Supreme Court these many years ago? I ask you, again!

To end, might I refer to friend Cyril Almeida’s question of last week: “Can our politicians ever make it work?” Yes, yes, yes, Cyril, provided our democracy gets the time it takes to grow and flower and prosper, to which endeavour all of us must be party by saying with one voice: “No matter what, never another army take-over!!” Otherwise we are lost.

PS May I one more time say to the leaders of Pakistan’s largest parties, President Asif Ali Zardari and Mian Nawaz Sharif: stay together and defeat the anti-democratic forces, or get ‘sorted out’ one by one. Particularly to Asif Zardari may I say yet again, “You don’t need four months to get rid of the 17th Amendment. All it takes is two days!! Do it!”

kshafi1@yahoo.co.uk (Source

Tail-piece:
Rejecting hyper-nationalists
Tuesday, November 10, 2009 (The News)
Mosharraf Zaidi

No one doubts that Pakistan has enemies. No one has legitimately made an argument that any country is particularly interested in Pakistan for noble or selfless reasons. And no one that can be taken seriously can defend politicians and their enablers as they slavishly tout talking points that have no basis in the South Asian Muslim narrative around which mainstream Pakistan’s values and ethos are constructed.

The hyper-nationalist discourse that seeks to locate Pakistan’s problems in Zionism, Indian spies, or American development assistance, however, is not nationalist at all. How can anybody, who really cares for Pakistan, be so wickedly unaware of the potential dangers of targeting foreign correspondents? How can anybody that cares for Pakistan continually attempt to inject Pakistanis with the heroin of blaming ‘the other’? How can anybody that cares for Pakistan so consistently defy and deny any attempt to inspect and assess the damage that Pakistan does to itself? How can anybody that cares about Pakistan surgically delegitimise questions about the accountability of mercenaries hired to protect diplomats?

When Pakistanis that love their country read the hyper-nationalist press in Pakistan, or watch pundits spew irrational and unsubstantiated allegations on television, they need to resist embracing the warm comfort of blaming ‘the other’. The overwhelmingly vast majority of Pakistan’s problems are a direct consequence of decisions made by Pakistani individuals, groups and organisations. The dangers of allowing conspiracy theories to go unchallenged are not just intellectual. Daniel Pearl lost his life because of a delusional, conspiratorial and escapist culture among extremists. Pakistanis, Muslims and non-Muslims alike, should have nothing but contempt for this culture. It certainly must not be allowed to expand its influence. And being rational about the threats Pakistan faces does not mean you are being unpatriotic. Quite the opposite.

Resistance to hyper-nationalism must begin with rejecting it, and end with registering that rejection in writing. Write a letter to every newspaper and television channel and raise your voice. The depth and seriousness of Pakistan’s fragile middle class voice rests on it. We cannot allow this voice to be hijacked by the hyper-nationalists that concoct malicious and dangerous lies to appeal to our patriotism. www.mosharrafzaidi.com (Source)

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