Daily Times

I must confess, I have been very wary of a certain media house and its group of publications. Consider, for example, the so-called historian Dr Safdar Mahmood, who has used the pages of the media house’s Urdu newspaper to distort history week after week. One such example, now accepted as fact, is that Maulana Shabbir Ahmad Usmani was tasked by Quaid-e-Azam to raise the Pakistani flag on August 14, 1947. The video of the August 14 ceremony is available on the BBC Urdu website as well as YouTube and it shows a Pakistani army officer raising the flag with Shabbir Ahmad Usmani not visible anywhere in the video. This is just one lie out of thousands that irresponsible columnists like Dr Safdar Mahmood have perpetuated over the years.

Then you have Mr Ansar Abbasi, the foremost votary of bigotry in the publication business. He specialises in labelling people as anti-Islamic and anti-national. Some of his more prominent victims include people like Malala Yousafzai who he accuses of nothing less than blasphemy. He has railed day in and day out against evil “secularists” and “liberals” for destroying the “Islamic identity” of Pakistan. The media group’s television channel promotes Dr Aamir Liaqat Hussain who had on his show famously called for the killing of the Ahmedis leading to targeted killings of that community. Even Hamid Mir — with whom one sympathises — has in the past resorted to most intemperate language against people who disagree with him. The overall discourse of this media group has been right-wing with a conservative nationalist editorial policy. It is therefore amusing that now the same group is being accused of being anti-national. One cannot help but indulge in some Schadenfreude at this turn of events.

However, the funny thing about freedom of the press is that one cannot fight for it only when it is convenient. As much as I dislike the media group’s antics over the years, and make no mistake the one-sided attack on Pakistan’s premier spy agency was precisely that, the idea that its private television channel might be shut down and its papers may be shut down frankly stinks. This is not to say that the Inter-Services Intelligence’s (ISI’s) grievance is not legitimate. It is. As I see it, the ISI had two legal options: to go to the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) or file a suit of defamation against the channel on behalf of its head, General Zaheerul Islam. The application/complaint that was made to PEMRA however is too overreaching and seems like the work of an overzealous lawyer. In making the case against the television channel, whoever drafted the complaint went overboard, accusing it of routinely undermining Pakistan’s national interest. This is a maximalist position, which will not achieve anything good for the country. It has for all practical purposes closed the door on any reconciliation. Suppose if the media group apologises and that apology is accepted by the ministry of defence and the ISI, what is to become of the accusation that its television channel always undermines Pakistan’s national interest? On the other hand, if PEMRA rules that the complaint does not have any merit, what would that do to the credibility of the ministry of defence, the ISI and the Pakistani armed forces? It has therefore become a zero sum game.

Any move to shut down the channel of course will add to the already blackened dossier highlighting the country’s inability to protect the freedom of the press. It may also have repercussions under international laws and treaties that Pakistan is a signatory of. Most of all, it will paint our armed forces as incorrigible enemies of freedom of the press. I have often felt, and I might be wrong about this, that while there is a lot to criticise our khakis for, their critics often go overboard, forgetting that ultimately they are a part of us and the attitudes of society are reflected in all sub-sections thereof. We owe a debt of gratitude to the numerous martyrs, in particular martyrs who died fighting those forces trying to take us back into the Stone Age. We owe it to them to be fair and balanced in our criticism. Similarly, it is for our armed forces, being the strongest institution in the country, to stand for our freedoms and for the weakest sections of this society. An ill-advised and ill-timed editorial decision by a television channel known for its persistent idiocy does not threaten national security or undermine the forces in the country.

Regardless of which side one comes down on in the media versus ISI equation, surely the reaction by certain other media outlets should be repulsive to any rational person. The way a certain ‘journalist’, who not long ago was accused of allegedly getting paid by a leading property tycoon, has taken the lead in the most defamatory campaigns against the media group is plain sickening. Another television anchor who had not long ago resorted to exposing ‘prostitutes’ to raise her ratings has been doing shows daily on this issue. The words “responsible journalism” sound so hollow coming from them.

And, finally, you have Mr Imran Khan. He claims that he was denied a shot at the top slot in the government by the afore-mentioned television channel. Whatever the merits of his rigging claims — which in any event would be stronger if his party would quit the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government elected through the very same elections — his accusations against the television channel smack of opportunism of the worst kind. It is a desperate attempt by the leader of a party that is failing to perform. It is a tragic drop scene to Imran Khan’s political career, which was once thought to be built on principles. It is time all parties to the dispute take a step back and see how history is going to judge them.

The writer is a lawyer based in Lahore and the author of the book Mr Jinnah: Myth and Reality. He can be contacted via twitter @therealylh and through his email address yasser.hamdani@gmail.com