Daily Times

The ‘almighty’ anchor started ‘sobbing’ in front of the television camera, just like a little girl who had lost her new Barbie doll. Tonight, the omnipotent talk show host was not wearing his usual professional attire (the crown of self-rectitude) and had made a deliberate effort to tone himself down to be identified with the ordinary Pakistani, dressed casually in a dark-toned tee-shirt.

That night, the angel of virtue was whining instead of warning; he was explaining instead of accusing; he was humane and polite instead of being condescending and impertinent. That night, for the first time, he understood why the allegations (about him) should be treated differently from a conviction by a court.

Certainly, the invincible anchor looked dishevelled and heartbroken after the ‘outrageous’ accusations by a fellow journalist who exposed the fragility of the revered anchor by indirectly calling him an agent of an international (enemy) spy agency. It felt horrible and was devastating for an honourable (proud) and honest (offensive) person. All his life, the ‘legendary’ (self-proclaimed) programme host had worked hard to develop the reputation of a clean journalist — a rare and precious metal — but his prestige was tarnished in just a few minutes by an ‘infamous’ anti-Pakistan (pro-democracy) agent. It disturbed him tremendously and he took the allegation to heart.

It seemed he could not talk to anyone for hours because he was choking with an overwhelming emotion. Later, as he put his plan together, he was determined to come up with a rebuttal, a thunderous one. It took him a couple of days to muster up courage, organise paperwork, negate the evidence, build the argument and obviously bring God along with fellow angels for the art of a media-based self-projection. In his tumultuous rebuttal, ‘the saint’ regressed from rationality to morality and from logic to emotions. During the show, he talked but remained speechless, so to speak. He started his monologue about the significance (or lack thereof) of being at the bottom (last) of programme ratings. With a twist of tongue, he mentioned the greatness of the Prophet Mohammad (PBUH) as the ‘last’ messenger, the Quran as the ‘last’ revelation and Islam as the ‘last’ one among the monotheistic religions. Obviously, it made complete sense since his argument followed all rules of logic and because the implications of these pearls of wisdom are ubiquitous and incredible. If this holds true, I should wait for my six-year-old to celebrate his last position in the class; we should also expect the Pakistani cricket team to demand special bonuses after losing all matches to occupy the last spot and we should demand to be served first if we are the last ones in a queue. This ‘logical’ approach to any situation is preposterous at best, if not completely ludicrous.

After that ‘Mr Clean’ was unstoppable; he referred to his modest lifestyle; he disclosed his bank accounts, displayed his cars on television and uncovered all his personal assets. In the end, he demanded that everyone in his profession should share their personal information on television just like he had done, provided they were also as honest as him. The ‘truth’ uttered in the ‘last’ few minutes of the programme reminded viewers of a Friday prayers’ sermon. They all waited for the aazan after the programme to submit themselves to the Divine and offer their last prayer of the day, Isha.

For the sake of transparency, it is important for us to realise that the ‘dispute’ commenced when Mr Clean unnecessarily ridiculed the alleged connections of a fellow journalist with a real estate tycoon. It is true that the ‘last anchor’ did not accuse him of financial corruption but Mr Clean undoubtedly referred to his colleague with contempt. His tone reeked of negativity and that irked the senior journalist who surprised Mr Clean with his counterpunch that was direct, well placed and powerful. It also yielded the desired results; it drew a clear line between journalism and defamation; cast doubts on the reputation of the accuser, keeping the aggressor in the defensive mode.

Under these circumstances, when sensitivities are high, it is imperative for all of us to understand that professionalism could be our new religion along with Islam. We also need to emphasise that the highest degree of virtue does not necessarily lie only in the realms of faith, but that it can be found in professional excellence as well. It has to be taught, preached, practised, encouraged and implemented in all fields, at all levels and all the time. It could be the key to our success.

The writer is a freelance columnist and can be reached at skamranhashmi@gmail.com