Daily Times

I recently came across a television show clip where Pashtun Long March resistance leader, Manzoor Pashteen, was taken on call along with Jibran Nasir, the activist. Hosting the show were Pakistan Tehreek e Insaaf’s representative Fawad Chaudhary and PMLN’s Musadik Malik. What was laudable was that there was representation from all thoughts and narratives in Pakistan on mainstream television that could positively engage and bring forth ideas in order to learn from each other and more importantly, learn to tolerate each other. Manzoor Pashteen, a rights activist from Waziristan, was questioned about the Pashtun Long March. The Pashtun Long March started on January 28 after the murder of Naqeebullah Mehsud, an aspiring model, at the hands of Rao Anwar in Karachi. Pashteen was at the front and centre of this march and many people joined voices to demand justice for Naqeebullah Mehsud as well as the many issues that plague FATA and Waziristan.

The first faux pas made by the ‘anchors’ was that instead of asking Pashteen about the Long March, they immediately asked Jibran Nasir about the march itself. Once Jibran sent the question directly to Pashteen, Pashteen then, was asked what was the Pashtun Long March all about and both Mr Malik and Mr Chaudhary expressed that they hadn’t heard much about it. They later demanded that Pashteen respect the Pakistani military for its various sacrifices and then when Pashteen spoke out, they cut him off. At another point, Pashteen talked about women being harassed at the missing persons’ department and both anchors seemed uncomfortable but still not completely on board with Pashteen’s story of struggle. It was painful to watch. I could sense the frustration in Pashteen’s voice. He’s a young man in his twenties and he has led a resistance that has managed to get everyone’s attention but our local anchors’.

The war in Waziristan and the deprivation and lack of infrastructure in FATA is not a new phenomenon. It’s not something that has escaped anyone’s attention at all. In fact, the internally displaced persons are a reality that has been a flashpoint on mainstream media. Just recently, in a drama serial on ARY Digital called “Aakhri Station”, one of the episodes highlighted the struggle of an internally displaced family. So to act unaware of an organic movement from those areas that have been gathering steam since the past month or so, is not just ignorance but criminal negligence on the part of anchors as well as politicians. How were the anchors able to find it within their conscience to not just ignore the reality of the movement but be so insensitive and ask an outsider, so to speak, such as Jibran Nasir, instead of Manzoor Pashteen, who’s on the line with them as they spoke. That would be like asking Maryam Nawaz about Benazir Bhutto as a mother when you’ve got Bilawal or Bakhtawar on the line with you in your program. It’s just wrong.

Most anchors try to discredit or cross question the victim’s narrative in a way that puts these anchors in some sort of superior position and demeans or suspect the victims’ narrative. They become judge, jury and executioner of the person in question; they ask loaded or inappropriate questions and hand out flippant verdicts as if 40 odd minutes are enough to condense lengthy and complex debates.

There is a clear lack of empathy and professionalism in our television channels and our anchors and analysts when it comes to talking to victims or activists. Most anchors try to discredit or cross question the victim’s narrative in a way that puts these anchors in some sort of superior position and demeans or suspect the victims’ narrative. They become judge, jury and executioner of the person in question; they ask loaded or inappropriate questions and hand out flippant verdicts as if 40 odd minutes are enough to condense lengthy and complex debates. Because obviously our anchors and analysts are that intelligent and their moral superiority can, of course, never be questioned.

I once had an aunt who refused to go to the doctor because she was afraid of anything the doctor might say. “What if he finds out something is wrong with me?” she would say, shaking her head. I hope every day that my aunt never falls sick because even if she did, she’d never be able to find out on time. She’s mortally afraid of doctors. Dissent is patriotic and Pashteen’s questions about extra-judicial killings, about the reforms in FATA, about bringing attention to how people in Waziristan and FATA are being treated are like a blood test for us all – they show us that there is a virus that infects us. There is a disease that plagues us where there are people in our country and in our state machinery that mistreat citizens, that take advantage of their power, that abuse the influence and authority the state endows them with. When a man like Pashteen and a movement like Pashtun Long March comes forth to explain to the rest of the country what’s happening to them, should we not take it seriously and attempt to find a way to solve this problem instead of discrediting Pashteen’s words and treating him like a criminal in court, every time he arrives in a television talk show?

If our state, our state-backed anchors and not-so-state-backed anchors, our media, our people really want Pakistanis to live happily and in peace, they have to listen to the people who are raising their voices about the injustices they face. How can we expect our problems to be solved if we keep discarding victims’ testimonies and looking at them in askance, regardless of how many facts and evidences are laid bare before us? In Pashteen’s case, or in the case of how many have joined him in speaking out against state-backed atrocities against the average citizens, it is not an attack on Pakistan itself rather a way to consolidate Pakistan into a better, stronger country.