Daily Times

Mr Prime Minister, I would’ve never thought about it but today I am compelled to address this letter, a first among a three-part series, to you for bringing attention to some of the key issues facing Pakistan’s domestic and foreign policy fronts. You may not remember me, but we’ve briefly met a couple of times in London, Oxford and Lahore in the past.

Coming to the point, your party came to power some three months ago with lots of hope for the citizens of this country that have faced numerous hindrances to progress in its 71 years long history. Many of those who voted your party have a firm belief that you and your team could change the status quo maintained by some of the traditional political players that have played with the emotions of the public for far too long in the name of democracy.

But are we really experiencing the promised ‘Naya Pakistan’ you envisaged in your manifesto and speeches? Your detractors don’t seem to think so. Let’s just not focus on them since your government is still in infancy and a benefit of doubt must be provided for some time. However, as someone who voted for PTI, my impartial view is that your government hasn’t been entirely successful in its endeavours. The focus of this first letter would be to focus on your government’s PR blunders and small-scale bureaucratic hiccups with suggestions for media management, education and domestic security.

You’ve often talked about uprooting the menace of VIP culture from this country and have somewhat remained successful by reducing the fleet of cars travelling with you or certain other senior officials. However, it still hasn’t been entirely dismantled with heavy contingents for some convoys still in movement across major cities that block traffic movement for prolonged periods. While it’s true that President Arif Alvi has often chided officials for providing too much protocol in the name of security, perhaps, the time has come to change green book rules through legislation or executive order instead of publicly shaming the bureaucracy on social media.

This is quite demoralising for them, as they are only conducting duties according to written rules. Pakistan should rather follow the UK’s footsteps of providing security where the VIP movement is smooth with only essential and minimalist security contingents in place — having personally witnessed it numerous times. Yes, we are one of the few ‘national-security states’ in the world but it doesn’t mean to waste taxpayers hard-earned money on non-essential stuff that could be redirected to other useful areas.

Even in airports, some officers of the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) are still facilitating certain officials and influential businessmen for boarding the aircrafts. This was conducted with impunity in the past but now has to stop entirely for the state’s own benefit. Having lived and studied in London, and widely travelled in Europe and North America all my life, I am quite certain that such kind of conduct is almost non-existent. In these places, everyone is treated equally at airports. Indeed, head of states/governments and diplomats are exempted to some extent but that’s a norm established under the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations. All other individuals should toe the line established under the rule of law rather than trying to act ‘influential’.

Your government’s recent decision to detain firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi and his associates was widely appreciated who were causing much trouble and trying to jeopardise national security. However, on the ground, the National Action Plan (NAP) should be implemented in letter and spirit with no exceptions when it comes to hate speech and spreading anarchy as recently witnessed after Aasia Bibi’s acquittal by the Supreme Court

Another important matter is how the government’s PR machinery has somewhat failed with certain ministers and officials providing conflicting and sometimes erroneous statements that cause quite an embarrassment. This needs to stop immediately and a single focal person should be appointed for each relevant department to appear in press conferences or talk shows that also coordinate with each other from time to time to avoid any errors. A succinct line must be maintained on issues pertaining to domestic or foreign matters. Furthermore, media press releases/pictures of leaders and ministers standing in line at airports is quite futile and indicates populism. This is absolutely unnecessary since it seems that security is still in place on the side which doesn’t really reflect a people friendly measure.

I do laud information minister Fawad Chaudhry for his bold stance on various issues. His role redefining PTV’s role as an impartial body was much needed. Moreover, blocking government advertisements for private media houses — which was a clear sign of conflict of interest during past governments — was a turning point for the media industry which now has to work harder in maintaining a viable business model that relied on taxpayer’s money for far too long. This itself was a sign of self-censorship since a few media groups and some of their journalists ran organised hate campaigns for political and monetary reasons all these years.

The minister’s remarks for regulating social media at a recent seminar held in Islamabad were much needed since platforms such as Facebook and Twitter are often used to foment hatred and chaos by various stakeholders with vested interests.

One thing I would dearly suggest the government is to adopt the ‘Netflix model’ for promoting the TV and film industry. Most of the local media content is focused on negative aspects of the society, including failing marriages and rape/murder. There has to be a turnaround to initiate creative content that also has an international audience in the long-run. During the PTV’s golden era, the country used have high quality content that was enjoyed thoroughly by both adults and kids alike. Sadly, this has been on decline over the years. A state-level partnership with Netflix and other international giants could become a major revolution, and a hallmark of the government’s media policy.

Your government’s recent decision to detain firebrand cleric Khadim Hussain Rizvi and his associates was widely appreciated who were causing much trouble and trying to jeopardise national security. However, on the ground, the National Action Plan (NAP) should be implemented in letter and spirit with no exceptions when it comes to hate speech and spreading anarchy as recently witnessed after Aasia Bibi’s acquittal by the Supreme Court. The interior and information ministries must coordinate to tackle such sensitive matters with an iron fist. We cannot repeatedly allow a few people to choke the entire state on a single call and cause international outcry afterwards. For how long will the state keep on blocking mobile phone signals or blackout the media during sensitive situations? This won’t help pursue the much-promised foreign investment your government dearly desires.

The key problem is lack of adequate education and awareness. A misguided indoctrination of the masses to believe in grandiose lies has caused an almost irreparable damage which would take decades to counter with a tolerant narrative. The madrassa system has often been misused for jihad-based narrative, coupled with linear religious values, that have no true scholarly input taken. Key reason why some children study at these places are because of extreme poverty. I am no religious expert, but certain past rulers have led monstrosity to rise with grave impunity.

Creativity in mainstream education has been killed off and hardly anyone dares to question while acting like a machine. If we really need to counter vile monsters, then change must start from somewhere on national level for a curriculum that could likely promote talent to come forward rather than rote-learned robots. Religion has, sadly, become a business franchise for some clerics who think they’re demi-gods and can dictate the masses on their fingertips.

To be continued

The writer is a diplomatic correspondent, at Daily Times. He can be reached at hassankhan440@gmail.com and tweets @mhassankhan06

Published in Daily Times, November 26^th 2018.