Daily Times

Either it has become a favourite pastime or it is some sort of a tactic for politicians to settle scores by indulging in the game of issuing defamation notices in response to allegations of opponents. It has also become a norm for the opposition parties to make statements with or without proof just to win the masses’ support. It seems to be the result of this new phenomenon that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s daughter Maryam Nawaz on Monday sent a one billion rupees defamation notice to Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) spokesman, Naeem-ul-Haq. The notice was sent after Naeem accused Maryam of being responsible for the security leaks regarding the high-level national security meeting that was reported in Dawn last month.

It seems that the leadership of all parties has a habit of hurling baseless allegations against anyone they do not like. In a democracy, the right to accuse exists, but it has to be backed up by some solid evidence. The flippancy with which notices worth billions of rupees are being sent across party domains, it is a manifestation of how lightly judicial processes are taken in Pakistan, which in turn raises a question mark on the sanctity of law to people in power.

Most of these statements are neither properly verified by the accuser, nor thoroughly negated by the accused. A couple of days of noise on social and electronic media, the attention is diverted to some other issue, turning the entire process of accusations and defamation notices into a game played between petulant schoolchildren.

It is easy to hurl allegations through the availability of modern communication channels including a very vibrant social media. In this highly globalised world, social media has become the first mode of communication for breaking news or dispensing of important statements, which in the past were issued through press releases or press conferences.

Reportedly, Maryam has been unofficially heading the media cell of the Prime Minister Office. If she takes official matters in her hands, there is every possibility that she would be the first person to be targeted if there is any untoward event related to dissemination of information from the media cell she allegedly heads. It is quite strange that in this age of instant communication when almost all heads of states, politicians, religious leaders, sports and entertainment celebrities, writers, media moguls, CEOs of leading companies, intelligence agencies, journalists, intellectuals, and even the Pope are on twitter, in Pakistan, there is no official spokesman of the prime minister on social media.

Instead of attacking the opponents with defamation notices that have so far failed to bring tangible results, facts need to be presented before the public in a clear manner. Why is the government silent over issuing documentary proof regarding the ownership of offshore accounts? Why has the rulers failed to identify the real person who leaked or planted the story about a minor verbal clash between the civilian and military leadership? There needs to be a proper and official media cell of the prime minister of Pakistan, which could deal with such misinformation and clear all speculations. It would be better for politicians to give answers to allegations instead of indulging in the futile exercise of issuing defamation notices, which serve as nothing more than pieces of paper to harass one another with. Instead of indulging in the predictable mode of angry repudiation, it would be wiser for Maryam to respond to all allegations, one by one, rationally and calmly. Once a person becomes the unofficial face of the information cell of the highest office of the land, he/she opens him/herself to face all kinds of questions and laudatory or critical responses. The only way to deal with an undesirable situation is to remain calm, and practise that wise maxim the utility of which would never be irrelevant or redundant: honesty is the best policy. *