Many leading journalists who ‘promoted’ Imran Khan as a savior of Pakistan have recently apologized. Maybe they were kept out of the decision-making process after he was sworn in that has left a sour taste. Or maybe they actually acknowledge misdeed, we don’t know and with the slippery world of ever-changing human emotions, they may not know either. Human emotions run so deep and in so many convoluted pathways that they sometimes even deceive the person experiencing them.
How should we take their admission of guilt, then? As sincere as they sound, their apology is unconvincing and misdirected, a “right answer for wrong reasons.” Let me explain why: they seem to regret betting on the wrong horse instead of seeking forgiveness for stepping out of their professional boundaries. Had Imran Khan kept them close or continued to listen to their advice, they might have happily continued to contribute in his cause. As such, I contend: they did not perform their duties as journalists at all when they supported him and encouraged readers by writing in his favor. They rather acted as political advisors, campaign managers or media consultants. On top, they used their position to get preferential treatment within the party, ignoring the inherent conflict of interest, a dishonest move both personally and ethically.
As a rule, we cannot hold the journalists responsible alone for getting trapped in this faulty trajectory of conflict of interest. In a way, doctors when they accept expensive gifts from pharmaceuticals, do the same. Clerics when they air their emotional supplications in favor of rulers fall in the same category, uniformed officers when they make policy decisions stand in the same line. I am not pointing towards the problem of being right or wrong nor do I intend to poke fingers at physicians, religious authorities or commissioned officers. I argue the misuse of power whether it is done by people who hold the keyboard, the pulpit or the gun.
So, when the prime minister did not include the journalists in administrative decisions he conveyed a simple message: he did not need their services anymore as political workers. Left out, the columnists reckoned: how could he ignore them-being indispensable in their minds- when he needed their expertise more than ever in running the country?
The problem gets compounded when in their view they led the nation with honesty and sincerity, their hearts pouring out verses of Quran, their minds dripping patriotism, their writings strewn with both. Some columnists also had garnered the support of a local Sufi in their favor, who appeared in the columns regularly with divine insight promoting the former cricketer. To be honest, this Sufi- journalist combination can wreak havoc in society as one asserts the power of the pen, the other contends the approval of God. Combined, their strength multiplies manifolds. We saw that unraveling in the last decade.
So, when the prime minister did not include the journalists in administrative decisions he conveyed a simple message: he did not need their services anymore as political workers
Another complication occurred when some journalists happened to be religiously inclined themselves. They were a little more versed in Quran and Ahadees, a little more acquainted with philosophy and theology, and a little more informed about the historical events and figures. Their egos ran so high that even angels would fail to pull them down from the high moral pedestal on which they had positioned themselves to. On television sets, their arrogant commentary would make you think as if they authored The Republic, The Incoherence of Philosophers and The Brief History of Time instead of Plato, Imam Ghazali and Stephen Hawking respectively. This amalgam of philosophy, science and Islam to promote a political agenda brings equally bad news, almost as much as the Sufi journalist combination. We saw that transpiring too, in my opinion, no pun intended!
Being Muslims, we tend to have a soft corner for anyone who acts more religious. For example, if I ask you who is better: a doctor or a pious doctor who fasts twice a week throughout the year; a soldier or a God-fearing soldier who has memorized the Quran by heart; an architect or a saintly architect known for his devotion to the Holy Prophet (PBUH). You will probably favor the latter choices even when the professional capability of either one is unknown. Can you be blamed for that? Of course, not. Because of our faith, we sometimes believe that with honesty and dedication we can overcome both our in-expertise and incompetence. Reality does not work that way though. We may mask our ignorance for some time however we cannot fill the skill gap with religiosity. These journalists understood both our weaknesses and the hard facts of life, the difference between dream and reality. Still, they played with the bare nerves to advance a particular rhetoric which almost merited a criminal investigation. Their verbal apology thus cannot be accepted, it just needs to be ignored as one of their tricks that they have up their sleeves.
The writer is a US-based freelance columnist. He tweets at @KaamranHashmi and can be reached at skamranhashmi @gmail.com