‘Mir’s Support for Baluchistan Alone Should Wash Clean All His Stigmas’
By Saleem Asmi
25 April 2014
‘It is true that Hamid Mir has often been accused of having close ties with the agencies; it is also true that ISI works as a mafia, but I can't say if this was a case of eliminating someone for betrayal. I think it is more like silencing a nagging voice,’ says Saleem Asim. Former editor the Dawn, Saleem Asmi is a senior journalist. In an interview with Viewpoint, he discusses various aspects of assassination attempt on journalist Hamid Mir. Read on:
Do you think it was inappropriate of Geo to run Amir Mir’s statement accusing ISI of plotting Hamid Mir’s murder?
To begin with, the case in brief: A popular journalist is shot and injured in a targeted attack. His brother at once blames ISI and its chief for the attack. The channel and the media house the journalist worked for rally behind him and launch a full blooded campaign against the spy agency. Protests are staged widely on and off the media outlets. A judicial commission is set up to look into the whole issue. The prime minister goes to the hospital to be with the injured journalist. The COAS goes to the ISI headquarters and praises the agency's services and sacrifices. The ministry of defence approaches PEMRA with the demand that the channel's licence be revoked and cases be initiated against the management and staff of the media house which owns the troublesome channel. PEMRA issues notice to the channel. Then, suddenly, before the commission starts its investigation and before the channel sends its reply to PEMRA, the channel goes off the air. Now to your question: I think Geo could have referred to Amir Mir's accusation, but launching an all-out assault on the ISI and its chief by name was inappropriate, and it apparently fell on the wrong side of journalistic ethics. I mean it was just a case of judicious restraint, though the ISI's own track record is not particularly laudable.
As often is the case, lot of conspiracy theories have gained currency in the cyberspace regarding the attack on Hamid Mir. Even when country’s largest media house is siding with the victim, truth has not been established in a way to decisively counter the conspiracy theories. Why Pakistani media repeatedly fail in the face of conspiracy theories? Is it because sections of media themselves thrive on conspiracy theories?
Conspiracy theories are something this nation has been nurtured on since inception, and the media, too, has always fallen in their trap. Why has the media not been able to see through this cobweb is mainly because of a total lack of accessibility to truth. The powers in charge of the affairs of the country have always kept themselves insulated from public. Whatever accessibility has been available to media in brief patches of non-military rules has been pathetically inadequate. Then again, it too is true that parts of the media seem to thrive on conspiracy theories. The mad rush of TV channels for breaking news leads to half baked, unverified reports getting through which may in turn feed conspiracy theories.
Hamid Mir himself has been popularizing discourses and narratives being used against him for a while, but particularly after the assassination attempt. He used to declare everybody he disagreed as traitor [Mir Jaffar, Mir Saqid was his preferred term], a ‘liberal fascist’, a ‘sell out’ etc. He has been an essential part of the Team Media Taliban, popularizing pro-Taliban, Indiaphobic, and Jihadist ideas [an implicit endorsement of ISI agenda]. Don’t you think one should really feel sorry for Goebbels if they for some reason earn Nazi wrath?
Yes, Hamid Mir himself has never been above controversy. He is known to have liaisons with some unseemly characters like Malik Ishaq of LeJ, which cannot perhaps be explained away on the ground of an exercise in investigative journalism. He has been described as India-phobic and Indian agent in the same breath. Some people insist vehemently that he is an ISI agent, and claim to have proofs to back their claim. But what can be said without fear of contradiction is that he has had close relations with Osama and other Al Qaida figures. He had interviewed Osama in Afghanistan and also translated his poetry into Urdu. All said and done one thing very positive about him has been his persistent and uncompromising reports of agencies' atrocities against the Baloch youth, their continuing kidnappings etc. His unstinted support to the oppressed people of that unfortunate province alone should wash clean all his stigmas.
There used to be an impression beyond media circles that Hamid Mir was hand in glove with the secret agencies. Don’t you think the assassination attempt on Hamid Mir, if it is indeed an ISI plot, is in fact a case of mafia-style action to punish the ‘traitor’?
As I have stated above, it is true that Hamid Mir has often been accused of having close ties with the agencies; it is also true that ISI works as a mafia, but I can't say if this was a case of eliminating someone for betrayal. I think it is more like silencing a nagging voice.
This if for the first time a media house has gone in contradiction with country’s most powerful and feared institution. Why has it happened? Is it an expression of military’s slipping control over country’s vital organs? Also, what will be the outcome in your opinion: will Geo surrender or will there be a rapprochement?
I think with time media barons have been gaining a degree of self-confidence and influence with their increased reach via TV network which, in turn, has added immensely to their financial strength. And it is also a fact that the military has lost some of its public support and sheen in the wake of repeated mishandling of affairs during their reigns. Look at the growing self-confidence of Parliament. The 18th Amendment and unfettered judiciary is a case in point. In the present case of Geo vs ISI, the military's response has been rather uncharacteristic: instead of sending a platoon of armed troops, it has chosen to seek relief through legal channels, though not without cutting corners. What will be the outcome of all this sound and fury? I think it will be some sort of face saving arrangement hammered together by some well meaning peacemakers from government and judiciary, with not so tacit a nod from the military. For I don't see the present situation lingering on for ever. In the meantime, the moneyed group behind 'Bol', a multibillion dollar project for a new channel, said to have the agencies blessings, would continue, in the hope to financially stifle Geo.
Source: http://www.viewpointonline.net/2014/04/vp198/mir-s-support-for-baluchistan-alone-should-wash-clean-all-his-stigmas
URL: https://newageislam.com/interview/‘mir’s-support-baluchistan-alone-wash/d/76805