‘Go home BBC!’

Closure of British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) News Channel in Pakistan witnessed mixed response from the public where some people took it as a violation of the right to information, others supported the call of the cable operators and held that this was the only way to deal with international propaganda against the country. Although the decision was taken by the Cable Operators Association of Pakistan (CAP), many believe that the army was behind it since the BBC had shown a highly-controversial documentary (Secret Pakistan) on Pakistan Army’s alleged links with the Taliban. The documentary was shown in two parts on October 27 and November 3 this year and was banned in Pakistan. It is however available on Youtube and is being shared widely on the social networking site, Facebook. “BBC is off air nationwide and we are considering closing down other news channels,” Pakistan Cable Operators Association Chairman Khalid Arain said on Tuesday, adding that the channels had been asked to “not to indulge in anti-Pakistan propaganda.” Mixed reaction was seen from the public on the issue.
Even those who did not think banning BBC was the solution, expressed strong resentment against the documentary. Another citizen, Shafqat Rehman said, “I saw the documentary and I am outraged. I am glad BBC is banned. They can’t just ignore everything we have done for the war. We love our army and our country. Go home BBC!” Commenting on the documentary, a citizen Obaid Rehmani said, “Oh we are the scum of the earth! why? Because we are Muslim and we have a Nuke! :D”. Another Facebook user said the BBC’s documentary “puts star plus to shame”.
Some citizens were of the view that such documentaries were counterproductive and were widening the gulf between the West and the country. They said the international media was deliberately targeting the army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) to turn the people against them. . People also criticised the decision taken by the cable operators. A citizen, Dil Nawaz on Facebook said “Semi literate cable guys dictating the moral and patriotic benchmarks for the English language media.” It is pertinent to mention here that despite the announcement of the closure of BBC News, its transmission kept on running in various parts of the city on Wednesday.
Media students said all counter propaganda techniques should be used to cope with today’s media where information is bombarded from everywhere. Sound replies by the Pakistani journalists to the international propaganda could fight the country’s case on the international front. Another Facebook user Laila posted “Blocking the channel is of no use. Let us be mature and let the people decide. If there is propaganda against our country then why isn’t our media telling us the truth? We need to be mature not emotional” A citizen Khayam said BBC had a rich history of propagating against Pakistan, and it had even claimed the usurpation of Lahore during the 1965 war. He said other foreign news channels including Fox News should also be banned, hoping that the international media would get a lesson.
Secret Pakistan is a two-part documentary that was produced by the UK’s Quicksilver Media, the company that made a documentary named ‘Secret Iraq’ before the Iraqi invasion. Titled, the ‘Double cross’ and ‘Backlash’, the two episodes explore “how and why Pakistan supports Taliban” and blatantly blames Pakistan for the “deaths of millions of coalition soldiers”. It also accuses the Pakistan Army of playing a ‘double game’ with the West. Throughout the story, a red tagline that equates Pakistan with ‘deceit’, ‘lie’, ‘not loyal’ and ‘untrustworthy’ runs underneath.