The Hamid Mir fallout

And what not?

There can be no two views about offering Hamid Mir and his family sincere sympathy in this time of crisis, but there can also be no denying that the (botched) assassination attempt on him has brought the country to a precipice. And now that pieces of this rather bizarre puzzle are slowly falling into place, a disturbing picture is beginning to emerge. Firstly, security authorities have a lot to answer for. The Karachi airport was on higher security alert than usual that fateful day since Gen Musharraf was due to arrive a few hours after Mir was shot six times almost immediately outside its premises. And whenever such VVIP movement is due, security arrangements are put into place well in advance, so the complete lack of immediate security response is difficult to explain.

Then there is the government’s seeming paralysis, or, as sections of the press suggest, deliberate silence, as Geo TV ran the DG ISI’s picture like a common ‘wanted’ poster, and repeated the Mir family’s accusation holding him responsible for a good nine hours. And this is perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the tragedy. It is little surprise that Geo big shots are now busy mincing words in trying to justify their original position as ‘responsible journalism’, but in fact offering a measured retreat following the show cause notice from PEMRA.

The Jang Group’s unhappiness with the forces is not exactly breaking news. But the Mir incident has proved that its top editorial and management teams needed little provocation to go all out, even if its belligerence crossed moral, ethical, journalistic, and legal boundaries. While Mir hopefully recovers, a new and venomous battle will rage between the country’s most important institutions, again. There will be much debate about popular media’s proper place, and what freedoms it should be allowed. The army, already unhappy with the government over the Taliban talks and Musharraf’s trial, are now more skeptical of the ‘N’ league than ever before. Retired generals have come out openly on talk shows, equating the government’s silence over Geo maligning the ISI chief as complicity. And if truth be told, in matters so serious, there can be little else to deduce from the distance the government kept with the military at this important time.

And the government, for some time finding its own inner circle its only friends, has now pushed itself into a very dark corner. To make things worse, its most senior ministers continue to contradict each other in public statements, making Nawaz Sharif look more awkward and helpless than usual. To determine just how, why, and when things went astray so quickly, it is important to retrace the sequence of events very carefully. And however much it was unfortunate for a journalist to be shot in broad daylight on one of the busiest roads in the largest, most crowded city in the country, the responsibility for things spiralling out of control must be placed squarely on the shoulders of Geo TV’s management, editorial team, and especially its owners. Even if there is weight in their accusation, it would have been far more prudent, and basic common sense, to prove such concerns through proper, legal institutions.