Fight or unite?

How the Hamid Mir issue should be dealt with

Shell shock and combat fatigue are medical conditions common during violent conflict. Anyone going through the horrifying experience of being fired upon and have six bullets lodged in his body (two of them still there) would be in a state of trauma. Before slipping into unconsciousness at the hospital Hamid Mir made some startling allegations. Public posturing aside, he has subsequently not named anyone in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged with Karachi police, a very significant omission probably made with sound legal advice in the cold light of day.

The unfortunate knee-jerk media reaction set in motion a regrettable chain of events that is eroding the sanctity of responsible and ethical standards in the media, and may ultimately affect its freedom. Flashing the accusation for hours on the media goes beyond rushing to judgment; it influences public perception and therefore becomes character assassination of the worst kind. Even at the best of times the ISI and the Armed Forces are constantly subjected to vicious propaganda by inimical external interests meant to undermine their effectiveness as the prime defender of our country’s frontiers. Coming from a national institution like Geo which servicemen across the board used to look up to, did anyone expect that these shocking accusations on primetime TV would be taken lying down without any reaction?

The polarisation in the media because of this affair is most unfortunate. Instead of upholding the dignity of their profession by indulging in informed debate, the members of the fourth estate are engaged in mudslinging of the worst kind. The facts of the failed assassination attempt being investigated by a judicial commission and thus sub-judice are not up for speculation; one can only comment that the botched attempt was despicable. As it stands today the attempt and instigation thereof could be out of motivated interest because of any number of reasons. Given that it was common knowledge that Hamid Mir had already made some allegations prior to the assassination attempt, anyone could have been trying to knock him off and blame the ISI in the process, two birds with one stone.

One may or may not agree with Hamid Mir, the media is right in defending his right to put forward the facts and express his views as he thinks fit. The compelling caveat is that it is also incumbent upon a responsible media to correct the facts if they are found to be wrong – recurring denial and cover-up lends credence to conspiracy theories. The media should faithfully record the feelings of the intelligentsia and the masses, not sit in on the judgment themselves.

A few years ago an accusation, still not proven though, was made on the basis of a voice recording between Hamid Mir and an associate of late TTP Chief Hakimullah Mehsud. While one did not agree with Hamid Mir protecting the identity of the terrorist he was talking to, most of us gave him the benefit of the doubt. The (then) CJ of Supreme Court in 2010 was running riot on suo motu issues, some of no consequence whatsoever (consider the liquor bottles allegedly found in Atiqa Odho’s luggage at Islamabad Airport), one reasoned that given tangible evidence Hamid Mir would have been ‘suo motu-ed’ by the superior judiciary. Unfortunately the (then) CJ saw it fit to remain ‘politically’ bright for the future, that included being on the right side of those influential in the media.

The media itself is divided between the ‘liberals’ and the ‘conservatives’, both are fully entitled to their point of views. The public at large is becoming more and more incensed at what has happened. Running strongly in favour of the Armed Forces, public opinion does not take kindly to attacks against the khakis. The unfortunate problem is that vested elements, jealous of Geo Group’s success, are exploiting this to isolate Geo. This is a no-win situation in which Geo Group need not have been and from which it needs to extricate itself, not get further mired in the quicksand.

It is unbelievable that the Federal Information Minister Pervaiz Rashid was implying that the government was aligned with Hamid Mir and Geo TV against the Armed Forces. A Freudian slip on the part of a loose cannon or a deliberate statement of intent by the Nawaz Sharif government? The unfortunate truth is that the politicians have learnt no lessons from 1999. The PML-N can barely conceal their venom and penchant for retribution against the army. The general perception in the Armed Forces (and increasingly among the public) is that the present government is playing a double game, professing admiration for the uniform publicly but snide remarks made by the PM’s close aides make it apparent that they are hell bent on cutting the khakis to size and humiliating them.

The freedom of the media being a must for sustaining democracy, the media must not use its freedom as a license to tar and feather the Army. One will have to accept in the ultimate analysis that without the sacrifices that the Armed Forces have given, and are still doing so on a daily basis, the freedom that the media enjoys today would be lost, as would be the country. Close your eyes for one moment and imagine ‘media freedom’ under a Taliban-run country.

Without citizen participation at the grassroots level, we remain an incomplete democracy facing multiple crises. This country needs democracy but it cannot be at the cost of the existence of the country. If push comes to shove, the politicians (and the media) will spend another few years in the cold, 18^th amendment notwithstanding. This country has many problems, too many to be counted here.

The need today is for all of us to remain within the parameters of good common sense and not cross fail-safe lines. We must all target solving the problems, not create inconsequential ones that detract from the national agenda.

We must unite, not fight.