The other side of the coin

It may not be what it looks like

All last week, our news media has been frantically obsessed with the single news – Fake diplomas, Real Cash: Pakistani company Axact reaps millions. Based on a report in The New York Times (NYT) of 17 May, by Declan Walsh assisted by Sarah Farid, the media has projected an impression of the company as being fraudulent and a disgrace for Pakistan. Our media has persisted to advance the NYT verdict of guilty as charged.

In its defense, Axact has put forward business rivalry and jealousy as reasons for this intense onslaught against the company. Regardless, a ruthless campaign appears to have been set in motion to run to ground a 20-year-old Pakistani information technology services company employing thousands of educated men and women. The Interior Ministry came down hard on the white collar employees of the company and rounded a few of them like criminals, ostensibly for investigation.

Our media completely ignored to comment or highlight the background of Declan Walsh. Further, it conducted no corroborative research of its own and ran his story as the gospel truth. This investigative journalist was stationed in Islamabad as the correspondent for Pakistan and Afghanistan for the British newspaper The Guardian during 2004 to 2011. He later switched to report for the NYT. In 2013, he was expelled from Pakistan for involvement in ‘undesirable activities’. He has had several scoops to his credit but also has no love lost for Pakistan, to his discredit.

Shoaib Ahmad Sheikh, the Chief Executive of Axact and Bol was insensitively and authoritatively portrayed by the media as a criminal and a fraud, even before he was provided an opportunity to present his rebuttal to the story. The television anchors, who play the part of the conscience of the nation, have done no service to Pakistani business by this aggressive defamation campaign.

The intention of the NYT article is as clear as the light of the day. An outstandingly successful Pakistani company that had made inroads into the highly profitable internet service industry at an international level in competition with American, British or Indian companies had been targeted. There are only a handful of people in Pakistan and certainly not many in the media that can claim to fully comprehend the intricacies of establishing a global internet business of this magnitude. Our media either played into the hands of the ulterior motives behind this publication or had its own axe to grind.

Bol, an upcoming television network (with the same sponsors) that has yet to conclude its legal formalities to come on air in our country, has the same sponsors as that of Axact. Several leading television luminaries have either already joined this group or have the job offers in their pockets with better terms and conditions, awaiting the start-up.

The existing media moguls surely were wary of this competition and of losing a big share of the market. Did this NYT article open a window for them to drive Bol against the wall? Could Declan Walsh have had their input and support for these revelations? Why the Interior Ministry was so swift to respond to a report by a British journalist declared ‘undesirable’ by them? Why the media is still pursuing the story so aggressively? Should the credibility and motives of a story published in NYT that is well known for its anti-Pakistan sentiments and publishing inflammatory articles against our institutions, not be questioned?

This Pakistani enterprise is reported to have transferred billions of rupees in foreign exchange through normal banking channels from the US and Dubai for investment in significant ventures within our country. Did such an investor not deserve some compassion, discretion and a little support by our government and the media? Do our laws and decency not demand to treat a person as innocent until proven guilty?

Contravention and going around the laws by big business are not unknown in the developed countries. In fact, it is quite the norm and their governments go to the limits to protect them. When finally caught, they let them off with minor penalties but allow them to function under tighter controls and enhanced regulations. Five reputable major banks viz UBS, HSBC, Citigroup, RBS and J P Morgan were recently imposed a fine of $3.40 billion by global regulators over allegations of price fixing of currency markets over many years through which these companies accumulated vast illegal profits. The imposed penalty is trivial in comparison with the profits they made.

An organised interbank rigging scandal of LIBOR manipulation was discovered in 2012 that had been going since at least 1992. The US government bailed out its banks by dolling out $700 billion when they had gone bankrupt due to malpractices and funneling out deposited public money for personal gains and benefits. Did they close down these banks or parade their employee blindfolded on television?

At the same time, when BCCI, an Arab bank managed by the Pakistani banking genius Agha Hasan Abidi, grew too big to challenge the monopolies of the American and British giants, it was unceremoniously and abruptly locked up one Friday afternoon, singled out for money laundering. Other contemporary banks that were engaged in similar practices were let off with minor penalties.

What message are we sending to our prospective Pakistani investors and entrepreneurs by this premature harassment? Should we first not examine our administrative weaknesses and find ways to bring the erred back into the net before we humiliate them on the basis of mere allegations?

Call centres located in far off locations in the Third World have provided proxy services through internet to multi-nationals for decades where operators impersonate as their employees. You may call an American airline and may be talking to an Indian sitting in an IT centre in Bangalore, answering to your queries under an assumed name and talking in an American accent giving an impression that you are talking to someone in New York. That has never been construed as a fraud.

One should also consider the clientele that resort to buying these unaccredited or “false” degrees and diplomas. These are people in search of better prospects, who could not or did not have the means or merit to undertake the prescribed accredited courses. When they answer these glossy advertisements, they know the reality. Most of them are not entirely innocent but are equal partners in crime.

There are countless such organisations and faceless educational institutions all over the world that advertise in leading magazines and newspapers. TIME magazine has been displaying such full page advertisements from times immemorial. Many in our country including ministers and so-called elite boast of such doctorates and diplomas and display fake branded goods without batting an eyelid. Do they not qualify to be called criminals by the same standard?

By singling out Axact, we have caused a run on a business that appeared to be based on ambition, imagination, skill and faith in Pakistan. It intended to revolutionise television news and entertainment by projecting the positive image of Pakistan. I do not know the man nor do I condone fraud. Investigate him by all means, prosecute him and let the law take its course. What I lament is the highhandedness by which initiative and entrepreneurial skills are being suffocated in our country.