In Pakistan no one can ever get bored when entertainment programmes on the behest of powers that be continue on 24/7 basis, the latest of which is the registration of FIRs (First Information Report which becomes basis of a police case) in treason case against MQM supremo Altaf Hussain for his July 12 speech wherein he has allegedly insulted an army general. To date, more than 100 FIRs have already been registered; apparently there is a race among police stations to register the highest numbers of FIRs. But one wonders when Hussain’s July 12 speech was neither telecasted on TV channels, nor detailed in the print media, and is not even available on Pakistan’s vibrant social media, then how come people in small cities and towns in far-flung parts of the country are that much upset that registration of FIR in treason case is the only way forward for them? Please note, as per constitution, only the central government can register a treason case; due to its political sensitivities it doesn’t fall under the general public domain.
Despite extensive search, I was unable to listen/read Hussain’s speech text; therefore, I can’t comment much on the FIRs’ authenticity. However, I wonder where all these people were when Jamat-e-Islami’s Ameer was declaring military martyrs (while fighting against Taliban in country’s north) as ‘mere dead people’; when Lal Masjid chief was issuing fatwas (religious edict) that namaz-e-janaza (congregational prayer for the dead) of the military martyrs is forbidden; when PTI’s supremo Imran Khan was telling a gathering that had he amassed 20,000 people on the streets, that would have been sufficient for army generals to urinate in their pants; when sitting defence minister Khawaja Asif was directly blaming a sitting intelligence chief of waging a conspiracy to topple the central government. Why no FIRs were registered against these people directly hitting the military establishment?
MASOOD KHAN
Jubail, Saudi Arabia
