There is a mad rush about being the first to report a news item and a crippling fear of missing a particular news item that others are running with. This herd instinct, coupled with the laying off of personnel within the media, had led to a situation where vetting claims takes a backseat.
Consider the recent pre-lockdown-cancellation claim of the PTI of two party activists had been killed by the police in the government’s crackdown. It was a sensational talking point on the talk shows, with government representatives on a defensive backfoot.
Fast-forward to after the party cancels the lockdown and announces a “day of thanks”, many started asking how it could observe a day of thanks after its members had been killed. No, they hadn’t died, actually.
As per a news report in this very paper;
In an interesting development, it appears the Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf has gone back on its claims of casualties amongst its ranks in light of today’s “Thanksgiving Day.”
On Tuesday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Shah Mehmood Qureshi had claimed that two party workers had been killed due to tear gas shelling by police to prevent the November 2 ‘lockdown’.
Peshawar Nazim Mohammad Asim Khan had claimed that a party worker, 39-year-old Inamullah, president of the Pehtal UC had died after sustaining injuries in the Swabi tear gas shelling. PTI workers alleged that Inamullah, who they said was at the front of the convoy clashing with police, was not treated in time because of a delay in the movement of ambulances due to roadblocks.
However, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak denied the party’s own previous claims in a press release by saying that the party had not suffered any loss of life in the protests.
KP government spokesman Mushtaq Ghani confirmed the above, saying that no PTI worker had died as a result of shelling or due to the protests. “This was just a rumour,” he said.
Geo Peshawar Bureau Chief Mahmood Jan, to his credit, did go over to the unfortunate Inamullah’s house, where his family told him that he was a mental patient suffering from schizophrenia and had committed suicide many months ago.
Rather than talk about how disturbing it is to use corpses as political props, perhaps it would be better for the media to properly investigate such claims to begin with.