For our dear readers who do not understand Urdu, please allow me to offer an explanation. This clip begins with Kamran Khan asking the Information Minister for his views on whether the Supreme Court would acquit the Prime Minister. But Minister Kaira had something he wanted to say first.

My views later, but let’s first discuss the initial 18 minutes of your programme. The way you conducted your show – aiming at PM’s sons, family, his character – you have already declared him a convict, and are asking me this question after giving your opinion.

You are giving your opinion first and then asking me about my views, knowing that it’s not the anchor’s right to give his or her opinion first. Your right is asking questions. You already created a mindset in your audience – a biased mindset, that is – before even asking me my views.

You also showed a few clips from Chief Justice speeches in the beginning that were “assumptive”. – “If”, “In-case”, “this could happen”, “about to be give verdict” etc. You didn’t say anything, and yet you said a lot of things. In all your conversation, you kept the thrust on showing that he is a sinner and verdict has already been declared against him. Is this all not an influence on the court that is going to decide tomorrow? Is this not an attempt to bias the court?

The way you talked about my PM, I listened with a lot of patience. I listened to you for 18 mins defaming my party leader and the PM and I didn’t say a word so please let me speak. PM is appearing in front of the court tomorrow and you lay special emphasis on this when you said that “this has become a habit of the PM” and that “I will not accept this decision” even though the PM never once said this. I am completely negating your statement and saying that PM never said anything like that. He has always said, “I respect the court”. His lawyer inside the court mentioned that whatever you decide here will be implemented upon to the fullest.

The way you thrust forward your views is similar to bending facts and distorting them. You build up your opinion in front of viewers and this is a very unacceptable. We go and fight our cases in the courts; we don’t fight with the courts.

Kaira’s complaint about Kamran Khan’s behaviour may seem like the frustrations of a PPP Minister, but they might also be familiar to another high profile figure who is anything but a jiyala. Five years ago, Kamran Khan was playing the same role of media creating a biased mindset in the audience only this time his target was not the PM, but Chief Justice Iftikhar Chaudhry himself.

We have noted several times the importance of media acting responsibly and not attempting to influence the outcome of a case or to create a biased mindset in the public before the Court has made its decisions. Opposition supporters may be enjoying the media’s keeping the PM in their sights today, but the PPP won’t be the party in power forever. And when the tables turn, well, just ask the Chief Justice…

Geo TV's Hamid Mir Accused of Conspiracy

In a serial drama that promises a new twist every day, Hamid Mir has written a letter to The Washington Times newspaper responding to an article in that same newspaper on Monday that details the contents of the tapes and the storyline of the controversy. In his email, Hamid Mir makes clear that he no longer believes the government is behind any conspiracy but that it is elements within the intelligence community who were involved with the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Hamid Mir’s email, published in full by The Washington Times contradicts recent claims by some of his colleagues that the government was behind the conspiracy:

Initially a government senator was also attacking me on different TV channels but Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira clearly said on May 25 that Hamid Mir is a target of a conspiracy and government have nothing against him. President Zardari has also cleared it to me personally that nobody from [the Pakistan People's Party] is involved in this conspiracy.

Hamid Mir goes on to identify those he now suspects as being members of intelligence who are retaliating for an article he wrote critical of a General.

I am forced to believe that some elements in the intelligence used my media colleagues against me because I was not in control of any intelligence outfit. One of my crimes was that I wrote an article against a serving general of the Pakistan Army.

But this is not just any General that Hamid Mir refers to, and this is what makes his claim really quite explosive, I think:

I am still not sure that who is my actual enemy because nobody have come out openly against me yet. There is no FIR (police complaint), no official inquiry and nobody contacted me for any investigation. According to my information, this whole drama was organized after one of my articles against a serving Army General, Nadeem Ejaz, was published in The News on April 26.This General was involved in the assassination of Benazir Bhutto.

Hamid Mir still considers The Daily Times deeply implicated in the plot, though he does admit, “I am still not sure that who is my actual enemy…”

The new story does open some strange new twists, though. Hamid Mir claims that his voice is real, but that the militant is fake.

I think this militant is fake and somebody recorded his voice and fitted in a so-called conversation with me.

At the end of the same paragraph, though, he says that his voice also is doctored.

Here I am sure that they used my doctored voice but incorrect information about me never helped them.

At the end of Hamid Mir’s long and detailed email, I’m afraid we don’t really know more than we did before. The allegation of retaliation by pro-Nadeem Ejaz elements in the  intelligence may be more plausible than a conspiracy to silence all government criticism, but still Hamid Mir does not tell anything new or provide any evidence. There is only more speculation.

As this case continues to build international attention, it becomes all the more important that the facts come out. As we mentioned yesterday, it will be important that Jang and Geo conduct their own investigation and release the findings with the backing evidence. Only then will we able to close this case for good.

With this in mind, I was encouraged by Minister of Information and Broadcasting Qamar Zaman Kaira’s column in today’s Daily Times. The Minister does a good job of describing the importance of access to information as well as noting several actions that the present government has taken to try to improve access to important information, particularly among IDPs and other vulnerable communities.

I thought the Minister’s column was particularly good reading for media companies who at times have trouble separating facts from political agendas. Take this statement by the Minister:

By choosing information warfare during the Afghan jihad, the involved actors, in fact, produced their own gravediggers. Short-term gains were made at the expense of long-term ones for governments, societies and peoples, which resulted in a huge loss of credibility and legitimacy.

When media outlets like newspapers and TV anchors report wild conspiracy theories that are perhaps more sensational and thus get bigger ratings, they undermine their own credibility and sow confusion among the people, ultimately playing into the hands of the people who are attacking Pakistan.

Talibani militants don’t care about Zaid Hamid or Ahmed Quraishi or any of the other conspiracy wallahs except that they’re probably pretty happy that they’re on the air. During the Cold War, USSR called people like that “useful idiots.” Talibans know that if the people are confused and distracted with fantastic tales of complicated global conspiracies, it will be that much easier to indoctrinate them into the militant ideology.

Suicidal mindsets are driven by ideology and not by mere information packaging. Hence, ideology has to be defeated by ideology. Instead of information warfare, we need democratic, argumentative and critical discourses, which are firmly located in the socio-economic, cultural and political issues of Pakistan, guided by our heritage of ideologies of peace, pluralism, and co-existence.

This is where the Minister hits the nail on the head, as they say.

Who is our real enemy? Our enemy is extremist ideology. How do we dismantle it? By discrediting it and providing alternatives for our audiences. What are our alternatives? They are democratic dialogue, access to information, freedom of expression and opportunity of peaceful political representation.

This is the best explanation of why a free and independent media is so important. The Minister seems to understand this well, and concludes with an excellent offer to the media that again makes the point that a successful democracy requires a healthy media.

Pakistan’s democratic government is committed to promote freedom of expression and access to information in the greater public interest. But democracy, like communication, is a two-way street. To deliver on its promise, the democratic government needs the support of an informed citizenry that can not only identify problems but can also offer solutions for good governance. Our efforts must become collaborative.

Obviously, the media must retain its independence and be able to criticize the government, which governments never like. But it is a good sign that the government extends this hand of friendship to the media. Certainly the Interior Minister’s call for an inquiry into the harassment of Dawn journalist Azaz Syed is also a good sign.

If the conspiracy wallahs used their platform to provide “information welfare” that helps the people rather than confuses them, imagine the potential for positive change that could come.

The letter is in response to an article by Kaswar Klasra in The Nation earlier this month that – with no evidence or factual support – accused a fellow journalist of being a spy. This group letter to the Minister comes following public condemnation from Committee to Protect Journalists and an appeal from the editor of The Wall Street Journal.

The letter is signed by Editors from ABC News, Agence France-Presse, Associated Press, The Guardian, BBC, The Independent, CNN, Al Jazeera, The Economist, Financial Times, Los Angeles Times, France Info, McClatchy Newspapers, National Public Radio, Reuters, The New York Times, TIME, Newsweek, The Times, Radio France Internationale, and The Wall Street Journal.

The letter reads as follows:

TO: Qamar Zaman Kaira,
Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Government of Pakistan
4th Floor, Cabinet Block, Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad

RE: Nation article about Wall Street Journal reporter

16 November 2009

Respected Minister Kaira,

We are writing to register our strong concern at a recent development that has caused alarm among international media organizations working in Pakistan.

On November 5, The Nation newspaper published a front page article accusing Matthew Rosenberg, a correspondent for The Wall Street Journal, of working for the C.I.A., Israeli intelligence and the U.S. military contractor Blackwater.

Mr. Rosenberg is a respected journalist of high standing. Not only was the article unsubstantiated, it critically compromised his security and raised questions about whether he can return to Pakistan to work safely in the future.

The article also has broader implications. These are difficult times for all journalists in Pakistan. Our employees already face an array of threats, including violence and kidnapping, as they strive to provide timely and accurate coverage. Now those risks have been needlessly increased.

We strongly support press freedoms across the world. But this irresponsible article endangered the life of one journalist and could imperil others. It is particularly upsetting that this threat has come from among our own colleagues.

We recognize that courageous Pakistani journalists routinely face greater dangers than their international counterparts. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, five Pakistani journalists have been killed in the past 12 months alone. And we are heartened that several Pakistani media organizations have denounced The Nation’s story.

But we are also concerned that an incident of this kind – tarring a foreign reporter as a spy – could occur again. We ask the government of Pakistan to take note of this story and to take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of all media personnel in future.

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