On March 28, Raza Rumi left the Express News studios on Lahore’s Ferozepur Road half an hour after he finished his program. He took this precaution to dodge the stalkers he suspected might be lying in wait for him. He needn’t have bothered. Raza was greeted by a hail of bullets a few minutes later. He said he saw a flash of light before he heard the storm of bullets and because he was half expecting it, he knew in that split second that this was it. He plunged himself on the floor of the car and thrust his head under the seat, choking but determined to save himself. His driver 26 year old Mustafa died almost instantly of the 12 bullets pumped into his young body. Raza’s brave guard fired back at the murderers on motorbikes and they sped away, otherwise they’d have come up to the car and finished Raza off.
While Express News broadcast Raza’s attack on both television and their newspaper, there was silence from Pakistan’s biggest media group, the GEO-Jang combine. There was a history to this hostility. Media ethics had been sacrificed at the alter of competition, with anchors attacking each other and their sponsors, some plumbing the depths as never before. There were rumours of anchors being encouraged by the “agencies”, which did not approve of GEO-Jang’s business ventures with Indian media houses. Working journalists were caught in the crossfire; ignoring Raza’s attack was a case in point. Worse was to follow.
On April 19, one of GEO TV’s premier anchors Hamid Mir arrived in Karachi. As he made his way from the airport to GEO’s offices, he was fired at by men lying in wait. Hamid’s courageous and quick-thinking driver drove for dear life, and managed to get his passenger to the Aga Khan University Hospital in good time. Hamid, riddled with 6 bullets and bleeding profusely managed to call friends to tell them what had happened. As he lay in hospital fighting for his life, his brother Amir Mir informed the world about his brother’s apprehensions – that in case of an assassination attempt, the blame would lie squarely with Pakistan’s premier spy agency, Inter Services Intelligence, and its Director General, Zahir ul Islam.
[quote]The media must see these terrible times for what they are and forge solidarity. The military and the ISI must understand that Pakistan is changing. Despite the hiccups, the march of democracy is unstoppable[/quote]
Amir Mir delivered himself of an oration that I for one did not think I would ever hear from a popular public platform. GEO TV telecast Amir live: “… the military is a termite that has afflicted Pakistan for six long decades and eaten it hollow … they are servants of the people and live off our taxes, yet they are unaccountable and operate with impunity … ” and on and on. Along with Amir’s voice, GEO displayed Lt Gen Zahir ul Islam’s photograph. This was a first for the media in Pakistan, despite the fact that this view of the military is widespread.
Amir Mir’s statement and GEO’s broadcast of it was too close to the bone, coming on the heels of the military’s standoff with the government over the Musharraf affair. Suddenly, Goliath seemed beset by many Davids and hit back. First, the defenders were unleashed on the other channels, with journalists baying for each others blood. GEO TV was made to see the error of its ways; the management apologised for the cardinal sin of having named the ISI and its chief. This was blasphemy on a grand scale. A day later, the supine Defence Ministry was ordered to send a notice to PEMRA, seeking the closure of GEO.
Just as GEO had bitten off more than it could chew by labouring the point of the DG ISI being the prime suspect in the attack on Hamid Mir, the ISI and the military has overstepped the mark by seeking to shut down GEO. Just as the media needs introspection and reform, so the ISI needs a comprehensive overhaul as indicated by several commissions that have found in favour of restructuring and accountability. The Saleem Shehzad commission report of 2012 made a lengthy recommendation to this effect. Ignoring the case for reform will make matters worse – there will be more violence and vitriol and more strife and strain. The media must see these terrible times for what they are and forge solidarity. The military and the ISI must understand that Pakistan is changing. Despite the hiccups, the march of democracy is unstoppable.
In my opinion, this article is biased… tilted in favor of GEO and against ISI and Pak Army.
I expected objective journalism from FT.
Khalid. It is not biased–it is plainly boring and not very analytical. Nothing new or newsworthy is discussed here. An article has to be interesting and not plain repetition of the things which we already know. GEO is playing big time role of a victim here, which is obvious from their broadcast–they talk nothing except Hamid Mir.Well, to start with his attempted murder was genuinely a big new in many ways. Who else but some very informed people should have known about his whereabouts. Sometime ago, he was a target by TTP. It could have easily been accused again that this was a hallmark of TTP. Who would have cared for their denial? Everything would be hunkie dori again in few days. Everyone should know and even an American defense minister said that “either they are incompetent or knew what they were doing? The discovery of Usama Bin Laden was a great debacle for our agencies and brought shame to Pakistan. Recently, a book is published and very little was mentioned in Pakistan or denial by these very agencies. Some heads should have been chopped at this colossal failure.Are we sheltering Mulla Umar as have been often accused. We arrested few of his close associates as bargaining chips to show our compliance, but Uncle Sam said “not enough”. It is time we cleanse this “house” once for all. First “they” have no right to formulate our foreign policy. Their “strategic depth” and the theory of “Good Taliban, Bad Taliban” has destroyed our credibility throughout the world. Simple steps required here. Let this agency be under civilian control and take out the commands from the army. There should be ideally a buffer between the new ISI, and Army as civilian analyst and operators should be recruited. Foreign policy should be run by the foreign ministry, politicians. Of course, a full time foreign minister is required. If the Balouch insurgents needed to be killed, they should be fought in open war, face-to-face conduct and not in army cells, handcuffed and then buried in unnamed graves. That would bring more hatred. There should be never any extra judicial killings because it destroys the very fabric of any society. Also, this weakens our forensic, and police/jail institutions as well as our judiciary and prosecution departments. I could have written more but perhaps they are already beyond the scope of “comments”.
It should be “some plunging the depths as never before” instead of “some plumbing the depths as never before”
Since the incident in which Hadim Mir was shot and injured in Karachi, too many writers and journalists wrote about this story – but very few objectively, including the leading ‘Newsweek Pakistan’, tried to analyse the real facts about this sad violence.
Jugnu Mohsin and Najam Sethi, both reached to the facts that if Pakistan wants to choose a democracy and the process of accountality through democracy, then the powerful state institutions must learn to live with the media and the right of speech in Pakistan. Jugnu Mohsin has raised a very sentive point here in her brief article today that the powerful institutions must consider to understand the new realities which are now becoming day by day obvious to the establishment that democracy is the prime system for the stronger and better Pakistan if you want it or not.
On the other side, Najam Sethi here in the FridayTimes and also in the daily Jang today, very clearly wrote and reminded the powerful institutions and its stakeholders, if you want to run Pakistan through democratic means, you must change to the norms of democracy in this new Pakistan.
I recommend grown up readers, intellectuals and writers in Pakistan to show great respect to democracy in Pakistan which can and will bring in the long run a tolerant society to live together without violence and prejudice. This is the message of this week has been high lighted by the FridayTime for Pakistanis, writers, intellectuals and journalists through the writings of both contributors such as Jugnu Mohsin and Najam Sethi.
Well it does not seem biased to me.the main argument is one of the sanest that I have heard on this whole isi-mir affair. Both the media and ISI need to make a serious effort for introspection because they cant have it exactly their way and yes pakistan is changing.
Democracy Without Education Is Meaningless.
Shame on you. You are anti Pakistan and must be kicked out of the country. This is what you call journalism?
Apart of ISI may be bad but where shall we end up by demolishing the whole of it? GEO did not err, it went on rampage. The damage has been done to a national security institution during a hot war. Saying sorry is not sufficient. What are the damages to GEO levied by the state??