Who shot Hamid Mir? Amidst the condemnations, the recriminations, the fighting and the posturing this one essential question has been lost in the din. Everyone from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on down has had their say and most have come down on the side of justice and truth. Nawaz visited the Aga Khan Hospital to inquire after Mir’s health and promised to bring his attackers to justice. The Senate, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies passed resolutions condemning the attack and a judicial commission comprising three Supreme Court justices have been tasked with investigating the incident. Many everyday working journalists have taken to the streets protesting this obvious attempt to silence the media. All this should be reassuring, not just to Hamid Mir himself, but to the entire journalist community. Today it is Hamid Mir whose life is under threat; tomorrow it could be any one of us. But even though those in power have said the right things, there are many reasons to be wary. The biggest disappointment has been the reaction of small-minded media organisations – and some ‘journalists’ – who have used the near-death of one from their fraternity to push forward their agendas in the name of patriotism.
The vendetta being pursued has reached such unprecedented heights that an experienced and veteran journalist like Imtiaz Alam, someone who has survived the many periods of media repression and has the scars to show for it, felt compelled to resign from his position as a talk-show host rather than be used in service of maligning a fellow journalist. The response from the military has been no better. The mere mention of the dreaded ISI was enough for the military apparatus to spring into action. The ISI is more concerned with protecting its own reputation and insisting that criticising it is out of bounds rather than finding those behind the attack so that its name can be cleared. Army Chief Raheel Sharif’s visit to the ISI headquarters seems designed to support the agency at a time when its performance and actions are getting a public airing. Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed has tried to play down talk of a civilian-military rift with the good intention of not letting things get worse. But for once state institutions need to move beyond their parochial interests. Who shot Hamid Mir? That is the only question everyone should be trying to answer.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
Pakistan: The question:Who shot Hamid Mir?
Who shot Hamid Mir? Amidst the condemnations, the recriminations, the fighting and the posturing this one essential question has been lost in the din. Everyone from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on down has had their say and most have come down on the side of justice and truth. Nawaz visited the Aga Khan Hospital to inquire after Mir’s health and promised to bring his attackers to justice. The Senate, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa assemblies passed resolutions condemning the attack and a judicial commission comprising three Supreme Court justices have been tasked with investigating the incident. Many everyday working journalists have taken to the streets protesting this obvious attempt to silence the media. All this should be reassuring, not just to Hamid Mir himself, but to the entire journalist community. Today it is Hamid Mir whose life is under threat; tomorrow it could be any one of us. But even though those in power have said the right things, there are many reasons to be wary. The biggest disappointment has been the reaction of small-minded media organisations – and some ‘journalists’ – who have used the near-death of one from their fraternity to push forward their agendas in the name of patriotism.
The vendetta being pursued has reached such unprecedented heights that an experienced and veteran journalist like Imtiaz Alam, someone who has survived the many periods of media repression and has the scars to show for it, felt compelled to resign from his position as a talk-show host rather than be used in service of maligning a fellow journalist. The response from the military has been no better. The mere mention of the dreaded ISI was enough for the military apparatus to spring into action. The ISI is more concerned with protecting its own reputation and insisting that criticising it is out of bounds rather than finding those behind the attack so that its name can be cleared. Army Chief Raheel Sharif’s visit to the ISI headquarters seems designed to support the agency at a time when its performance and actions are getting a public airing. Information Minister Pervaiz Rasheed has tried to play down talk of a civilian-military rift with the good intention of not letting things get worse. But for once state institutions need to move beyond their parochial interests. Who shot Hamid Mir? That is the only question everyone should be trying to answer.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment