Now that Hamid Mir has regained consciousness and spoken about the attack against him perhaps we can put behind us the notion that he is anti-army. Mir, in a statement released through his brother, said that receiving multiple bullet wounds allowed him to better appreciate the sacrifices made by the jawans who protect this country. He very rightfully distinguished between the bravery of soldiers and the possible plotting of some in the agencies. Note that Mir did not make any accusations; he simply explained the circumstances in which his life was threatened in the weeks leading up to his shooting. As Mir tells it, members of an intelligence agency came to his residence and told him that he was on a hit list. For some reason they did not tell him who had made this hit list. This is a rerun of the interactions the agency had with Saleem Shahzad prior to his murder and since Shahzad himself was convinced that he would be targeted by them, it is understandable that Mir would be similarly worried. Perhaps, rather than taking punitive action against Mir’s employers, the agency in question would now like to clarify if this warning was actually delivered to Mir and who they believed had placed him on the hit list. Others, like the Sindh Assembly which passed a resolution condemning Geo TV for maligning the ISI, should also be focused on answering these questions rather than embroiling themselves in an unnecessary controversy.
Mir’s other complaint against the authorities is equally legitimate. He wants to know why no one was apprehended after he was nearly killed by a bomb placed under his car in 2012. The TTP had claimed responsibility for that attempt but Mir says the police showed no interest in tackling the case. Other threats he has received have not been investigated. Is this a matter just of incompetence and lack of interest or is something more sinister involved? The stands Mir has taken recently have not endeared him to the powers-that-be. He, almost alone in the electronic media, brought media attention to the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons long march which, according to Mir, led to complaints from the ISI. Mir is on the road to recovery and soon will be back on the airwaves. He has vowed not to be silenced. But such personal bravery should not have been needed in the first place. Hamid Mir is a hero but the villains who put him in this position need to be tracked down at once.
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Pakistan:#HamidMir :As he comes to...
Now that Hamid Mir has regained consciousness and spoken about the attack against him perhaps we can put behind us the notion that he is anti-army. Mir, in a statement released through his brother, said that receiving multiple bullet wounds allowed him to better appreciate the sacrifices made by the jawans who protect this country. He very rightfully distinguished between the bravery of soldiers and the possible plotting of some in the agencies. Note that Mir did not make any accusations; he simply explained the circumstances in which his life was threatened in the weeks leading up to his shooting. As Mir tells it, members of an intelligence agency came to his residence and told him that he was on a hit list. For some reason they did not tell him who had made this hit list. This is a rerun of the interactions the agency had with Saleem Shahzad prior to his murder and since Shahzad himself was convinced that he would be targeted by them, it is understandable that Mir would be similarly worried. Perhaps, rather than taking punitive action against Mir’s employers, the agency in question would now like to clarify if this warning was actually delivered to Mir and who they believed had placed him on the hit list. Others, like the Sindh Assembly which passed a resolution condemning Geo TV for maligning the ISI, should also be focused on answering these questions rather than embroiling themselves in an unnecessary controversy.
Mir’s other complaint against the authorities is equally legitimate. He wants to know why no one was apprehended after he was nearly killed by a bomb placed under his car in 2012. The TTP had claimed responsibility for that attempt but Mir says the police showed no interest in tackling the case. Other threats he has received have not been investigated. Is this a matter just of incompetence and lack of interest or is something more sinister involved? The stands Mir has taken recently have not endeared him to the powers-that-be. He, almost alone in the electronic media, brought media attention to the Voice of Baloch Missing Persons long march which, according to Mir, led to complaints from the ISI. Mir is on the road to recovery and soon will be back on the airwaves. He has vowed not to be silenced. But such personal bravery should not have been needed in the first place. Hamid Mir is a hero but the villains who put him in this position need to be tracked down at once.
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