ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and his close associates have formulated a two-pronged strategy to use the media against the judiciary and to use sections of the media against the critical media, just to divert public attention from corruption scandals. This dangerous strategy is being run by elements close to Zardari. These elements have started raising a hue and cry in the name of unbalanced reporting and about one-sided talk shows but they have not informed PM Gilani about their anti-media plans despite the fact that Gilani is a major stakeholder in the system. Two media groups have started their “sponsored” campaigns not only against the judiciary but also against all the journalists who are not ready to become part of anti-judiciary campaign. The owners of these two media houses are in contact with Zardari who asked government departments to shower advertisements on these anti-judiciary media groups. The thinking process of Zardari is no more a secret. Every enemy of the independent judiciary is his friend and every supporter of the judiciary is his enemy. Interestingly, some PPP leaders leveled baseless allegations against many journalists of Jang Group and even declared some of them as “Indian agents” but the same PPP is supporting and promoting some elements in the media who are famous for their Track-2 diplomacy with India. Three years ago, former dictator Musharraf was patronizing these friends of India in Pakistani media. Now President Zardari is also supporting these elements but his critics are openly being accused of being Indian agents.
Wild Accusation, Hamid Mir and Ansar Abbasir in particular are synonymous and now watch this program and see for yourself as to how Correspondents of Jang Group behave with each other.VIDEOS OF THE PROGRAM:
Jang Group Journalists declaring each other Agent - 1 (Capital Talk 5th Nov 2009)
Jang Group Journalists declaring each other Agent - 2 (Capital Talk 5th Nov 2009)
Jang Group Journalists declaring each other Agent - 3 (Capital Talk 5th Nov 2009)
Jang Group Journalists declaring each other Agent - 4 (Capital Talk 5th Nov 2009)
Friends of President Zardari in the media have started a campaign against many journalists saying, “You people are trying to ridicule the elected representatives because you have a political agenda”. The same people are getting monetary benefits from PPP government due to their bias against judiciary which is very clear from their writings and views expressed on electronic media. The same people are openly trying to use the platform of media for friendship with India. Personally I have no objection to friendship with India but why they are not “Indian agents” for President Zardari? It is clear that PPP leadership will only consider those as “Indian agents” who are supporters of an independent judiciary. Many PPP leaders are openly speaking against the judiciary since long and they are trying to increase their allies in the media. It is learnt that two media cells have been established in Karachi and Islamabad under the supervision of some PPP office bearers. These cells have motivated some columnists recently to condemn “one sided and unbalanced journalism in support of some political judges”. These cells are trying to make an issue out of a recent controversy generated when a TV reporter claimed that the government has decided to cancel the notification through which judges were restored last year. PPP leaders are trying to use the media against the media using the notification story. This big ‘no’ from CPNE President has disappointed many PPP leaders who were waiting to start a new campaign against the media after the completion of work by the Hameed Haroon Committee. A former president of APNS told The News that Hameed Haroon is not heading an APNS committee, in fact he is heading a government committee and he was not responsible for ignoring the CPNE. The government ignored the CPNE just to divide the media.An independent judiciary and a free press are essential tools of good governance. It is the responsibility of the media to pinpoint bad governance and corruption but the media cannot correct the balance between right and wrong, between justice and injustice or between honesty and corruption. The PPP must realize that Pakistan is changing. The judiciary cannot be dictated anymore. Media cannot be monopolized. The rulers must respect the rule of law because the ultimate survival of their government as well the survival of the country lies in rule of law. REFERENCE: Plan to use media against media and judges by Hamid Mir Sunday, November 07, 2010 11/7/2010 Zi Qad 29, 1431 A.H. http://www.thenews.com.pk/07-11-2010/Top-Story/1890.htmCapital Talk Hamid Mir Exposed by Sheikh Rasheed.
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yw_TQR4is90
JANG/GEO/THE NEWS INTERNATIONAL'S CORRESPONDENTS HAVE THEMSELVES USED WIRETAPPING [REMEMBER NAZIR NAJI AND SHAHEEN STORY ON PRESIDENT HOUSE]: Using wiretaps in Reporting [A LA NAZIR NAJI] Mr. Ansar Abbasi, The News, GEO TV and Plots. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/07/mr-ansar-abbasi-news-geo-tv-and-plots.html Using wiretaps in Reporting [A LA SHAHEEN SEHBAI] Similarities between Shaheen Sehbai & Asghar Khan Letters. http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/11/similarities-between-shaheen-sehbai.html
Hamid Mir busted big time Part 1
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ooch6Pg1Udk&feature=related
The software pointed to by Mr Hamid Mir is simply a ‘text to speech converter’ (http://www.naturalvoices.att.com/), used to generate automated voice response on telephone by reading an input text file word by word. Even this is not flawless and is easily discernible, since the software reads word to word and fails to reveal any emotion of the speaker, and we all know that Mr. Mir’s caught conversation is full of venomous emotions. Moreover, as far as I know, there is no software with the ability to convert urdu language text into a flawless natural conversation, like the one of Mr. Hamid Mir. Mr. Hamid Mir thinks that everyone around can be easily doped. In fact, instead of acknowledging his self-incriminating conversation he is only making a fool of himself by offering such senseless and lame arguments.
"The software, called Natural Voices, is not flawless — its utterances still contain a few robotic tones and unnatural inflections………………. scientists say the technology is not yet good enough to perpetrate fraud, could the synthesized voices eventually be capable of tricking people into thinking that they were getting phone calls or digital audio recordings from people they know? For now, technical limitations may temper any worries that a person’s voice could be lifted without permission. To build the software that recreates unique voices — which AT&T Labs is calling its ”custom voice” product — a person must first go to a studio where engineers record 10 to 40 hours of readings. Texts range from business news reports to nonsense babble.” REFERENCE: Software Is Called Capable of Copying Any Human Voice By LISA GUERNSEY Published: July 31, 2001http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/31/business/software-is-called-capable-of-copying-any-human-voice.html?pagewanted=1http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/31/business/software-is-called-capable-of-copying-any-human-voice.html?pagewanted=2Hamid Mir busted big time Part 2
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9NDn5YjkAnY&feature=related
As per Cafe Pyala
It was precisely because of this pendulum style of job negotiations that we had held off on reporting about The News senior investigative journalist Rauf Klasra's potential move from the Jang Group to the Express Media Group, which he himself had threatened many times earlier and which we had actually known about for some time. But now that the daily Express itself has confirmed it, we can add to it the reasons for it beyond the lure of a better pay packet. In fact, Klasra had been rather unhappy at the Jang Group for quite some time. The official reason that Klasra is apparently now giving is his unhappiness with the, in his opinion, 'agenda-driven anti-government line of the Jang Group.' (It must be remembered that Klasra is known to be quite friendly with Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who is from his hometown, Multan, and who it is believed is sometimes himself the source for some of Klasra's stories.) The upset with the excesses of the Jang Group may well be true, but it is also true that Klasra has been at daggers drawn with some of his colleagues at the Islamabad bureau of The News, particularly with the Editor Investigations Ansar Abbasi and his juniorAhmad Noorani, whom he accuses of constantly maligning and undermining him.The rivalry between the three truly came out into the open last year when the website pkpolitics.com ran a story about Klasra's alleged corruption in receiving favours from the government in the allocation of plots and government housing for his (government employee) wife and relatives, claims Klasra strenuously denied. Klasra believed the story was instigated by the Nawaz Sharifcamp to discredit him in retaliation for stories he had done about the Sharifs' alleged corruption and maladministration and claimed in a Jang column in September 2009 to have served a legal notice for 100 million pounds on the website (we have no idea what became of it). But more than that he also saw the direct connivance of Abbasi and Noorani in what he termed a 'smear campaign' against him. (Noorani, who most believe says things and writes stories at Abbasi's behest, even weighed in publicly against Klasra.) Things became so bitter at the Islamabad bureau that Mir Shakilur Rahman did one of his trademark organizational fudges to calm things down: he removed Klasra from under Abbasi and gave him a made-up title of Editor Reporting, reporting directly to the Editor. (Incidentally, the current Editor of The News Rawalpindi, Mohammad Mallick, supported Klasra in his fight against pkpolitics, which makes eminent sense since pkpolitics had also run a story earlier about Mallick's alleged corruption.) But things continued to simmer and came to a head last month when Klasra ran two stories on September 28 and September 30. The first of these claimed that "backdoor channels played a key role" in defusing a crisis between the government and the judiciary. Bizarrely, the newspaper carried another story side-by-side with this, from "our correspondent" (code for Abbasi / Noorani) quoting Supreme Court sources debunking Klasra's story. (The Jang Group must have the only newspapers in the world that carry two diametrically opposite 'investigative' stories on the same day.) In fact, the Supreme Court exerted so much pressure for a retraction that The Newspublished an "unconditional and sincere apology" on September 30. However, since Klasra was adamant about his story (insider sources say he told management he was willing to go to jail for it if need be) the apology was published from the editor, printer and publisher. No journalist appreciates a management that refuses to stand by its reporter and apparently Klasra was incensed that the apology was published despite his standing by his story. In fact, he blamed Abbasi for goading the management into publishing the apology and even hit out publicly at Abbasi on a Dunya TV programme later.
The second story Klasra published on September 30, claimed that President Zardari had admitted in an internal Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) meeting that he had been "misled" into not defending in court the National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) by some unnamed "players of the game." Klasra further cited "one insider source" to claim that Zardari may have been referring to a well-respected but unnamed former judge from Karachi. Once again, two days later Ahmad Noorani published a story claiming that Justice (retd) Fakhruddin G. Ebrahim denied the "president's defamatory allegations" and mocking Klasra for defaming him. This was another bizarre rebuttal since Klasra had never actually named anyone in his story. It is also obvious from the story that Ebrahim had been goaded into offering a rebuttal, as if he was the only respected retired judge in Karachi.
These two instances of direct undermining by colleagues were apparently the straw that broke the camel's back, leading Klasra to finally say enough is enough. For whatever it's worth, Klasra has often broken some interesting stories at The News / Jang and his departure will certainly leave the Jang Group poorer in the investigative department. The Jang Group will also miss his contacts within the government since Abbasi and Noorani have already been accused by the PPP of running one-sided stories. Klasra, whose recently published book Ek Siyaasat, Kayee Kahaniyaan [One Politics, Many Stories] has already become a best-seller, may be on a high at the moment, but it remains to be seen how well he adjusts to a new organizational culture at the Express Media Group. Meanwhile, Aaj TV continues its blood-letting of staff after the departure of Syed Talat Hussain for Dawn and DawnNews. More staff have been fired from the Islamabad bureau, leading others to wonder just exactly what Aaj's management has in mind for the channel. REFERENCE: The Continuously Intriguing Media MONDAY, OCTOBER
Out of a sudden The Jang Group of Newspapers raised a new bogey i.e. in their own words the funniest joke is this that Mohammad Malik [The News Correspondent] has filed this news in Jang but in English Version his name is "Missing". This time the Jang Group is even quoting Indian News Channel on Hamid Mir.
ISLAMABAD: According to highly informed sources, the government has decided to defame and discredit a select group of senior Jang Group journalists in the coming weeks. According to the highly reliable sources, the ongoing controversy regarding popular TV anchor Hamid Mir’s alleged conversation with an unidentified Taliban leader was ‘just the first in the series’. Besides other dirty tricks, it was also learnt that landline and cell phones of the marked journalists were being tapped, and it was also planned that original phrases and words of a marked journalist would be taken from his various telephone conversations and then patched together to create a phoney conversation to discredit the journalist. The sources said an attempt shall also be made to paint some of these journalists as being ‘Nawaz Sharif lackeys’ and that their criticism of the PPP-led coalition government was actually sponsored by the Sharif camp. The purpose of such practice, as the past shows, has always been to give message to other media outlets by targeting the most popular and influential media. The Jang Group had become victim of this offensive strategy many times in the past also. Surprisingly, however, in a departure from the past practice the smear campaign shall not be carried out by the Interior Ministry, but actually is being overseen by a group of intelligence functionaries considered very close to the bosses of the Law Ministry. The hit list comprises (so far): Hamid Mir (Host, Capital Talk), Shaheen Sehbai (Group Editor, The News), Ansar Abbassi (Editor Investigations, The News) Mohammad Malick (Resident Editor, The News Islamabad-Rawalpindi), Kamran Khan (Host, Aaj Kamran Khan Kay Saath) and Dr Shahid Masood (Host, Meray Mutabiq). REFERENCE: More fake tapes to come out soon Monday, May 24, 2010 Jang Group journalists on the hit-list By our correspondent http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29047 Tuesday, May 25, 2010, Jamadi-ul-Sani 10, 1431 A.H http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/may2010-daily/25-05-2010/main4.htm
BACKGROUND OF CONSPIRACY AGAINST JANG/GEO/THE NEWS INTERNATIONALS' ANCHORS/JOURNALISTS/CORRESPONDENTS/EDITORS IS AS: Jang Group VS Dr. Shahid Masood & ARY ONE World.http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/11/jang-group-vs-dr-shahid-masood-ary-one.html GEO TV/JANG GROUP: Lies of Kamran Khan.http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/12/geo-tvjang-group-lies-of-kamran-khan.html
Last night 25 May 2010 GEO TV “Kehnay Mein Kiya Harj Hai”, Hamid Mir did it again without naming Sheikh Rasheed, he named Sheikh Rasheed in Tape Controversy. Mohammad Malik, Mr. Masood Sharif, Mazhar Abbas also participated and Mohammad Malik [Senior Correspondent] was again being Sanctimonious [Malik filed a report in Jang and News on Govt Plans against Media]. When Hamid Mir’s Damage Suit is pending in the Court of Law then why this Open Contempt of Court? Background of Mr. Mohammad Malick [Senior Correspondent The News International/Jang Group of Newspapers and GEO TV. Introduction of Mohammad Malik: Kamran Khan, Mohammad Malick, The News, GEO TV & Corruption in Print Media.http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/08/kamran-khan-mohammad-malick-news-geo-tv.html Journalist Corruption Scandal – Mohammad Malickhttp://pkpolitics.com/2009/06/03/journalist-corruption-scandal-mohammad-malick/
The other day i watched a show on a television channel wherein the journalists from 5 media organizations were discussing this matter. It was interesting to see that they were all saying that a cautious attitude is required and one should not jump to conclusions in haste. I wonder if any tape like this was related to any politician about his/her wrong doing how hastily they would have drawn conclusions. Everyday, we watch them accusing government of wrong doings but they seldom wait to get their facts right. Before the 18th amendment was passed most of the anchors and columnists were convinced that Zardari won’t let it happen. To their dismay it happened. I believe that most of them (media personnel) are supporting the army operation because their mentors in agencies wanted them to build the public opinion in their favor. And I’m afraid that change of mind by the military leadership will trigger them to convince their audiences that how pious they are, and that their purpose is to enforce sharia. The establishment has the real power in this country. And who else can dare to record this audio? May be Mir`s mentors wanted to teach him some lesson. It is interesting to see how struggle between different groups within agencies is revealing the truth.Question is that if the “Tapes” are fake then why the Jang Group is conducting Investigation???? If the tapes are fake then why this committee?
ISLAMABAD: A conversation purportedly between Hamid Mir, the host of Geo programme ‘Capital Talk’ and columnist of daily Jang, has been uploaded on different websites, says a statement issued by the spokesman of Geo/Jang Group. A committee has been constituted by the Group to get detailed information in this connection. Members of the committee have held preliminary talks with Hamid Mir in which he has disowned the voice (said to be his) and termed the audiotape fabricated. For credible investigation, the committee has called upon professional journalist organisations to come forward to uncover the truth. Hamid Mir has assured that he would fully cooperate in the investigation so that the truth is unearthed. He also said that some people want to ostracise him from the profession and they are defaming him as part of a conspiracy. REFERENCE: Committee to probe charges against Hamid Mir Thursday, May 20, 2010http://thenews.jang.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=28969- PFUJ’S DEFINITION AND SAD STORY OF PAKISTANI JOURNALISM [Deteriorating not day by day but by hour] - First it was Let Us Build Pakistan!! NO NO NO Jews are behind it, NO NO Zionists are behind it, NO NO NO Zardari is behind it [Mariana Baabar says so Anchor Cast Adrift What’s behind the tapes of TV host Hamid Mir’s chat with a Taliban man? MARIANA BAABAR MAGAZINE MAY 31, 2010 http://www.outlookindia.com/article.aspx?265494 ], NO NO Zardari is not behind it but RAW is behind it, NO NO Quadiyanis are behind it but NO NO NO Hussain Haqqani behind it, NO NO some serving Generals behind it, God damn my Journalist Colleagues who are actually behind it. [Hamid Mir's View] - Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, the top body of media and custodian of ‘freedom of speech and civil liberties. Conspiracy against Hamid Mir by an aggrieved person i.e. Osama Khalid s/o Khalid Khawaja [but MARIANA BAABAR says Lollywood film directors searching for a script to produce a thriller are best advised to read Let Us Build Pakistan (LUBP http://criticalppp.org/lubp/) on the website criticalppp.org, which is advertised as a project of critical supporters of the Pakistan People’s Party.
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. [Hamid Mir in Washington Times] - 
Ansar Abbasi has almost indicted Hamid Mir in the case of Khalid Khawaja: Live with Talat – 20 May 2010 MAY 20, 2010 . in Live with Talat Naseem Zehra (Anchor), Zafar Abbas (Residen Editor Dawn), Kashif abbassi (Anchor) and Ansar abbasi (Analyst) in Today’s episode of Live with Talat with Talat Hussain –http://pkpolitics.com/2010/05/20/live-with-talat-20-may-2010/ Ansar Abbasi and Talat Hussain’s statement telecast above which has almost indicted Hamid Mir, Ms. Nasim Zehra [Former Key Member of General Musharraf's Think Tank] has also raised doubts on Hamid Mir’s confusing and constantly changing statements. Ansar Abbasi did the same in Jasmeen's Program Ansar Abbasi says in Jasmin Manzoor Program that, he talked with Hamid Mir and Hamid said that its not his voice and then Ansar deny himself that Hamid also said that as per Hamid Mir “some of his old calls were mixed and rejoined!!! What a Tragedy. Is this what you call Colleague or Professional Courtesy. Tonight with Jasmeen – 23 May 2010 MAY 23, 2010 . NO COMMENTS in Tonight with Jasmeen Jasmeed discusses the issue of Hamid Mir’s audio tape in today’s episode. http://pkpolitics.com/2010/05/23/tonight-with-jasmeen-23-may-2010/
LAHORE: Osama Khalid, son of Khalid Khawaja, on Tuesday submitted an application in the Shalimar Police Station for registration of an FIR against TV talk show host Hamid Mir and suspected terrorist Osman Punjabi for the murder of his father, a private TV channel reported. Khalid Khawaja, a former Inter-Services Intelligence official, was murdered by a relatively less-known Asian Tigers militant group on April 23. Osama alleged that the talk show host had instigated the terrorists to murder his father. He said the application was based on the audiotape of Mir’s conversation with a member of the Taliban, and he was ready to prove in court that the audio clip was original. Khalid Khawaja, a former Inter-Services Intelligence official, was murdered by a relatively less-known Asian Tigers militant group on April 23. Osama alleged that the talk show host had instigated the terrorists to murder his father. He said the application was based on the audiotape of Mir’s conversation with a member of the Taliban, and he was ready to prove in court that the audio clip was original. REFERENCE: Osama seeks FIR against Hamid Mir, Osman Punjabi Daily Times Monitor Wednesday, May 26, 2010http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=20105\26\story_26-5-2010_pg1_7Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir, who has been linked by several Pakistani websites to the killing of a former intelligence official by the Taliban, refutes the accusations in this e-mail sent to The Washington Times in response to an article that appeared in Tuesday's editions:Dear Sir,
The Washington Times has published a story today "Terrorist Hit Puts Pakistani Reporter Under Fire" (by Eli Lake - Reporter - The Washington Times - 25 May 2010) http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/terrorist-hit-puts-pakistani-reporter-under-fire/pri WT said that Hamid Mir has old links with extremists because he interviewed Osama bin Laden. What about my interviews with Nelson Mandela, Tony Blair, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, General Richard B Myers, Richard Armitage and Hilary Rodham Clinton? First of all, I am not the only one who interviewed Osama bin Laden. Robert Fisk interviewed him before me. Peter Bergen and Rahimullah Yousafzai are other examples. Now there are contradictions to be noted. Daily Times claiming that intelligence agencies have presented a report against me to the [Pakistani] Prime Minister. http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010%5C05%5C20%5Cstory_20-5-2010_pg1_6 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. Family of Khalid Kahwaja openly declared me a CIA agent and also accepted that one son of Kahwaja works for al Qaeda. Come and see that banners are hanging on Murree Road and other areas of Rawalpindi in my support. These banners have been placed by traders, students and other sections of life. Common Pakistanis are with me but a section of ruling elite is against me. 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. 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. U.N. report pointed fingers towards him but President Asif Ali Zardari government failed to nab him. http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=28496REFERENCE: Hamid Mir responds By Hamid MirUpdated: 5:59 p.m. on Tuesday, May 25, 2010 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/?page=4 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/?page=3
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/?page=2 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/
When all the above lies were not enough, the Jang Group/GEO TV concocted another Lie.
KARACHI: The Sindh National Party (SNP) leaders and workers marched towards the main building of the Jang Group from the Karachi Press Club on Sunday evening and staged a sit-in outside the building. Some of the activists attacked the offices of the Jang Group and Geo Television and snatched weapons from security guards and resorted to aerial firing. The police fired bullets in the air, hurled teargas shells and resorted to baton charge to disperse the activists. The police arrested 85 people but the arrested persons were released later on. The violent tactics of the political activists harassed the journalists and staff of the Jang newspaper and Geo television and forced them to barricade themselves inside the building. Hundreds of SNP activists, led by its Chairman Ameer Bhambhro, staged a violent protest in front of the offices of the Jang Group and Geo Television at I I Chundrigar Road. Meanwhile, some activists tried to break away the protective fences at the Muhammad bin Qasim Road adjacent to the I I Chundrigar Road but police officials and security guards tried to stop them. Resultantly, a scuffle took place between the activists and policemen in which some police officials sustained injuries. Afterwards, the violent SNP workers tortured some of the security guards and resorted to aerial firing after snatching weapons from the security guards. REFERENCE: Jang Group, Geo offices under attackMonday, May 24, 2010 Attackers try to enter through main gate; 85 held, released; siege ends late at night By our correspondent http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29040 Siege meant to stop Jang, Geo from Monday, May 24, 2010 SC cases coverage: Kamran Khan News Desk http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29045
When all the above lies were not enough, the Jang Group/GEO TV concocted another Lie.
KARACHI: The Sindh National Party (SNP) leaders and workers marched towards the main building of the Jang Group from the Karachi Press Club on Sunday evening and staged a sit-in outside the building. Some of the activists attacked the offices of the Jang Group and Geo Television and snatched weapons from security guards and resorted to aerial firing. The police fired bullets in the air, hurled teargas shells and resorted to baton charge to disperse the activists. The police arrested 85 people but the arrested persons were released later on. The violent tactics of the political activists harassed the journalists and staff of the Jang newspaper and Geo television and forced them to barricade themselves inside the building. Hundreds of SNP activists, led by its Chairman Ameer Bhambhro, staged a violent protest in front of the offices of the Jang Group and Geo Television at I I Chundrigar Road. Meanwhile, some activists tried to break away the protective fences at the Muhammad bin Qasim Road adjacent to the I I Chundrigar Road but police officials and security guards tried to stop them. Resultantly, a scuffle took place between the activists and policemen in which some police officials sustained injuries. Afterwards, the violent SNP workers tortured some of the security guards and resorted to aerial firing after snatching weapons from the security guards. REFERENCE: Jang Group, Geo offices under attackMonday, May 24, 2010 Attackers try to enter through main gate; 85 held, released; siege ends late at night By our correspondent http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29040 Siege meant to stop Jang, Geo from Monday, May 24, 2010 SC cases coverage: Kamran Khan News Desk http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29045Daily Jang bundles burnt in interior Sindh Monday, May 24, 2010 News Desk http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=29058 Monday, May 24, 2010, Jamadi-ul-Sani 09, 1431 A.H http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/may2010-daily/24-05-2010/main.htm
http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/may2010-daily/24-05-2010/main2.htm
The reality is as under:
KARACHI: A clash took place between demonstrators and police on II Chandrigar Road and police arrested 10 protestors on Sunday. Sindh National Party (SNP) took out a protest rally from press club against rising corruption but clogged into clash with police when rally reached II Chandrigar Road because police tried to stop the march of protestors. Protestorsturned violent and subjected DSP of police to torture which incited police to fire shells of tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and fired in the air. The demonstrators began to flee but police could arrest at least 10 protestors and shifted them to unknown location. The leader of SNP Ameer Bhambhro said despite state torture they will continue their protest. REFERENCE: SNP protestors clash with police in Karachi. Geo files a contradicting story Written by Monitering Desk Sunday, 23 May 2010 14:09 http://www.sindhtelegraph.com/index.php/sindh/46-sindh/720--snp-protestors-clash-with-police-in-karachi-geo-files-a-contradicting-story
The Geo reports a contradicting story
The workers of little known Sindh National Party (SNP) have surrounded the offices of Geo and, Jang at the behest of government, Sunday. According to Geo, the provincial government has not taken any serious step to end the siege continuing for the last eight to 10 hours. Geo further reports that, they (SNP workers) barged into the Geo office and went on rampage. They also subjected a policeman to torture when he tried to stop the protestors from entering Geo office, Geo continues contradicting report. Police baton charged the protestors and tried to disperse them by using teargas. However, they staged a sit-in instead of leaving the office, Geo reported According to Geo, Chairman Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) Qadir Magsi said it seems the group has the support of government. The Sindh Telegraph tried to contacted Dr. Magsi, late Sunday night to confirm his comment, but it could not reach him. It is not clear though, if Dr. Magsi's statement was reported out of context. REFERENCE: REFERENCE: SNP protestors clash with police in Karachi. Geo files a contradicting story Written by Monitering Desk Sunday, 23 May 2010 14:09http://www.sindhtelegraph.com/index.php/sindh/46-sindh/720--snp-protestors-clash-with-police-in-karachi-geo-files-a-contradicting-story
DIRTY PAST RECROD OF THE SAME JANG GROUP AGAINST THEIR VERY OWN SHAHEEN SEHBAI.
The reality is as under:
KARACHI: A clash took place between demonstrators and police on II Chandrigar Road and police arrested 10 protestors on Sunday. Sindh National Party (SNP) took out a protest rally from press club against rising corruption but clogged into clash with police when rally reached II Chandrigar Road because police tried to stop the march of protestors. Protestorsturned violent and subjected DSP of police to torture which incited police to fire shells of tear gas to disperse the demonstrators and fired in the air. The demonstrators began to flee but police could arrest at least 10 protestors and shifted them to unknown location. The leader of SNP Ameer Bhambhro said despite state torture they will continue their protest. REFERENCE: SNP protestors clash with police in Karachi. Geo files a contradicting story Written by Monitering Desk Sunday, 23 May 2010 14:09 http://www.sindhtelegraph.com/index.php/sindh/46-sindh/720--snp-protestors-clash-with-police-in-karachi-geo-files-a-contradicting-storyThe Geo reports a contradicting story
The workers of little known Sindh National Party (SNP) have surrounded the offices of Geo and, Jang at the behest of government, Sunday. According to Geo, the provincial government has not taken any serious step to end the siege continuing for the last eight to 10 hours. Geo further reports that, they (SNP workers) barged into the Geo office and went on rampage. They also subjected a policeman to torture when he tried to stop the protestors from entering Geo office, Geo continues contradicting report. Police baton charged the protestors and tried to disperse them by using teargas. However, they staged a sit-in instead of leaving the office, Geo reported According to Geo, Chairman Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Party (STPP) Qadir Magsi said it seems the group has the support of government. The Sindh Telegraph tried to contacted Dr. Magsi, late Sunday night to confirm his comment, but it could not reach him. It is not clear though, if Dr. Magsi's statement was reported out of context. REFERENCE: REFERENCE: SNP protestors clash with police in Karachi. Geo files a contradicting story Written by Monitering Desk Sunday, 23 May 2010 14:09http://www.sindhtelegraph.com/index.php/sindh/46-sindh/720--snp-protestors-clash-with-police-in-karachi-geo-files-a-contradicting-storyDIRTY PAST RECROD OF THE SAME JANG GROUP AGAINST THEIR VERY OWN SHAHEEN SEHBAI.
Group Editor of The News International, Mr Shaheen Sehbai [Shaheen Sehbai VS Hussain Haqqani & Jang Group of Newspapers.http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/10/shaheen-sehbai-vs-hussain-haqqani-jang.html - Shaheen Sehbai VS Asif Ali Zardari & Jang Group of Newspapershttp://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/10/shaheen-sehbai-vs-asif-ali-zardari-jang.html]Human Memory is weak so let me revive it!
The news/editorial below was published in Daily Dawn and it was about The Former, then present, then former and now Present Group Editor of The News International [The Editorial Staff/Owners also think that The News and Jang Group of Newspapers are Anti-American and Prop Pakistan's alleged National Interests], the one and only Mr Shaheen Sehbai. We all know that Liars don’t have good Memory. Please keep one thing in mind while going through the article below that Mr Shaheen Sehbai had complained about the Falling Standards of The News International in 2002 [the standards fell when Mr Shaheen Sehbai resigned during Musharraf's Tenure in 2002] now standard of The News International is again risen since Mr Shaheen Sehbai has agin joined and now it can be compared with The New Yorker/ The Washington Post and The New York Times.
Read and Lament as to how the Educated Pakistan play with the sentiments of those who read newspapers for news. Do read as to what another Seniot Journalist Late Khalid Hasan had to say about Shaheen Sehbai at the end. Also read The Washington Post as to how The News International and Shaheen Sehbai involved/linked Pakistan with Terrorists in 2002. Shaheen Sehbai should be ashamed of himself that after doing this he escaped and took self imposed asylum in USA, the same USA against whom he and his newspaper spitting venom. So Why the hell exile in USA, a country whose Legislative Bill [Kerry - Lugar Bill - State of Pakistan's Economy and Kerry Lugar Bill http://chagataikhan.blogspot.com/2009/10/state-of-pakistans-economy-and-kerry.html. TEXT OF KERRY LUGAR BILL URL:http://united4justice.wordpress.com/2009/10/08/kerry-lugar-bill-text/ Source:http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc111/s1707_es.xml URL:http://thomas.loc.gov/home/gpoxmlc111/s1707_es.xml#HD21CAA40FFF04D6A9295F70635912277] is so bad about Pakistan. Why not asylum in Dubai or any other Muslim country.“QUOTE”
Judge not lest ye be judged [Dated March 10, 2002 Sunday Zilhaj 25, 1422 Courtesy: Daily Dawn URL: http://www.dawn.com/2002/03/10/fea.htm]
JOURNALIST Shaheen Sehbai, resigned as editor of The News on March 1 after serving the paper for about 14 moths.In a letter addressed to colleagues, Mr Sehbai, who earlier had a very distinguished career with Dawn, implied that the publisher had charged him with policy violations and professional misconduct to sack him under pressure from the military government. He enclosed a memorandum from the publisher alleging publication of libellous matter, alienating advertisers, failing to consult him on important matters, printing a story recently that was ‘perceived to be damaging to our national interest’ and elicited a severe reaction from the government, failing to contact ‘relevant government functionaries’ to discuss the issue, and being generally inaccessible to senior government officials as well his own staff.
The memo also complained of a lack of improvement in the paper.
Mr Sehbai said he had answered by recalling that the publisher had informed him of the government demand to sack four The News staffers, including the editor, and regretted that “you have decided to get in line.” He said he was aware that the government had stopped carrying advertisements in not only The News but also other papers of the group and that the publisher had been told that only the dismissals would result in their restoration.
He claimed that he had been asked to contact the Inter-Services Intelligence officials but had refused on principal to call, or meet, any government official in a ‘hostage’ situation.
On the other hand, he said, he had conveyed to the government the evidence that the paper’s policy had, in fact, been tilted in its favour. At least 50 editorials and over 100 articles published in about six weeks were cited to prove the point. The paper, he said, had at times gone out of its way to accommodate the government.
But, Mr Sehbai said, he could not allow a newspaper he edited to become the voice of any government for monetary considerations.
Dismissing “whatever other issues you have raised” as “childish and frivolous,” he said there was no point in discussing them.
Recounting management problems, Mr Sehbai also mentioned the “legal jugglery” employed to deprive contract workers of salary increases and the refusal to renew their contracts.
The episode was described in foreign media as a blow to claims of freedom of press in Pakistan. A spokesman for the government was said to have denied Mr Sehbai’s allegations.
At The News, no replacement has since been named.
“UNQUOTE”
LATE. MR. KHALID HASAN - IN MEMORIAM 1934-2009 – A MESSAGE FROM HIS SON - http://www.khalidhasan.net/news/“QUOTE”
In Washington we had formed a small group and regularly met at a restaurant that sort of replicated “Pak Tea House” of yesteryears of Lahore. Khalid was always at the centre stage of lively discussions on wide range of subjects there. In his dispatches to Pakistan, he called it “Kabab Masal” group after the name of the restaurant. We rotated chairmanship with every meeting. Several years ago when Shah Mahmood Qureshi came to Washington, it was Khalid’s turn to preside. He recalled his first meeting with him in Vienna while Qureshi was finance minister Punjab. “I had my gut reaction that he is a prime ministerial stuff”, Khalid said. Shaheen Sehbai mixed up this remark and attributed it to Qureshi himself in his report to Dawn. Qureshi was very upset and a clarification was made next day. I told Shaheen: “You have perhaps permanently destroyed Qureshi’s career in the PPP.’ When Ms.Bhutto named him as ARD’s candidate to the office in 2002, I recounted this episode to him in the presence of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan. He was again in the reckoning when PPP won elections last year.
“UNQUOTE”
In Washington we had formed a small group and regularly met at a restaurant that sort of replicated “Pak Tea House” of yesteryears of Lahore. Khalid was always at the centre stage of lively discussions on wide range of subjects there. In his dispatches to Pakistan, he called it “Kabab Masal” group after the name of the restaurant. We rotated chairmanship with every meeting. Several years ago when Shah Mahmood Qureshi came to Washington, it was Khalid’s turn to preside. He recalled his first meeting with him in Vienna while Qureshi was finance minister Punjab. “I had my gut reaction that he is a prime ministerial stuff”, Khalid said. Shaheen Sehbai mixed up this remark and attributed it to Qureshi himself in his report to Dawn. Qureshi was very upset and a clarification was made next day. I told Shaheen: “You have perhaps permanently destroyed Qureshi’s career in the PPP.’ When Ms.Bhutto named him as ARD’s candidate to the office in 2002, I recounted this episode to him in the presence of Nawabzada Nasrullah Khan. He was again in the reckoning when PPP won elections last year.
“UNQUOTE”
Nafisa Hoodbhoy [Former Correspondent of Daily Dawn - Courtesy: Online NewsHour -http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june02/pearl_1-29.html]
"QUOTE"
The Washington Post – Sunday, March 10, 2002; Page B01 Section: Outlook – Missing Links : There’s Much More To Daniel Pearl’s Murder Than Meets the Eye By Nafisa Hoodbhoy [INTERNET LINK IS DEAD -http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A64435-2002Mar9¬Found=true - Complete Text http://www.indianet.nl/indpak40.html#20020310a -http://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2002/wpost031002.html] – Crackdown on Pakistani Press : A radio interview with Shaheen Sehbai.[Courtesy:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/act/message/1299]
"QUOTE"
The Washington Post – Sunday, March 10, 2002; Page B01 Section: Outlook – Missing Links : There’s Much More To Daniel Pearl’s Murder Than Meets the Eye By Nafisa Hoodbhoy [INTERNET LINK IS DEAD -http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&node=&contentId=A64435-2002Mar9¬Found=true - Complete Text http://www.indianet.nl/indpak40.html#20020310a -http://s3.amazonaws.com/911timeline/2002/wpost031002.html] – Crackdown on Pakistani Press : A radio interview with Shaheen Sehbai.[Courtesy:http://groups.yahoo.com/group/act/message/1299]
AMHERST, Mass.–Nine days ago there was an alarming indication of upheaval in Pakistan — a crackdown on the press. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, the government pressured the owner of an influential English language newspaper, the News, to fire four journalists. One of them, the paper’s editor, Shaheen Sehbai, said the trouble started after his newspaper reported a link between the prime suspect in the killing of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, and recent attacks on the Indian parliament in Delhi and in the Kashmiri capital, Srinagar.
Daniel Pearl - South Asia Bureau Chief of the Wall Street Journal, was an American Jewish journalist who was kidnapped, tortured and murdered in Karachi, Pakistan in 2002.
When Sehbai asked the paper’s owner to identify who wanted to sack them, Sehbai said he was told to see officials at the ISI, Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence agency. Instead he resigned and left for the United States.
“UNQUOTE”
Group Editor of The News International, Mr Shaheen SehbaiNow read the words of Mr Shaheen Sehbai in the light of his suddenly found 'concerns for the National Security of Pakistan' in connection with the Conditions of Kerry-Lugar Bill. Do note his language against the Pakistani Military Establishment in 2002.
"QUOTE"
Three weeks ago, I resigned as editor of Pakistan's most influential English daily, the News. My proprietor had directed me to apologize to the chiefs of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for my decision to publish details of a confessional statement by Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime suspect in the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. I was the first local journalist Danny contacted last year when he arrived in Karachi to cover Pakistan, and America's war against terror, the latest dimension of which was seen in Sunday's attack on a church in Islamabad.
Never lacking for audacity, the ISI first broke into our newsroom on Feb. 17 to detect our story on Sheikh, in which he linked the ISI directly to his involvement in last December's terrorist attacks on India's Parliament. With such embarrassing information coming from one of their own kind -- Sheikh had, after all, turned himself in for interrogation to his former ISI handler on Feb. 5, a week before Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, visited Washington -- the regime's principal information officer called me at 1 a.m. and demanded I pull the piece.
When his coercion failed, my proprietor in London was called. He tried to stop publication, but failed, and the next day the government pulled all its advertising -- accounting for over half our income -- in an effort to silence my paper completely. Then they asked the owner to sack me, as well as three other senior journalists.
I resigned rather than be part of a conspiracy to mislead Pakistan's people. Fearing for my safety -- and with the Pearl case fresh in mind -- I chose to join my family in Virginia and live to fight another day.
And fight we must. This media management is the first sign of where Gen. Musharraf's newly tactful ISI is headed. "Managing" politics and rigging October's elections are next on the agenda. There are signs that a political party is being put together to legitimize Gen. Musharraf as an all-powerful president, to stay in office well beyond any reasonable time-frame.
Games we have seen so many times are underway in Pakistan again. I'm not talking about cricket with India, but about an effort to manipulate the press, to usurp the right to fair elections, and to hide Islamists under a presentable wrap. (Only last week, Gen. Musharraf released most of the arrested Taliban activists and their fanatic leaders.)
The primary instrument of change in achieving this devil's pact is Gen. Musharraf's recasting of the ISI as a more docile institution, ostensibly purged of Islamist hard-liners and Taliban sympathizers. But buyers beware.
Another intelligence disaster now looms. Its similarities to the Zia days are remarkable. Gen. Musharraf, the military dictator of the day, is the new darling of the West fighting the new enemy in Afghanistan. Billions of American taxpayer dollars are again set to flow. A beautiful facade has been crafted for external consumption, on everything from press freedoms and elections to a corruption-free economy and an Islamist-free state. The reality is harshly different.
The ISI has been assigned the task of recruiting representatives for this effort. They are to cajole and coerce the press and politicians. Key leaders from the political parties of both former prime ministers -- Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif -- are being lined up for pre-approval. The Islamist role will be safeguarded by fundamentalist generals.
A full dress rehearsal of this methodology was carried out during the recently concluded countrywide polls for mayors and deputy mayors. Every city, big or small, had a pre-selected mayor. In Pakistan's military stronghold, Rawalpindi, ISI interference in seating a pre-approved candidate was so blatant that the non-political but highly compliant chamber of commerce president was "elected" mayor against better-known political stalwarts.
Pakistan has played crucial roles in two of the main victories of our era -- those over communism and terrorism. The first time, the West looked away while evil forces were born in our midst, destroying our culture and society. The moderate majority was silenced into submission until the world woke up on Sept. 11.
The warning signs are there again. America must invest its political and financial capital in institutions, not individuals. The American people and their elected representatives must not look the other way again. Freedom of the press is under siege. The promised return of democracy is being systematically compromised. American aid is being used to achieve dubious objectives. And the poor people of Pakistan, in defense of whom the ISI and Gen. Musharraf have made their last stand, may once again lose whatever is left of a country that can still be great. (By SHAHEEN SEHBAI )Courtesy: Pakistan Punch http://pakistanpunch.pk/punch11.html
"QUOTE"
Three weeks ago, I resigned as editor of Pakistan's most influential English daily, the News. My proprietor had directed me to apologize to the chiefs of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) for my decision to publish details of a confessional statement by Omar Saeed Sheikh, the prime suspect in the abduction and murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl. I was the first local journalist Danny contacted last year when he arrived in Karachi to cover Pakistan, and America's war against terror, the latest dimension of which was seen in Sunday's attack on a church in Islamabad.
Never lacking for audacity, the ISI first broke into our newsroom on Feb. 17 to detect our story on Sheikh, in which he linked the ISI directly to his involvement in last December's terrorist attacks on India's Parliament. With such embarrassing information coming from one of their own kind -- Sheikh had, after all, turned himself in for interrogation to his former ISI handler on Feb. 5, a week before Pakistan's president, Gen. Pervez Musharraf, visited Washington -- the regime's principal information officer called me at 1 a.m. and demanded I pull the piece.
When his coercion failed, my proprietor in London was called. He tried to stop publication, but failed, and the next day the government pulled all its advertising -- accounting for over half our income -- in an effort to silence my paper completely. Then they asked the owner to sack me, as well as three other senior journalists.
I resigned rather than be part of a conspiracy to mislead Pakistan's people. Fearing for my safety -- and with the Pearl case fresh in mind -- I chose to join my family in Virginia and live to fight another day.
And fight we must. This media management is the first sign of where Gen. Musharraf's newly tactful ISI is headed. "Managing" politics and rigging October's elections are next on the agenda. There are signs that a political party is being put together to legitimize Gen. Musharraf as an all-powerful president, to stay in office well beyond any reasonable time-frame.
Games we have seen so many times are underway in Pakistan again. I'm not talking about cricket with India, but about an effort to manipulate the press, to usurp the right to fair elections, and to hide Islamists under a presentable wrap. (Only last week, Gen. Musharraf released most of the arrested Taliban activists and their fanatic leaders.)
The primary instrument of change in achieving this devil's pact is Gen. Musharraf's recasting of the ISI as a more docile institution, ostensibly purged of Islamist hard-liners and Taliban sympathizers. But buyers beware.
Another intelligence disaster now looms. Its similarities to the Zia days are remarkable. Gen. Musharraf, the military dictator of the day, is the new darling of the West fighting the new enemy in Afghanistan. Billions of American taxpayer dollars are again set to flow. A beautiful facade has been crafted for external consumption, on everything from press freedoms and elections to a corruption-free economy and an Islamist-free state. The reality is harshly different.
The ISI has been assigned the task of recruiting representatives for this effort. They are to cajole and coerce the press and politicians. Key leaders from the political parties of both former prime ministers -- Benazir Bhutto and Nawaz Sharif -- are being lined up for pre-approval. The Islamist role will be safeguarded by fundamentalist generals.
A full dress rehearsal of this methodology was carried out during the recently concluded countrywide polls for mayors and deputy mayors. Every city, big or small, had a pre-selected mayor. In Pakistan's military stronghold, Rawalpindi, ISI interference in seating a pre-approved candidate was so blatant that the non-political but highly compliant chamber of commerce president was "elected" mayor against better-known political stalwarts.
Pakistan has played crucial roles in two of the main victories of our era -- those over communism and terrorism. The first time, the West looked away while evil forces were born in our midst, destroying our culture and society. The moderate majority was silenced into submission until the world woke up on Sept. 11.
The warning signs are there again. America must invest its political and financial capital in institutions, not individuals. The American people and their elected representatives must not look the other way again. Freedom of the press is under siege. The promised return of democracy is being systematically compromised. American aid is being used to achieve dubious objectives. And the poor people of Pakistan, in defense of whom the ISI and Gen. Musharraf have made their last stand, may once again lose whatever is left of a country that can still be great. (By SHAHEEN SEHBAI )Courtesy: Pakistan Punch http://pakistanpunch.pk/punch11.html
Mr. Shaheen Sehbai, Group Editor, The News International - Jang Group of Newspapers is very fond of quoting Foreign Press particularly when Foreign Press [Pro Zionist] is negative on President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and PPP. Shaheen Sehbai while quoting The New York Times: “The problems in Afghanistan have only been compounded by the fragility of Mr. Obama’s partner in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari, who is so weak that his government seems near collapse.” The Washington Post in a report by two correspondents said: “Zardari's political weakness is an additional hazard for a new bilateral relationship...The administration expects Zardari's position to continue to weaken, leaving him as a largely ceremonial president even if he manages to survive in office.” REFERENCE: Obama administration fears Zardari collapse WASHINGTON (Shaheen Sehbai)Updated at: 1525 PST, Monday, November 30, 2009http://thenews.jang.com.pk/updates.asp?id=92494 Obama administration fears Zardari collapse Updated at: 1525 PST, Monday,November 30, 2009http://www.geo.tv/11-30-2009/53849.htmShould we believe Mr Shaheen Sehbai or his Editor in Chief Mir Shakil ur Rahman's Letter Addressed to Mr Shaheen Sehbai asking for his resign on filing Concocted Stories in The News International
"QUOTE"
SHAHEEN SEHBAI RESIGNS AS EDITOR OF `THE NEWS`
Date: Fri, 01 Mar 2002 07:42:48 -0500
Dear Colleagues and Friends:
It is with great sorrow that I have to convey this bad news to you all today. I have resigned today as the Editor.
I am enclosing enclosing the correspondence with MSR which is self explanatory. I wish to thank you all for all the cooperation and respect that you extended to me during these 14 months as Editor. I will be available to each one of you as a friend at all times. Wishing you the best of luck and a great future. Shaheen Sehbai
Pl read on:
Memorandum
To: Mir Shakil ur Rehman, Editor-in-Chief, The News
From: Shaheen Sehbai, Editor, The News
Date: March 1, 2002
Subject: Reply to Memo dated Feb 28, 2002
With reference to your Memo dated Feb 28, I have been accused of policy violations starting from March 2001 until the publication on Feb 17 this year of the Kamran Khan story on Daniel Pearl case. I can obviously understand that these so-called �policy violations?are nothing but an excuse to comply with the Government demand to sack me, and three other senior journalists, as you told me in our meeting in your office on Feb 22. I feel sorry that you have to make such excuses. You could have given one hint that you wanted me to go and I would have quit immediately.
I understand that you, as owner of the Jang Group of Newspapers have been so intensely pressurized in the last about two weeks that you are no longer ready, or able, to withstand it. All government advertising of the Group has been unjustifiably suspended by the Government starting Monday, February 18, 2002, following the investigative story done in The News by our reporter, Kamran Khan. This story, as it appears now, was just an excuse to twist the neck of the Group because the same story appeared simultaneously in the Washington Post and the International Herald Tribune and not one point contained in it was denied or clarified by the Government. Instead they tightened the screw on the Jang Group, as it appeared to be the most vulnerable and within their reach. This has a very obvious, and sinister message, for the free Press in Pakistan: Get in line, or be ready for the stick.?I feel sorry that you have decided to get in line, but I cannot be a party to this decision.
You had informed me officially at a meeting in your office on Feb 22, 2002, at 10.15 p.m. that you have been given names of four journalists of The News? myself, Kamran Khan, Amir Mateen and a staffer in our Islamabad Bureau (probably Rauf Klasra as you did not name the 4th person), to be immediately sacked before the government advertisements could be restored. You also informed me that officials of the Information Ministry wanted me to improve my PR with them as they had been complaining that I was not available to them, which is basically not true. You told me to directly contact these officials and talk to them about restoring the advertisements of the Group. Mr Mahmud Sham, who later joined our meeting, had informed us that the Secretary Information had clearly stated that matters were beyond his capacity to resolve and that we have now to meet the ISI high ups.
As a matter of principle I refused to call, or meet, any of these government officials in a situation when the entire Group was being held hostage with a gun pointed at its head. I, however, conveyed to the Government, through Mr Sham, all the evidence that the policy of The News?was very balanced, in fact tilted, in favour of General Pervez Musharraf's government, not under any government pressure, but because some of the things he was doing were right and The News never hesitated to support any right step taken by the Government. At least 50 editorials and over 100 Op-Ed articles published in about 6 weeks were cited to show that The News had no bias against the government. Proof was also provided of how �The News? at times, went out of its way to accommodate government requests.Apparently these argument have not satisfied the government and the pressure is continuing on you, as your Memo indicates. Whatever other issues you have raised are childish and frivolous and I would not waste my time discussing them. But one message that emerges is very clear --- I ran the newspaper as a very independent Editor, according to whatever I thought was objective, true and professionally sound journalism. I made the best use of the latest available computer technology to create a working environment in which the entire editorial staff was integrated in such a network that almost everyone was available to each other at all times. I interacted with all my staff on a personal, round the clock basis, no matter where I was located or traveling, even outside Pakistan. So the charge that I was not available to my staff is laughable as it shows how far removed you are from the ground situation.
Your complaint of lack of general improvement in The News?is also obviously an excuse to build some case against me under Government pressure. You never once complained of that before. In fact the ground reality is just the opposite. I successfully built a great team of reporters, editors and writers during the 14 months I have been the Editor. We achieved a lot in breaking major stories, including assumption of the office of the President by General Musharraf and corruption in various government departments including Social Action Programme (SAP) and Employees Old-age Benefit Institution (EOBI). The overwhelming impression that any newspaper of the Jang Group could not publish anything against its advertisers and commercial sponsors was removed by the investigative stories we did on PIA and other corporate organizations. The News became the most quoted newspaper abroad, not only for its stories but its editorial comments and opinions. The latest such quote was in the prestigious New York Times just three days ago. The Washington Post interviewed me last week as Editor of The News.
The real reasons for failure to bring about a real visible change in Karachi are known to you. For over a year now you have been sitting on all the plans, proposals and schemes, including a Vision Document prepared after months of hard work. The scheme to revamp all the magazines has been lying on your table for months. The designs and site plans to renovate the entire newspaper office on 4th and 5th floors has been gaining dust for months and the staff is forced to work with hundreds of cockroaches creeping on papers, computers, inside telephone sets and faxmachines. In fact I have been bogged down in these totally useless exercises for most of my time, hoping that you would find time and money to start implementing any of these detailed proposals for change and improvement. You have always been promising to launch these scheme within weeks, but that time never came. I am appalled at your audacity to accuse me of being responsible for not bringing any change while the fact is that you have always been complaining of the financial crunch?in the newspaper. You have stopped increments of all the staff and played legal jugglery with all the contract employees by refusing to renew their contracts or giving them salary increases.
Even despite that I continued to work 20 hours a day to improve the editorial content of the newspaper which has been appreciated and recognized by every one, including your senior Directors and Editors of sister publications in letters written to me. The readers, however, are the best judge.
Why you never raised any objection before, and why you are doing it now, is obvious --- the Government pressure is unbearable. This is not a happy omen.
Therefore, I have to convey this sad message to you, though I feel very content and satisfied that I have taken the right decision on the basis of principles. I have decided to resign from the Editorship of The News with immediate effect, rather than to submit to Government pressure and change the policy of the newspaper. Under my editorship, I will not allow the newspaper to become the voice of any government for monetary considerations. I had given my name, credibility and reputation to The News?and I prefer to protect these precious assets, rather than my job. But I will earnestly request you not to take any action against the other colleagues you have been asked to sack, as the ultimate responsibility of whatever appeared in the newspaper was mine, as Editor, and not theirs. They should be allowed to continue with their jobs. I wish, you, the newspaper and all of my colleagues a great future.
I hereby, resign from the editorship. Please accept my resignation today and remove my name from the print line of the newspaper as of tomorrow, Saturday, March 2, 2002. I would not be responsible for the contents of the newspaper as of tomorrow.
Best Regards
Shaheen Sehbai
Memorandum
To: Shaheen Sehbai, Editor, The News
From: MSR, Editor-in-Chief
Date: 2/28/02
Re: Violation of policy
I am constrained to bring to your notice several, and repeated, violation of editorial policies clearly understood between us. Infact, these policies have also been agreed in writing. On 26th March, 2001, you had published a one sided, incorrect and libelous article against Mr. Aittiazaz Bob Din, a well known businessman residing in the United States. Although Mr. Bob Din had cited person differences between the two of you, dating back to your stay in the United States, as the motive behind the unfounded allegations against him, I had disregarded this suggestion at that time and had judged the matter purely on merit. As you will recall, you were unable to substantiate the serious charges you had leveled against him. It was only through my personal apologies and the intervention of mutual acquaintances that we were able to dissuade Mr. Din from suing the News for defamation and libel.On two different occasions, you published unfavourable articles about PIA, which were of uncertain veracity and did not contain their point of view, as a result of which they denounced these articles in a press conference, threatened to take legal action, suspended our advertisements and also stopped putting our papers on PIA flights. Needless to say, these measures hurt us financially, damaged our reputation and took a great deal of pacification to undo.
I would also refer to the written terms of our agreement at the time of your appointment under which you are required to discuss the top stories of the day and other important editorial matters with me and seek the Editor-in-chiefs point of view and verdict on contentious issues? To my recollection, you have never deemed it fit to consult me on any matter. In this connection, I would further like to refer to our meeting on the eve of Eid in which group Editor Daily Jang was also present and we discussed the fallout of the story printed a few days earlier in the News ( again without consulting me, I might add ) which was perceived to be damaging to our national interest and elicited severe reaction by the Government. It had been agreed that we would contact relevant Government functionaries and arrange to meet with them to discuss the issue and also convey our point of view. Regrettably, you chose not to go to Islamabad and attend the meeting even though this had been clearly agreed. You even rebuffed senior Government officials who contacted you on the phone by hanging up on them. Sham Sahib and I left several messages with your assistant but again, you chose not to take or return our calls.
I would also like to take this opportunity to point out again, that it is a frequent complaint that you do not interact with people. Not only have senior Government officials protested that you are inaccessible to them, but even your own staff complains that you are hardly available for meetings, guidance and discussions.
I must convey my disappointment to you at all these issues, as I must convey my disappointment with the lack of general progress in the improvement of the News. The number of mistakes and blunders being committed, failure to follow agreed journalistic ethics - as pointed out to you from time to time by EMD have all resulted in financial set backs as well as loss of credibility for the News. I have only recounted some of the problems besetting the Jang group. It is quite evident that matters are not proceeding as we had agreed. However, before I make up my mind, I would like to hear your point of view.
I look forward to hearing from you about the serious issues that I have raised above and any solutions that you may propose.
Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman
"UNQUOTE"
REFERENCE: Why Are We Killing Ourselves? Anas Malik March 2, 2002http://www.chowk.com/interacts/5252/1/0/a
Mr. Shaheen Sehbai, Group Editor, The News International - Jang Group of Newspapers is very fond of quoting Foreign Press particularly when Foreign Press [Pro Zionist] is negative on President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari and PPP. Shaheen Sehbai while quoting The New York Times: “The problems in Afghanistan have only been compounded by the fragility of Mr. Obama’s partner in Pakistan, President Asif Ali Zardari, who is so weak that his government seems near collapse.” The Washington Post in a report by two correspondents said: “Zardari's political weakness is an additional hazard for a new bilateral relationship...The administration expects Zardari's position to continue to weaken, leaving him as a largely ceremonial president even if he manages to survive in office.” The report in The New York Times was filed by journalists Peter Baker, Eric Schmitt, David E Sanger, Elisabeth Bumiller and Sabrina Tavernise from Islamabad, Washington and New York while in the Washington Post Karen DeYoung from Washington and Pamela Constable from Islamabad contributed to its report. Both newspapers referred to President Zardari's increasing weakness in the context of the new Afghan policy being prepared by President Obama, which will be announced on Dec 1. REFERENCE: Obama administration fears Zardari collapse WASHINGTON (Shaheen Sehbai)Updated at: 1525 PST, Monday, November 30, 2009 http://thenews.jang.com.pk/updates.asp?id=92494Seven years ago Mr Shaheen Sehbai was also quoted in The New York Times as well his Editor in Chief i.e. Mir Shakil ur Rehman, and do note what Mir Shakil ur Rehman had to say about the Patriotism and Loyalty of Shaheen Sehbai with Pakistan.
"QUOTE"
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, March 1 (Reuters) -- The editor of a leading English-language daily said today that he had resigned, citing pressure from the government after the newspaper reported a link between the prime suspect in the killing of Daniel Pearl and an attack on India's Parliament in December. India blamed Pakistan-based militant groups for the attack, but the Pakistani government denied any link. The editor who resigned, Shaheen Sehbai, said that after publication of the article in his paper, The News, the owner and editor in chief, Mir Shakeel ur-Rahman, was pressed by the government to dismiss him and three other journalists. ''I was told by my editor in chief that he had been asked to sack four journalists -- myself, Kamran Khan, Amir Mateen and Rauf Klasra,'' Mr. Sehabai said in an online interview. ''He did not name who had said that, but he told me to go and see the I.S.I.,'' Pakistan's intelligence service. REFERENCES: A NATION CHALLENGED: SUSPECTS; Kidnapping Suspect Bears Sign of Militancy Elsewhere By DOUGLAS JEHL Published: Saturday, March 2, 2002 Editor Forced to Resign http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/02/world/nation-challenged-suspects-kidnapping-suspect-bears-sign-militancy-elsewhere.htmlThe article, Mr. Rahman wrote in the letter dismissing Mr. Sehbai, ''was perceived to be damaging to our national interest and elicited severe reaction of the government.'' He also accused Mr. Sehbai of violating standard procedures. Mr. Rahman and government officials were not immediately available for comment. Mr. Sehbai and one of the reporters, Mr. Klasra, have recently complained of harassment by intelligence agencies, a colleague said. While Pakistan's news media enjoy relative freedom, some newspapers have been forced to remove staff members after complaints from the government or intelligence agencies. REFERENCES: A NATION CHALLENGED: SUSPECTS; Kidnapping Suspect Bears Sign of Militancy Elsewhere By DOUGLAS JEHL Published: Saturday, March 2, 2002 Editor Forced to Resign http://www.nytimes.com/2002/03/02/world/nation-challenged-suspects-kidnapping-suspect-bears-sign-militancy-elsewhere.html
"UNQUOTE"
SHAHEEN SEHBAI'S DOUBTFUL LOYALTY WITH PAKISTAN AND READ WHAT HE HAD SAID TO "The Times of India" ABOUT PAKISTAN ARMY AND ISI.
"QUOTE"
Exposing the Pakistani establishment's links with terrorists can be a hazardous job. It cost Daniel Pearl his life, and Shaheen Sehbai, former editor of 'The News', a widely-read English daily in Pakistan his job. Fearing for his life, Sehbai is now in the US He speaks to Shobha John about the pressure on journalists from the powers-that-be in Pakistan:Q. Is it true you had to quit because a news report angered the government?
A. On February 16, our Karachi reporter, Kamran Khan, filed a story quoting Omar Sheikh as saying that he was behind the attack on the Indian Parliament on December 13, the Kashmir assembly attack and other terrorist acts in India. Shortly after I am, I got a call on my cellphone from Ashfaq Gondal, the principal information officer of the government, telling me that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) had intercepted the story and I should stop its publication. I told him I was not prepared to do so. He then called my newspaper group owner/editor-in-chief, Mir Shakil ur Rehman in London and asked him to stop the story. Rehman stopped it in the Jang, the sister newspaper in Urdu but could not do so in The News as I was unavailable. The next day, all editions of The News carried the story. It was also carried by The Washington Post and The International Herald Tribune the same day, as Kamran also reports for The Post. On February 18, all government advertising for the entire group was stopped. On February 22, Rehman rushed to Karachi and called a meeting at 10 p m. He told me the government was very angry at the story. He said he had been told to sack four journalists, including myself, if the ads were to be restored. He asked me to proceed to Islamabad to pacify the officials. Sham informed us that he had contacted the officials and was told by Anwar Mahmood, the information secretary that the matter was now beyond his capacity and we will have to see the ISI high-ups to resolve it. I was told to go and see the ISI chief in Islamabad and also to call Anwar Mahmood on Eid and improve my 'public relations' with him.I left the meeting with the firm resolve that I would neither call nor meet anyone, even at gunpoint. Sham, however, left for Islamabad to meet the officials. His meetings were unsuccessful. From my sources, I learned that the ISI and the government were not prepared to lift the ban unless I gave them specific assurances. If I refused, there may be trouble for me as the owner was already under pressure to fire me and the other three journalists. On February 27, I took a flight out of Karachi to New York. On February 28, I received a memo from my owner accusing me of policy violations. In reply, on March 1, I sent in my resignation.
Q. Is the ISI still keeping a close watch on journalists after Daniel Pearl's killing?
A. The ISI has been a major player in domestic politics and continues to be so. That means it has to control the media and right now, it is actively involved in doing so. Pearl's murder has given them more reasons to activate the national interest excuse.
Q. Is there a sense of desperation within the Pakistan government that it should not be linked in any way to events in India?
A. Yes. That's why when our story quoted Omar Sheikh claiming such links, the government came down hard on us.
Q. Has there been any pressure on the staff of 'The News' to 'conform'?
A. Yes. The News was under constant pressure to stop its aggressive reporting on the corruption of the present government. A few months back, Pakistan International Airlines stopped all ads to The News as we ran a couple of exposes. A major story on the government owned United Bank was blocked when we sought the official version. Intelligence agencies were deputed to tail our reporters in Islamabad.
Q. This is not the first time you and your family have been under pressure, is it?
A. I have been the target of physical attacks in the past too for stories against the government. The first was in August 1990 when I was arrested and detained for 36 hours and falsely charged for drinking, before a judge gave bail. The second time, in December 1991, three masked men broke into my house in Islamabad, ransacked it, pulled guns on my two sons, beat them up and told them, Tell your father to write against the government again and see what happens. In 1995, I was threatened once again and I had to take my entire family away. My newspaper then, Dawn, decided to post me to Washington as their correspondent. This time, I feared that I could be physically targeted again. So I decided to leave the country.
Q. Is the present regime in Pakistan any different from earlier ones with regard to freedom of the press?
A. It has tolerated some freedom under foreign pressure, but the situation is basically the same. Now Musharraf appears to be under pressure to manage the media more effectively in order to manage the October elections and get his supporters elected in the polls. He needs to legitimise his military rule through a political process, which essentially is being rigged from the beginning.
Q. Is your case the first instance of a crackdown on the media by this government?
A. This was the first case of a major financial squeeze on the country's largest media group. It was followed by demands to sack me and other senior journalists and then to change the policy.
Q. How independent will the forthcoming polls be now?
A. They will be as independent as the recently-concluded local bodies polls in which candidates were named by the army and no one else was allowed to win. Candidates for state and national assemblies are now being pre-selected and influential politicians are being pressured, lured or coerced to join Musharrafs supporters.
Q. What is the mood within the Pakistani media?
A. The media is generally quiet and has fallen in line because Musharraf is getting strong support from the US and the West. But elements in the media are very resolute and they will fight back as soon as they see Musharraf losing his grip. The October polls will determine the role of the media as well because if Musharraf fails to 'manage' the elections, his control over the media will be finished.
Q. What do you propose to do now?
A. I will be writing out of Washington for some time and will return to Pakistan around the October polls. My days in Pakistan were very exciting as I maintained a completely independent editorial policy and pursued it to the last day. In the memos written by the owner, he repeatedly complains that I was not consulting him on policies. I had no need to, as he watches his own commercial interests. REFERENCE: The Daily Noose (Interview with Shaheen Sehbai) Publication: The Times of India Date: March 18, 2002 http://www.hvk.org/articles/0302/206.html
"UNQUOTE"
Secular or Liberals may be Anti Extremism but not “Fools” to take Dawn’s story filed by Hamid Mir in 2001 as a Cardinal Truth. Dawn Groups Editorial Talks about Credibility of Media is at stake whereas the same Hamid Mir filed this “Bunkum” as a Superlead in the most prestigious Newspaper of Pakistan i.e. Daily Dawn after 911, read and pull your hair:
Daily Dawn was allegedly founded by the Founder of Pakistan Muhammad Ali Jinnah. The CEO of Dawn group is Hameed Haroon, and the current editor of Dawn is Abbas Nasir, who is also looking after the Dawn News Channel [supposed to be a full time job], and how the hell it would be possible to look after two organizations at the same time!!
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/home/
http://www.dawn.com/wps/wcm/connect/dawn-content-library/dawn/news/home/
Hameed Haroon is Chief Executive Officer of The Dawn Media Group (DMG), Pakistan’s leading media conglomerate. The Group comprises Pakistan Herald Publications (Pvt.) Limited, the printers and publishers of DAWN newspaper and three leading magazines, Herald (current affairs) Spider (Information Technology) and Aurora (marketing and advertising); DawnNews Pakistan’s first and to-date only English language news channel; City FM89 radio and DAWN.COM-arguably Pakistan’s most visited news web portal. [Couurtesy: Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hameed_Haroon]
As per latest news update dated 25 May 2007 [AAJ NEWS 2100 HOURS].
On 25 May 2007 the DAWN NEWS CHANNEL's test transmission was commenced and guess what the opening ceremony was addressed by Generalissimo Generalissimus Il President Mr Parvez Musharraf. Whereas the so-called Beacon of the Press Freedom i.e. Pakistan Herald Publication Limited or to be precise Daily Dawn [DATED 25 MAY 2007] says:
"“In our endeavour to establish DawnNews we are enormously helped by our legacy – The legacy of DAWN, that was founded by the Quaid-i-Azam Mohammad Ali Jinnah on 14th August 1947 in Karachi, the same day our nation was born. We believe that by facilitating access to information of the highest quality and with a defined commitment to clarity and accuracy, we can enable Pakistan’s young generations to assume their place as informed citizens of the world.”
But Jinnah had never dreamt of Controlled and Guided Democracy by Military Dictator as well as he never dreamt of that a Military Dictator would be addressing a gathering of Newspaper founded by a Lawyer of Impeccable Character i.e. Mohammad Ali Jinnah
The tragedy of English Speaking Pakistani Elite Class can only be defined as:
If you lost money then nothing is lost,
If you lost health then something is lost,
If you lost character then you lost everything and nothing is left.
Zubeida Mustafa, Senior Correspondent Daily Dawn - Karachi
People have short memory because right after 911 in the same Daily Dawn one of the most serious and senior journalist and that too amongst the senior editors Ms. Zubeida Mustafa opined in her column [The flip side of information By Zubeida Mustafa http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/16/op.htm#2] that “Stephen Hess and Marvin Kalb write in their book The Media and the War on Terrorism about the "CNN effect" (a term now applied for all television channels), "In 1992, President George H.W. Bush saw television images of starving children in Somalia and he felt obliged to send US troops there to distribute food."
They add, "Less than a year, later President Bill Clinton saw television images of Somali fighters dragging the desecrated body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu and he felt obliged to withdraw the troops." She further wrotes, “With more serious implications has been the media's propensity to project an image which may actually misrepresent the truth. The images could be positive or negative, but not accurate.” Since there is no professional check - an editor for websites, a code of ethics for television and radio - just about anyone can acquire a medium and put anything up there. All the information so released becomes an article of faith because it has been well presented and is believed by the gullible reader/viewer/listener.” I wonder was there any professional check on Mr. Hamid Mir (now in GEO TV) when he filed that story in one of the most ‘prestigious’ newspaper of the country and shamelessly the editorial executives are now advising all and sundry to check and cross check before filing any story. Did they ask from that reporter that Atomic/Nuclear devices are not that kind of devices, which can be carried away easily like .22 caliber pistol? Yet they published Hamid Mir’s story as headline in Daily Dawn as a gospel truth.
It’s a separate debate whether Al-Qaeda/Taliban was involved in 9/11 or not but still after thoroughly bombed and destroyed Afghanistan, the most high tech US Intelligence apparatus couldn’t ‘succeed’ in nabbing the Bearded Bandits i.e. Osama, Zawahiri and Omar {seems to be the disciples of Hassan Bin Sabbah of Nazari Community of Qila Al Amut, Khorasan} but isn’t it strange that these wanted persons are being sought after by CIA, NSA, DIA, FBI etc.etc. but a petty reporter of Pakistan not only knows where he was right after 9/11 and that was not the end, the reporter also declared himself as an un-official biographer of Osama Bin Laden.
They add, "Less than a year, later President Bill Clinton saw television images of Somali fighters dragging the desecrated body of an American soldier through the streets of Mogadishu and he felt obliged to withdraw the troops." She further wrotes, “With more serious implications has been the media's propensity to project an image which may actually misrepresent the truth. The images could be positive or negative, but not accurate.” Since there is no professional check - an editor for websites, a code of ethics for television and radio - just about anyone can acquire a medium and put anything up there. All the information so released becomes an article of faith because it has been well presented and is believed by the gullible reader/viewer/listener.” I wonder was there any professional check on Mr. Hamid Mir (now in GEO TV) when he filed that story in one of the most ‘prestigious’ newspaper of the country and shamelessly the editorial executives are now advising all and sundry to check and cross check before filing any story. Did they ask from that reporter that Atomic/Nuclear devices are not that kind of devices, which can be carried away easily like .22 caliber pistol? Yet they published Hamid Mir’s story as headline in Daily Dawn as a gospel truth.
It’s a separate debate whether Al-Qaeda/Taliban was involved in 9/11 or not but still after thoroughly bombed and destroyed Afghanistan, the most high tech US Intelligence apparatus couldn’t ‘succeed’ in nabbing the Bearded Bandits i.e. Osama, Zawahiri and Omar {seems to be the disciples of Hassan Bin Sabbah of Nazari Community of Qila Al Amut, Khorasan} but isn’t it strange that these wanted persons are being sought after by CIA, NSA, DIA, FBI etc.etc. but a petty reporter of Pakistan not only knows where he was right after 9/11 and that was not the end, the reporter also declared himself as an un-official biographer of Osama Bin Laden.
Mr Hamid Mir, Geo TV Host/The News International Correspondent
Osama claims he has nukes: If US uses N-arms it will get same response By Hamid Mir
November 10, 2001 Saturday Shaba’an 23, 1422
http://www.dawn.com/2001/11/10/top1.htm
KABUL, Nov 9: Osama bin Laden has said that “we have chemical and nuclear weapons as a deterrent and if America used them against us we reserve the right to use them”.
He said this in a special interview with Hamid Mir, the editor of Ausaf, for Dawn and Ausaf, at an undisclosed location near Kabul.
This was the first interview given by Osama to any journalist after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
The correspondent was taken blindfolded in a jeep from Kabul on the night of Nov 7 to a place where it was extremely cold and one could hear the sound of anti-aircraft guns firing away. After a wait of some time , Osama arrived with about a dozen bodyguards and Dr Ayman Al-Zuwahiri and answered questions.
Hamid Mir: After American bombing on Afghanistan on Oct 7, you told the Al-Jazeera TV that the Sept 11 attacks had been carried out by some Muslims. How did you know they were Muslims ?
Osama bin Laden: The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects of the Sept 11 attacks, saying that the persons named were involved in the attacks. They were all Muslims, of whom 15 belonged to Saudi Arabia, two were from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to the information I have, they were all passengers.Fateha was held for them in their homes. But America said they were hijackers.
HM: In your statement of Oct 7, you expressed satisfaction over the Sept 11 attacks, although a large number of innocent people perished in them, hundreds among them were Muslims. Can you justify the killing of innocent men in the light of Islamic teachings ?
OBL: This is a major point in jurisprudence. In my view, if an enemy occupies a Muslim territory and uses common people as human shield, then it is permitted to attack that enemy. For instance, if bandits barge into a home and hold a child hostage, then the child’s father can attack the bandits and in that attack even the child may get hurt.
America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechenya, Kashmir and Iraq. The Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal. The Islamic Shariat says Muslims should not live in the land of the infidel for long. The Sept 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America’s icons of military and economic power.
The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was against killing women and children. When he saw a dead woman during a war, he asked why was she killed ? If a child is above 13 and wields a weapon against Muslims, then it is permitted to kill him.
The American people should remember that they pay taxes to their government, they elect their president, their government manufactures arms and gives them to Israel and Israel uses them to massacre Palestinians. The American Congress endorses all government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims. The entire America, because they elect the Congress.
I ask the American people to force their government to give up anti-Muslim policies. The American people had risen against their government’s war in Vietnam. They must do the same today. The American people should stop the massacre of Muslims by their government.
HM: Can it be said that you are against the American government, not the American people ?
OSB: Yes! We are carrying on the mission of our Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). The mission is to spread the word of God, not to indulge massacring people. We ourselves are the target of killings, destruction and atrocities. We are only defending ourselves. This is defensive Jihad. We want to defend our people and our land. That is why I say that if we don’t get security, the Americans, too would not get security.
This is a simple formula that even an American child can understand. This is the formula of live and let live.
HM: The head of Egypt’s Jamia Al-Azhar has issued a fatwa (edict) against you, saying that the views and beliefs of Osama bin Laden have nothing to do with Islam. What do you have to say about that ?
OSB: The fatwa of any official Aalim has no value for me. History is full of such Ulema who justify Riba, who justify the occupation of Palestine by the Jews, who justify the presence of American troops around Harmain Sharifain. These people support the infidels for their personal gain.The true Ulema support the Jihad against America. Tell me if Indian forces invaded Pakistan what would you do? The Israeli forces occupy our land and the American troops are on our territory. We have no other option but to launch Jihad.
HM: Some Western media claim that you are trying to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons. How much truth is there in such reports?
OSB: I heard the speech of American President Bush yesterday (Oct 7). He was scaring the European countries that Osama wanted to attack with weapons of mass destruction. I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.
HM: Where did you get these weapons from ?
OSB: Go to the next question.
HM: Demonstrations are being held in many European countries against American attacks on Afghanistan. Thousands of the protesters were non-Muslims. What is your opinion about those non-Muslim protesters ?
OSB: There are many innocent and good-hearted people in the West. American media instigates them against Muslims. However, some good-hearted people are protesting against American attacks because human nature abhors injustice.
The Muslims were massacred under the UN patronage in Bosnia. I am ware that some officers of the State Department had resigned in protest. Many years ago the US ambassador in Egypt had resigned in protest against the policies of President Jimmy Carter. Nice and civilized are everywhere. The Jewish lobby has taken America and the West hostage.
HM: Some people say that war is no solution to any issue. Do you think that some political formula could be found to stop the present war ?
OSB: You should put this question to those who have started this war. We are only defending ourselves.
HM: If America got out of Saudi Arabia and the Al-Aqsa mosque was liberated, would you then present yourself for trial in some Muslim country ?
OSB: Only Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Pakistan follows the English law. I don’t consider Saudi Arabia an Islamic country. If the Americans have charges against me, we too have a charge sheet against them.
HM: Pakistan government decided to cooperate with America after Sept 11, which you don’t consider right. What do you think Pakistan should have done but to cooperate with America ?
OSB: The government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view. It should not have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on the basis of those surmises.
HM: Had America decided to attack Pakistan with the help of India and Israel, what would have we done ?
OSB: What has America achieved by attacking Afghanistan ? We will not leave the Pakistani people and the Pakistani territory at anybody’s mercy.
We will defend Pakistan. But we have been disappointed by Gen Pervez Musharraf. He says that the majority is with him. I say the majority is against him.
Bush has used the word crusade. This is a crusade declared by Bush. It is no wisdom to barter off blood of Afghan brethren to improve Pakistan’s economy. He will be punished by the Pakistani people and Allah.
Right now a great war of Islamic history is being fought in Afghanistan. All the big powers are united against Muslims. It is ‘ sawab ‘ to participate in this war.
HM: A French newspaper has claimed that you had kidney problem and had secretly gone to Dubai for treatment last year. Is that correct ?
OSB: My kidneys are all right. I did not go to Dubai last year. One British newspaper has published an imaginary interview with Islamabad dateline with one of my sons who lives in Saudi Arabia. All this is false.
HM: Is it correct that a daughter of Mulla Omar is your wife or your daughter is Mulla Omar’s wife ?
OSB: (Laughs). All my wives are Arabs ( and all my daughters are married to Arab Mujahideen). I have spiritual relationship with Mulla Omar. He is a great and brave Muslim of this age. He does not fear anyone but Allah. He is not under any personal relationship or obligation to me. He is only discharging his religious duty. I, too, have not chosen this life out of any personal consideration.
This was the first interview given by Osama to any journalist after the September 11 attacks in New York and Washington.
The correspondent was taken blindfolded in a jeep from Kabul on the night of Nov 7 to a place where it was extremely cold and one could hear the sound of anti-aircraft guns firing away. After a wait of some time , Osama arrived with about a dozen bodyguards and Dr Ayman Al-Zuwahiri and answered questions.
Hamid Mir: After American bombing on Afghanistan on Oct 7, you told the Al-Jazeera TV that the Sept 11 attacks had been carried out by some Muslims. How did you know they were Muslims ?
Osama bin Laden: The Americans themselves released a list of the suspects of the Sept 11 attacks, saying that the persons named were involved in the attacks. They were all Muslims, of whom 15 belonged to Saudi Arabia, two were from the UAE and one from Egypt. According to the information I have, they were all passengers.Fateha was held for them in their homes. But America said they were hijackers.
HM: In your statement of Oct 7, you expressed satisfaction over the Sept 11 attacks, although a large number of innocent people perished in them, hundreds among them were Muslims. Can you justify the killing of innocent men in the light of Islamic teachings ?
OBL: This is a major point in jurisprudence. In my view, if an enemy occupies a Muslim territory and uses common people as human shield, then it is permitted to attack that enemy. For instance, if bandits barge into a home and hold a child hostage, then the child’s father can attack the bandits and in that attack even the child may get hurt.
America and its allies are massacring us in Palestine, Chechenya, Kashmir and Iraq. The Muslims have the right to attack America in reprisal. The Islamic Shariat says Muslims should not live in the land of the infidel for long. The Sept 11 attacks were not targeted at women and children. The real targets were America’s icons of military and economic power.
The Holy Prophet (peace be upon him) was against killing women and children. When he saw a dead woman during a war, he asked why was she killed ? If a child is above 13 and wields a weapon against Muslims, then it is permitted to kill him.
The American people should remember that they pay taxes to their government, they elect their president, their government manufactures arms and gives them to Israel and Israel uses them to massacre Palestinians. The American Congress endorses all government measures and this proves that the entire America is responsible for the atrocities perpetrated against Muslims. The entire America, because they elect the Congress.
I ask the American people to force their government to give up anti-Muslim policies. The American people had risen against their government’s war in Vietnam. They must do the same today. The American people should stop the massacre of Muslims by their government.
HM: Can it be said that you are against the American government, not the American people ?
OSB: Yes! We are carrying on the mission of our Prophet, Muhammad (peace be upon him). The mission is to spread the word of God, not to indulge massacring people. We ourselves are the target of killings, destruction and atrocities. We are only defending ourselves. This is defensive Jihad. We want to defend our people and our land. That is why I say that if we don’t get security, the Americans, too would not get security.
This is a simple formula that even an American child can understand. This is the formula of live and let live.
HM: The head of Egypt’s Jamia Al-Azhar has issued a fatwa (edict) against you, saying that the views and beliefs of Osama bin Laden have nothing to do with Islam. What do you have to say about that ?
OSB: The fatwa of any official Aalim has no value for me. History is full of such Ulema who justify Riba, who justify the occupation of Palestine by the Jews, who justify the presence of American troops around Harmain Sharifain. These people support the infidels for their personal gain.The true Ulema support the Jihad against America. Tell me if Indian forces invaded Pakistan what would you do? The Israeli forces occupy our land and the American troops are on our territory. We have no other option but to launch Jihad.
HM: Some Western media claim that you are trying to acquire chemical and nuclear weapons. How much truth is there in such reports?
OSB: I heard the speech of American President Bush yesterday (Oct 7). He was scaring the European countries that Osama wanted to attack with weapons of mass destruction. I wish to declare that if America used chemical or nuclear weapons against us, then we may retort with chemical and nuclear weapons. We have the weapons as deterrent.
HM: Where did you get these weapons from ?
OSB: Go to the next question.
HM: Demonstrations are being held in many European countries against American attacks on Afghanistan. Thousands of the protesters were non-Muslims. What is your opinion about those non-Muslim protesters ?
OSB: There are many innocent and good-hearted people in the West. American media instigates them against Muslims. However, some good-hearted people are protesting against American attacks because human nature abhors injustice.
The Muslims were massacred under the UN patronage in Bosnia. I am ware that some officers of the State Department had resigned in protest. Many years ago the US ambassador in Egypt had resigned in protest against the policies of President Jimmy Carter. Nice and civilized are everywhere. The Jewish lobby has taken America and the West hostage.
HM: Some people say that war is no solution to any issue. Do you think that some political formula could be found to stop the present war ?
OSB: You should put this question to those who have started this war. We are only defending ourselves.
HM: If America got out of Saudi Arabia and the Al-Aqsa mosque was liberated, would you then present yourself for trial in some Muslim country ?
OSB: Only Afghanistan is an Islamic country. Pakistan follows the English law. I don’t consider Saudi Arabia an Islamic country. If the Americans have charges against me, we too have a charge sheet against them.
HM: Pakistan government decided to cooperate with America after Sept 11, which you don’t consider right. What do you think Pakistan should have done but to cooperate with America ?
OSB: The government of Pakistan should have the wishes of the people in view. It should not have surrendered to the unjustified demands of America. America does not have solid proof against us. It just has some surmises. It is unjust to start bombing on the basis of those surmises.
HM: Had America decided to attack Pakistan with the help of India and Israel, what would have we done ?
OSB: What has America achieved by attacking Afghanistan ? We will not leave the Pakistani people and the Pakistani territory at anybody’s mercy.
We will defend Pakistan. But we have been disappointed by Gen Pervez Musharraf. He says that the majority is with him. I say the majority is against him.
Bush has used the word crusade. This is a crusade declared by Bush. It is no wisdom to barter off blood of Afghan brethren to improve Pakistan’s economy. He will be punished by the Pakistani people and Allah.
Right now a great war of Islamic history is being fought in Afghanistan. All the big powers are united against Muslims. It is ‘ sawab ‘ to participate in this war.
HM: A French newspaper has claimed that you had kidney problem and had secretly gone to Dubai for treatment last year. Is that correct ?
OSB: My kidneys are all right. I did not go to Dubai last year. One British newspaper has published an imaginary interview with Islamabad dateline with one of my sons who lives in Saudi Arabia. All this is false.
HM: Is it correct that a daughter of Mulla Omar is your wife or your daughter is Mulla Omar’s wife ?
OSB: (Laughs). All my wives are Arabs ( and all my daughters are married to Arab Mujahideen). I have spiritual relationship with Mulla Omar. He is a great and brave Muslim of this age. He does not fear anyone but Allah. He is not under any personal relationship or obligation to me. He is only discharging his religious duty. I, too, have not chosen this life out of any personal consideration.
STOP PRESS:
Yet, Mr Hameed Haroon and Editor Dawn and Caretaker Dawn News Channel, Mr Abbas Nasir had the audacity to snatch the livelihood of more than 70 Working Journalist by summarliy dismissing them from their jobs in one go, both of these gentlemen i.e. Mr Hameed Haroon and Abbas Nasir deserve journalists indulged in Yellow Journalism like Ansar Abbasi, Hamid Mir, Ghulam Husnain and Kamran Khan. List of Sacked Journalists from Dawn News Channel is as under:
Notes:The flip side of information By Zubeida Mustafa
http://www.dawn.com/2005/03/16/op.htm#2
Dawn's Editorial talks of Government's Bag of Dirty Trick. One wonders! How did Hamid Mir knew about this if he is not "Connected". Such stories are not broken by ordinary and i must say "Honest and Upright Journalists who run from pillar to post to file a single story to run the kitchen"
ISLAMABAD: The man who has ruled Sindh as a de facto chief minister for many years finally lost his powers on Saturday. Brigadier Huda, who was an ISI commander in Sindh, was in fact the caretaker of the MQM-PML-Q provincial coalition government. He was responsible for running the coalition in a smooth manner. All major decisions were taken after his consultation. He resolved the differences between former CM Arbab Ghulam Rahim and the MQM many a time. Many provincial ministers even used to say “ooper Khuda aur neechay Huda”. The brigadier’s name figured in the power circles of Islamabad in the evening of May 12, 2007. Brigadier Huda was given credit for the show of massive government power in Karachi on that day. Initially, the MQM was reluctant to hold a rally in Karachi on May 12. The then ISI DG Gen Ashfaq Kayani also had the same opinion that the MQM should not come out on the streets when Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry would visit Karachi. It was Huda who played an important role in convincing the MQM not to cancel its rally. He assured the MQM leadership that there will be no riots on that day though he was proved wrong. He was supposed to be very close to the then Army chief General Pervez Musharraf. However, no action was taken against him.The blasts in the rally of Benazir Bhutto on October 18, 2007 in Karachi were another failure of Brigadier Huda. He was responsible for the security of Benazir Bhutto on that day more than anybody else. However, he was not transferred despite his repeated failures. His downfall started on April 9, 2008, when many people including lawyers were killed in the Karachi violence. It was another failure on the part of Huda. The new PPP government in Sindh felt that Brigadier Huda was still having immense political influence. It believed that he was in contact with the anti-PPP forces. Many important bureaucrats reported to the provincial government that Huda was interfering in different departments. He was more interested in “political makings and breakings” than doing his security job. After the episode of April 9, PPP leaders asked ISI Director General Lt Gen Nadeem Taj through the prime minister that Huda must be transferred. It took just a few days and Huda was transferred. He was replaced by another brigadier. The PPP gave a message that it means business and it will not tolerate any ambitious spymasters. There are rumors in the capital that the ISI DG will also be transferred soon but highly-placed sources in the new government dispelled all these rumours. “The prime minister has the authority to change the ISI DG anytime but right now we don’t need to change him,” claimed a top PPP leader. REFERENCE: De facto Sindh CM finally transferred Monday, April 21, 2008 By Hamid Mir http://www.thenews.com.pk/top_story_detail.asp?Id=14221
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