Yesterday (4 June 2011) Mr. Haroon ur Rasheed (Jang Group) while opining on Syed Saleem Shahzad Murder in a TV Show Policy Matter with Ms. Nasim Zehra, said “Pakistani Society is being brutalized” whereas he should have blame himself and his Spiritual Partners like Irfan Siddiqui (Jang Group), Ansar Abbasi (Jang Group/Geo TV), Salim Bokhari (Nation/Nawa-e-Qaqt), Meher Bokhari (Dunya TV), Asma Chaudhry (Dunya TV), Kashif Abbasi (ARY NEWS), Asma Shirazi (Samaa TV), Sajjad Mir (News One/TV ONE and Former Artist of PTV) and last but not the least Syed Talat Hussain (PTV, ARY, AAJ, DAWN NEWS). Minus Talat Hussain everybody took part in the Cold Blooded Murder of Former Punjab Governor, Late. Salman Taseer. One mustn't forget the Ugliest Role played by Irfan Siddiqui, Haroon ur Rasheed, Ansar Abbasi and Jang Group/GEO TV as well in Salman Taseer's Brutal Murder in connivance with the Lawyers Community/Judges and Rampant Mullahs of Pakistan. Hamid Mir talking on Policy Matters (4th June 2011) against suspected killers of Syed Saleem Shahzad. He promised that if no fair investigation will be conducted than he will announce the names of Saleem Shahzad.s’ suspected killers. Differentiate between Touts and Journalists.
Watch Policy Matters -- 4th June 2011
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gji5DB4KdzU
The agencies have always had personnel on their payrolls operating as reporters, anchors, and ‘analysts’ ever since the Ayub Khan dictatorship in the 1960s. Respected journalist and author, late Zamir Niazi, in his book, The Web of Censorship, suggests that the agencies recruited a number of ‘journalists’ during the Ayub dictatorship, specifically to check leftist sentiments that were all the rage among journalists at the time. Then during the Z.A. Bhutto regime, Niazi hints that the populist government and the conservative ‘establishment’ fought a battle of ideas through paid journalists. But the phenomenon of agency-backed journalists upholding the military establishment’s agenda and ideology in the press really came to the fore during the Ziaul Haq dictatorship in the 1980s. As left-leaning journalists were forced to exit newspapers during the Zia dictatorship, the corridors of these newspaper offices were suddenly stormed by large groups of pro-establishment personnel, mainly consisting of anti-Bhutto journalists and pro-Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) men. With the role of the ISI and other intelligence agencies expanding due to Pakistan’s direct involvement in the so-called ‘anti-Soviet Afghan jihad,’ many of these journalists were brought under the wings of various agencies, triggering a trend that still disfigures prominent sections of mainstream Pakistani media. What’s more, between early and late 1980s, the agencies were also able to plant men in the administration and finance departments of various mainstream media groups. REFERENCE: Are Intelligence Agencies Using Media As Puppets? http://pakistanmediawatch.com/2010/11/13/are-intelligence-agencies-using-media-as-puppets/
During 2010 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.Live With Talat - Part 1 (20th May 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OV6GLVyjqjo
Live With Talat - Part 2 (20th May 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IOFea8qOmSs
Live With Talat - Part 3 (20th May 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y_NVxKRsQXQ
Live With Talat - Part 4 (20th May 2010)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0J6SB4ppNvA
Note Kashif Abbasi (ARY NEWS) in Live with Talat:) and you may find that Kashif was “sympathetic” towards militant , also note that Ansar Abbasi has almost fixed the responsibility on Hamid Mir. What a bunch of Selfish down to core “Mob” .
Jang Group & Ansar Abbasi "ILLEGALLY" Taped the Telephones of Judges & Citizens.
Credible reports indicated that the authorities routinely use wiretaps and intercepted and opened mail. The Supreme Court directed the Government to seek its permission before carrying out wiretapping or eavesdropping operations; however, the judiciary's directive has been ignored widely. No action was taken during the year in the 1996 case of 12 government agencies accused of tapping and monitoring citizens' phone calls and no additional action was expected. REFERENCE: PAKISTAN Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor 2002 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/2002/18314.htmIn 1997 the Supreme Court directed the federal Government to seek the Court's permission before carrying out any future wiretapping or eavesdropping operations. Nonetheless, that same year, a lawyer for a former director of the Intelligence Bureau, charged with illegal wiretapping during Benazir Bhutto's second term in office, presented the Supreme Court with a list of 12 government agencies that still tapped and monitored telephone calls of citizens. The case is pending in the Supreme Court. A press story in October 1998 quoted anonymous cabinet ministers who complained of wiretapping of their telephones by the Intelligence Bureau. EFERENCE: Country Reports on Human Rights Practices Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labor 1999 http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/hrrpt/1999/441.htm
Pakistan's Constitution of 1973 says (Jang Group/GEO TV/The News International flagrantly violate the following article)
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14. Inviolability of dignity of man, etc.
(1) The dignity of man and, subject to law, the privacy of home, shall be inviolable. REFERENCE: PART II Fundamental Rights and Principles of Policy http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/part2.ch1.html The Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan http://www.pakistani.org/pakistan/constitution/
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WHEN governments in this country are dismissed, petitions are filed in the Supreme Court, thousands of words are written by lawyers, and then thousands of words are written by judges delivering judgments. To save labour, time and money, and to make it quicker and simpler for judges, lawyers, and laymen alike to grasp the essentials of these repetitious petitions and judgments in which it is only the names of the petitioners and respondents which change, could they not be standardized? For instance, for corruption, the petitioners could simply write: "Refer to Form Krupt K1", which the respondents could answer with : "Denied - in terms of Form Krupt K2"; for telephone tapping, "Refer to Form Teltap TT 1" and "Denied - in terms of Form Teltap TT 2 "would serve the purpose, and so on and so forth. A one-page judgment could then be written by the judges simply by ordering the Registrar to 'Print out Snooze 1'. May I recommend that my friend Khalid Anwer, master of English and legalize prose, of petitioning and responding, compile a book of suitable forms. How effectively he attacked telephone tapping as the respondent's counsel in the matter of Benazir's petitition challenging her second dismissal (CP 59/96). Worth a read in his written statement is "Sixth Ground of the Dissolution Order : Illegal and unconstitutional phone tapping and eavesdropping". To reproduce excerpts :
".....it is necessary to discuss certain constitutional dimensions of the illegal phone tapping and eavesdropping........ the Constitution is based on the trichotomy of powers...... Although the three branches are inter-linked to a certain extent, e.g., the main organ of the executive, the Cabinet, is collectively responsible to the National Assembly.... Each pillar of the State must have the assurance that its correspondence and communications will not be illegally intercepted or interfered with...... What was going on was an invisible and silent surveillance being carried out deliberately and intentionally, in full awareness of the illegality of what was being done. The intent and the act were both mala fide and unlawful; the damage done had constitutional reverberations......
"The phone tapping and eavesdropping was being done by the Intelligence Bureau ("IB") which works directly under the control of the Prime Minister ... In the case of Judges, not only were the numbers at the Judges' rest house in Islamabad and Murree under surveillance, but the numbers of the following Judges were also being individually tapped [41 names listed]....
"That quite apart from the attack on the judiciary as an institution is the violation of individual fundamental rights by this phone tapping and eavesdropping....."
Ansar Abbasi & Jang Group Illegally Tape the Phones of Citizens & Judges - P - 1 (9 Apr 2009)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=95rtWVvqahw
Nawaz Sharif came in for his second round after the second dismissal of Benazir, and Senator Khalid Anwer joined his cabinet as law minister, and assumed his part of the collective responsibility, which, considering the extent of his learning, knowledge, and capability must be calculated as being at least ten times more than that of, say, the man who was Nawaz's education minister, Ghous Ali Shah. Nawaz and his government and his intelligence agencies in their turn telephone tapped and eavesdropped, also not sparing Judges and officials of the Supreme Court, as revealed by attorney-general Aziz Munshi in his arguments during the hearing of the petition filed by a number of parliamentarians challenging the second Nawaz dismissal (CP 63/99). Khalid appearing on behalf of the petitioners quite naturally had the decency to condemn the "tapping of the telephones of the Chief Justice of Pakistan and other Judges of the superior judiciary and called it a shameful act." REFERENCE: A laugh Ardeshir Cowasjee DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending: 10 June 2000 Issue : 06/22 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/2000/jun10.html#alau
Ansar Abbasi & Jang Group Illegally Tape the Phones of Citizens & Judges - P - 2 (9 Apr 2009)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyRQkewdj4Q
As for us, Volume VI of the Presidents written statement filed in the Supreme court in response to Benazir Bhuttos petition challenging her dissolution concerns the telephone tapping and the sending by the men of the Intelligence Bureau, who reported directly to the prime minister, of transcripts to the prime ministers house in envelopes marked For Eyes Only. It makes sorry reading, but there is much light relief in the code names given by Benazirs personal intelligence agency to the targeted individuals. Our judges were coded, by her tappers and tapers, as Blind Men and assigned numbers. For instance, Chief Justice Sajjad Ali Shah was BM-1, Justice Salim Akhtar was BM-3, Justice Ajmal Mian was BM-13. The superior judiciary was serialised up to BM-29. Moving lower down the scale, the chief of the public relations and Press affairs of our former prime minister and now PM presumptive, Mian Nawaz Sharif (also bugged with code name Guest), the one and only Mushahid Hussain (commonly known as Mushahid Sahib) was allotted the code name Smooth Operator. Who can deny that this appellation fits him perfectly?
Even Benazirs favourite Pir, Syed Ghulam Moeen-ul-Haq of Golra Sharif was hooked on to the tape recorders on November 2, 1996, three days prior to her dismissal. There was obviously not enough time to think up and accord him a suitable code name, but Blind Seer might have been fitting. Had he finally seen the light at the end of the tunnel, had he let the truth out and predicted a dismal future for his client? What had happened that day? Also tapped and taped was the telephone of Maulana Fazlur Rahman, Benazirs chosen chairman of the National Assemblys Foreign Affairs Committee who was sent by her around the world to represent our nation and who later was the worthy opponent in this last round of free and fair elections of Mussarat Shaheen. What on earth did she hope to learn from him? He was accorded the code name Wolf, though he bore little resemblance to that proud, lean, mean, canny, supple representative of the animal world.
Wiseman was the code for the Chairman of the Senate, the man who showed some economy with the truth, covering his tracks in the Supreme Court during the 1988 Junejo assembly dissolution case, the man who had reportedly been chosen and sent to the chief justice of the Supreme Court by the then Chief of the Army Staff, General Aslam Beg with a message. Wassem Sajjad, wise? Benazirs chosen president was not spared. His Information Adviser, Khwaja Ejaz Sarwar, was known to the IB tappers and tapers as Movie-I and his secretary, Shamsher Ali Khan, as Movie-2. Loyal uncle Ghulam Mustafa Jatoi was cryptically known as JT-1 and JT-2, a double honour. Senator Nasreen Jalil of the MQM bore the designation Sea Weed, and the delectable Ms. Saba, also of the MQM, whatever be the justification was endowed with the title Hot Bed. Her late lamented friend Mir Afzal Khan was also found worthy of scrutiny and named Evening Star (strangely apt, as his evening soon faded into night). Gallant army hero, Raja Nadir Parvez of the PML was coded as Panther. And happy-with-life, good old Chandi whose sonorous conversations lull one into a totally false sense of security, was known to Benazirs IB boys as Slim Jim.
All three of Nawazs Murree hideout telephones were put on the hook as of November 6, 1994. Cryptic talk of juicy Sirri Paya and Roghni Naan and Badami Sherbat no doubt helped Benazir stay in power for these past three insufferable years. Distasteful eavesdropping on opponents may be explainable but the list of friends, colleagues and supporters who have been bugged is long, and it should help us understand the working of the minds of all the sick IB buggers, tappers and tapers. The Blind and the Wise have now been officially debugged and the Supreme Court has managed to confiscate some 800 tapes. And not a day too the Chief Justice has, suo moto, constituted a bench of three Justices Saidduzzaman Siddiqui, Bashir Jehangiri and Nasir Aslam Zahid to lay down the laws and procedures to be followed by our future governments when they find it necessary and expedient to invade our castles.
To end, excerpts from Justice Kuldip Singhs judgement on taping, delivered in the Supreme Court of India in 1996 in the case of Peoples Union for Civil Liberties vs. The Union of India:
Telephone tapping is a serious invasion of an individuals privacy. With the growth of highly sophisticated communication technology, the right to hold telephone conversations in the privacy of ones home or office without interference is increasingly susceptible to abuse. It is no doubt correct that every government, however democratic, exercises some degree of subrosa as part of its intelligence outfit, but at the same time a citizens right to privacy has to be protected from being abused by the authorities of the day... The writ petition was filed in the wake of the report on Tapping of politicians phones by the Central Bureau of Investigation... Tapping telephones is a serious invasion of privacy... We therefore recommend that telephones may not be tapped except in the interest of national security, public order, investigation of crime and similar objectives under orders made in writing by the Minister concerned... The order should disclose reasons. An order for tapping of telephones should expire after three months from the date of the order. Moreover, within a period of six weeks the order should come up for review before a Board... It should be for the Board to decide whether tapping should continue... We, therefore, order and direct [that] an order for telephone-tapping... shall not be issued except by the Home Secretary, Government of India (Central Government) and Home Secretaries of the State Governments... The order shall require the person to whom it is addressed to intercept in the course of their transmission by means of a public telecommunication system such communications described in the order [and] to disclose the intercepted material to such persons and in such manner as described in the order. The matters to be taken into account in considering whether an order is necessary... shall include whether the information which is considered necessary to acquire could not reasonably be acquired by other means... The use of the intercepted material shall be limited to the minimum that is necessary... Each copy made of any of the intercepted material shall be destroyed as soon as its retention is no longer necessary...REFERENCE: Villainy Ardeshir Cowasjee DAWN WIRE SERVICE Week Ending:13 February 1997 Issue: 03/07 http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1997/13Feb97.html#vill
Tonight with Jasmeen - 1 (23 May 2010 SAMAA TV)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cA1pGeewzhI
- 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 (LUBPhttp://criticalppp.org/lubp/) on the website criticalppp.org, which is advertised as a project of critical supporters of the Pakistan People’s Party.
Tonight with Jasmeen - 2 (23 May 2010 SAMAA TV)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9CGHnbXsoQ8
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 – 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 - 3 (23 May 2010 SAMAA TV)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfSk17cQ5PA
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%5C26%5Cstory_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:Tonight with Jasmeen - 4 (23 May 2010 SAMAA TV)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q4uuTQLgB4E
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=28496 REFERENCE: 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=4http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/?page=3
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=28496 REFERENCE: 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=4http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/?page=3
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/?page=2http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/may/25/hamid-mir-responds/
Tonight with Jasmeen - 5 (23 May 2010 SAMAA TV)
URL: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Yqq5GtfedI
Who were the True & Bonafide Journalists in Pakistan?
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He was an institution in himself; he was an archive of the pres; he was the voice of freedom—but he was also a man. So he had to die and he died on Friday, the 11th of June in Karachi. But people like Zamir Niazi try to make the world a better place to live in. That is why they are distinguished human beings. Zamir Niazi earned this distinction by writing the history of the freedom of the press in Pakistan.
The first book, Press in Chains (1985), chronicled the history of the press since James Augustus Hicky’s Hicky’s Bengal Gazette or Calcutta General Advertiser (1780). This was the period of the East India Company’s rule which was in the process of consolidating its power over India. Under the circumstances it could not allow even the obvious villainies of its functionaries to be exposed. Hence the restrictions and the clamping down of quasi-legal restraints on the press.
But Zamir Niazi was not only a historian of journalism. He was a man with a mission. He wanted to prove that the rulers of Pakistan, despite having legitimized themselves in the name of ‘democracy’; were no less averse to the freedom of the press than were the British. Thus, from chapter 2 onwards, this book concentrates on Pakistan and dwells in detail on Ayub Khan’s martial law and his draconian measures to gag the pres.
The idea of the history was born in 1965 when ‘press advices’ were issued to the press. Altaf Gauhar, the Information Secretary who was the architect of this system of control, later met Zamir Niazi in his (Niazi’s) modest Gulshan-e-Iqbal house. At that time Altaf Gauhar had come to seek material on the press from the Grand Old Man of journalism. And Zamir Niazi showed him much of this material. Altaf Gauhar also tells us how Zamir Jafri retuned the pride of performance he had been given on 23 march 1995 in July the same year in order to protest the excessive use of force by the state in Karachi (in Hikayat-e-Khounchkan, 1997).
Zamir Niazi’s second major book was the Press Under Siege (1992). This book dealt with the violent post-Zia years up to 1991. These were the years of the rise of the MQM in Karachi and hardly anyone dared to report, much less criticize, the violence of the MQM against the press. Zamir Niazi, despite his support of the ordinary people of Karachi and some of the issues the MQM dwelt upon, did not hesitate to write against the high handed tactics of the MQM workers just as he reported such events elsewhere. The book ended with a moving appeal to the civil society to value the press. He wrote:
… we all have to stand up today against the twin menace of state restrictions and street barbarism. Perhaps it will be our last chance to do so. Perhaps tomorrow it will be too late. Perhaps tomorrow will never come.
What ominous words but how moving—and how true!
The third major book the Web of Censorship (Oxford University Press, 1994) goes over much the same ground as the previous ones but from a different angle. It does not occupy itself so much with individual acts of censorship, suppression and violence as with the nature and the process of censorship. In a word, the book connects violence with the lack of democracy which we have been experiencing. In a sense, this was a sequel and a theoretical analysis of the data marshalled together in the earlier books.
These are Zamir Niazi’s major works and I have given a gist of them because the Zamir Niazi who is a public figure, the Zamir Niazi I know, lives in his work and through his work. I do not know his personal life beyond such anecdotes or glimpses which are provided by other people such as in Hikayat-e-Khoonchikan. But I know that his trilogy is the best thing which happened to journalism in our part of the world.
I have been saying earlier, and many journalists have agreed with me, that the standards of Pakistani journalism have improved over the last twenty years. This is worth reiterating because other institutions do not seem to have improved noticeably. And why journalism has improved is because there were very brave and intelligent journalists around. This is really remarkable because the state does not protect or promote journalists, especially these who adhere to the truth despite the dictation or will of the functionaries of the state. Even parents do not encourage their children to become journalists. And still, despite the high risk and low pay, journalism has improved. Zamir Niazi’s books tell us exactly how much journalists have dared, and in what incredible ways they have suffered, to have earned respect in the eyes of those who cherish a free press.
The merits of a free press are so well known that it would be unnecessary to emphasize them but for the fact that many Pakistanis want the press to remain ‘in chains’. It is only the press which can present any country from becoming a concentration camp. The press should be free to publish what it likes, barring ordinary libel, even if this leads to yellow journalism and the sensationalism associated with tabloids. In time the tabloid form will find its lowly place and the reliable paper will assert itself as the voice of truth. The only homage we can pay to Zamir Niazi is to value cherish and preserve a free press. Than this, there is no greater homage. REFERENCE: Farewell to Zamir Niazi by Dr. Tariq Rahman http://www.tariqrahman.net/newspaper/Farewell%20to%20Zamir%20Niazi.htm
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