#Media, #Army and the #Government in #Pakistan

I am not surprised to see front page stories in one of the leading news paper today and both are the statements of the #Pakistani #Prime #Minister #Mian Muhammad #Nawaz #Sharif, what amazed me is the lead is about the “No plan to ban..”  Story filed from #London and one column story captioned “Nation stand behind #troops (#Army) for #defense of country” story filed from Islamabad. I am hinting towards the importance given to both stories.

Yes, we all agree that #media is very important and crucial part of the civilized societies and #freedom of #speech is the essential part of #democracy, however we should not forget that the #media houses are owned by businessmen or business groups not the working journalists, of which we have only one example of Mr. Zia Shahid.  So all businesses are run on the philosophy of profit maximization and principally believe in commercialism.

In a country like #Pakistan, where media, I mean business houses sponsoring the media business have become the movers and shakers of the system through their employees, whom even they do not pay reasonably, except few, let’s face the fact. 

So first of all let’s talk about freedom of speech and expression. Pakistan is among very few countries in the world, where the freedom of speech is exercised freely. Interestingly till today none of the defamation cases has been decided by honorable courts, which reflects the power of the media versus common man.

Coming back to the recent conflict between media, army and the government, it is very interesting to note that government is playing safe, few quarters in the government are siding the Army’s point of view and few media’s, as they know they cannot annoy both, but in this case both will be annoyed and doubt the sincerity of the #government, which is unfortunate.  Knowing the mindset of the Prime Minister and the way Mian Shaib is taking decisions in promotions of civil servants, appointments of the heads of public sector institutions and other strategic matters, as we know he himself is calling the shots, very rightly so as he is mandated for it and no one around him can dare to disagree. The point here is that during the recent developments and conflicts, his one phone call to everyone could have been more than enough.

I still give Mian sahib benefit of doubt and hope that things will unfold in an amicable manner, however taking safe position is actually no position, which has put the government is in catch 22 situation. If they side media the #army will be annoyed and if they side #army, the media group will flare-up, both will have serious consequences,  one in short term the other in long term.

Very soon a big scandal will be  showcased through the formal media especially media group under fire, as last night it was hot the topic on social media (if anyone wants to see just have look at tweet from @ighaznavi last night). Though the incident is five months old and lot of hush up was done but few upcoming events in next two weeks again created insecurities among important people and this gamble is being done to avoid the consequences of those events.

I personally think this will be another fiasco and will further increase the gulf between major stakeholders. So, after this breaking news in the media it will be clear who is behind whom and lines drawn today will further deepen till the point of no return.

I sincerely wish that this story should not come in the media and things should be resolved amicably and wisdom should prevail but unfortunately the bullet has been fired and let’s see where we go from here.

In the recent scenario, what I believe that media groups strategy will be; they will try to mend their relationship with annoyed  side and turn their guns towards the #government, which again will be unfortunate but we no commercial interest (in long term) always dominate.

How events unfold is very important, moreover Army Chief’s today’s speech on “Youmia Shohudia is certainly crucial, must read between the lines.

Next three weeks are important, how Imran Khan and Allam Tahir ul Qadri moves ahead, how the media group strategies their actions, what will be the government stance and the Taliban talk’s status along their response to May, 11 calls and attacks on army or civilians. I think this is enough to digest for time being.  

Politics and the Pakistan Army

PMLN’s government very successfully managed to see through the critical issues like installing big 3 i.e. The President, Chief Justice of the apex court and the Chief of the Army Staff.  Moreover the economic issues are put on the right track , the World Banks, Asian Development Banks, IMF and other donor agencies are appreciating the efforts of the government on the economic front. The recent Pakistan development update launched by the World Bank on April 10th says, “#Pakistan’s economy is gradually improving.  GDP growth is expected to reach 4% this year driven by dynamic manufacturing and service sectors.”

It is very encouraging and Nawaz government deserves a pat on back but it was quite disheartening to see the recent exchange of the statements between ISPR and the Politicians and how media added fuel to the fire. Now the debate has been picked up by the social media and one can imagine how things can shape up in societies where tolerance level is negative.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in this tenure appears to be a changed man and it has been observed that all major and critical issues are handled exclusively by him. This is good because ultimately, he is the leader and face of the PMLN and responsible for good, bad and the ugly.

It is very important that the perception of Government –Army rift should be dispelled by PM Nawaz Sharif himself and he should pay a ceremonial visit to the GHQ on his return from Boao, China.  

Our political leadership should understand that Pakistan is passing through a critical phase on one hand the talks with Talibans is underway and on the other hand  economic development has shown positive signs of recovery and at this moment opening of another front could be disastrous specially with army.

It is quite evident that important circle in Pakistan Army are not happy the way political leaders are handling the Musharraf case and Taliban talks, in recent television interviews General (Retired) Athar Abbas former DG ISPR  in ‘Aaj Kamran Khan kay Shat “ at Geo TV  on April 10^th 2014 and  Air Marshal (Retired) Shahid Latif  in ARY program on April 11^th 2014  clearly expressed their concerns, moreover Pakistan Army Retired Officers Association has just issue the press release pin pointing the General Musharraf  trail.  The situation is not that simple as it looks and must be dealt carefully.

Let’s look at the example of the Egypt, how Arab spring swept away everything and then the way Morsi has been treated later.  We have to evaluate where Morsi went wrong and its repercussions. 

It has been believed that social media was the catalyst in shaping up the Arab spring and now keeping in view the present  situation in  Egypt, where the Army Chief has become the President – how  is not important here – where is the social media now, as well as free independent local and international media. Has anyone noticed this, has this situation been discussed in TV talk shows globally. These are the serious questions one must take note of.

We all love democracy and support the rule of law, we also love our brothers and sisters in armed forces let’s show respect to all institutions and avoid confrontation for cheep publicity.  

The onslaught on Musharraf by the political leadership of PMLN may be right from their or political point of view but why PPP, PTI, JI etc are  not supporting this argument and hence the perception derived from this situation is that PMLN politicians want to target the army and ensure that they never ever think of taking over. 

 Army takeovers can be stopped forever in a very simple way, that is  if the political government can ensure good governance, economic stability, rule of law, respect for the institutions and sincere love for the country.

Prime Minister Nawas Sharif is heading on the same path and sooner or later it will be achieved, so no need for insecurities especially by the courtiers. 

It will be heart breaking to see if the system fails just because of insecurities and nothing else.