On late night of July 5, the Punjab Police arrested senior journalist and Express News anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan from Islamabad Toll Plaza. Reportedly, across the country, over a dozen First Investigation Reports (FIRs) had been registered against him on charges of mutiny and treason. The police arrested him in one such case against which he could not secure pre-arrest bail.
On 30 June 2022, belonging to Islamabad Bar Association, at a local hotel, lawyers of the Pakistan Tehreek Insaf (PTI) arranged a seminar on the topic of “Regime change: Fallout on Pakistan.” On the occasion, Imran Riaz Khan delivered a speech revealing that he was asked by certain (Army) officers to stand against the then government of Nawaz Sharif, former Prime Minister of Pakistan. Further, the Army officers, as insinuated in the speech, showed him (and anchorperson Moeed Pirzada, who was also in attendance) certain files which were evidence of corruption done by, as the name implied, Nawaz Sharif. By saying so, Imran Riaz Khan issued a statement publicly publicizing what happened in the run-up to the general elections of 2018. In fact, the statement itself divulged the reality of regime change in 2018: the way a section of the media was brought to sway the minds of the masses in favour of the PTI.
The disclosure was disquieting not only because it laid bare the ploy to bring down Sharif’s government but also because it exposed the players who were functional behind the scene. By extension, Imran Riaz Khan and Moeed Pirzada are not the only journalists (or anchorpersons) who were engaged to ensure the fall of the Sharif government, there must be more similar persons hired for performing the horrid odious task. The confession-cum-exposé is a reflection of the way politics has become a sleazy affair in Pakistan.
With their pliable minds, the youth were the worst victims, who were motivated by various cards (a religious, ethnic, or nationalist card), whichever could serve the purpose. In fact, the youth were misguided. They were made sentimental to decide on a matter as serious as voting for a candidate. From 2018 onward, what the youth could do with blinded rationale: heat up the streets and resort to vandalism. The daily life got choked and the economy of the country plunged. On one ruse or the other, this is what Pakistan has been experiencing since 2018.
The address of anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan indicates that the experiment of installing a hybrid government is over. The experiment cost Pakistan in terms of financial losses. The economy has plummeted and prices of commodities have soared. Before 2018, the Sharif’s government initiated and finished on time a number of developmental projects, which have still been nourishing the economy. After 2018, even colossal foreign loans sought could not be translated into developmental projects, making the country stripped of progress eventually. The question is this: Who is responsible for the downturn and the loss? Certainly, the scientists who performed the hybrid experiment. Further, those who colluded with the scientists.
Instead of telling the countrymen the developmental work it performed during the stint, the PTI has been playing on the foreign conspiracy narrative. The party is trying to play the victim card dipped in nationalism– the refuge to salvage a wrecked reputation in the public.
Anchorperson Imran Riaz Khan is now a torchbearer of the freedom of speech despite the fact that he subjugated his own freedom of thought to the diktat craving regime change in 2018. At that time, he relied blindly on the files presented to him, and acquiesced in thoughtlessly to the urgings extended to him. He shied away from applying his own mind. He resorted not to double check what was being presented.
Instead, he preferred to submit. The expected reason was some gain– might be fame. Unfortunately, failing to contribute substantially, the hybrid regime collapsed, and the dream of running the country for two terms got shattered. Consequently, homecoming for colluding journalists and anchorpersons is chastening owing to scathing censure expected to emanate from fellow journalists, who had stood their ground. The alternative is to stick to the position of foreign conspiracy and espouse it as a principle. Contrived scrupulousness is a time tested retreat.
Generally speaking, the media started earning notoriety when the video clips of the off-camera conversation between anchorpersons Mubashir Luqman and Meher Bukhari and the property tycoon Malik Riaz Hussain were leaked. The anchorpersons also discussed and negotiated monetary returns with the participant. It was a pre-planned interview being conducted jointly by the anchorpersons at the platform of Dunya News on 13 June 2012. The manufactured dialogue was an attempt to tarnish the image of the then Chief Justice of Pakistan, Mr Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry. After two days, the clips made the rounds on Youtube revealing the shame Pakistan’s media garnered. The sordid revealing episode was called the Mediagate (or the Anchorgate).
Though the Mediagate was hushed up, it became successful in peddling the idea that anchorpersons could be approached to do favourable talk shows. Further, arranging such talk shows could line the pockets of actors masquerading as anchorpersons with additional funds. The idea moved a section of Pakistan’s media, especially the electronic one, which is a source of airing instant news and prompt analysis. For a malleable mind, not to say unenlightened, it is hard to differentiate between what is gossip and what is news, what is a campaign and what is an analysis. This is where the clandestinely paid content and surreptitiously doled out narratives gain ground.
Even the idea of regime change induced by foreign powers in 2022 is a last-ditch effort of the PTI to stay relevant politically. Further, the idea is an attempt to seek facesaving and make a way back to mainstream politics. One of the reasons for overreliance is the underperforming of the PTI’s government after it somehow reached the corridors of power in 2018.
Instead of telling the countrymen the developmental work it performed during the stint, the PTI has been playing on the foreign conspiracy narrative. The party is trying to play the victim card dipped in nationalism– the refuge to salvage a wrecked reputation in the public.
Ask the cost of speaking the unadulterated truth and submitting to consciousness to renowned credible journalists such as Absar Alam and Matiullah Jan, the real torchbearer of the freedom of speech.
