TV THOUGHTS: Never ever a struggle like the one for deposed CJP; kidnapped envoy appeals for help

As I sat through the entire length of the repeat telecast of Live with Talat (Aaj TV) on 23rd April (Wednesday) and having watched the media talk of Asif Ali Zardari and Main Nawaz Sharif a day before in Islamabad, a thought crossed the mind.
Of course it relates to the deposed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan, Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry, and the countdown that is on, and April 30 which is the last date for it. It will be the 26th of April when this column is published.
Now that thought is as follows: That, perhaps, never in the history of this country or the sub-continent has there been a public movement spear-headed by the lawyers community which has carried on and effectively for as long as 13 months, (sofar). There have been political movements against governments and military dictators in this country, long drawn, and sustained.
There have been protests, agitations, and political battles of diversified nature against the establishment, but nothing quite like this struggle to restore a deposed judiciary, headed by a man who said no to a military ruler, who sat in uniform when he called in the chief justice to confront him. The struggle began last March (2007) and still continues. This week will hopefully indicate what comes next.
As of Wednesday evening when I write this column the Pakistan Bar Council has rejected the committee set up by the ruling coalition parties whose job is to "establish methods for the restoration of the sacked judges". The Pakistan Bar Council Vice Chairman, Syed Rehman, told a press conference in Islamabad on Tuesday that if the ruling coalition failed to restore the sacked judges before 30 April, the PBC would announce its strategy on 3rd May.
The Live With Talat mentioned above had on its panel Khawaja Asif, Farhatullah Babar, Zahid Hussain and Munir A. Malik. And the question that was repeatedly being asked and discussed was: why was there this delay in the restoration of the judges, including the deposed chief justice of the Supreme Court? It was a very comprehensive updated discussion, and TV viewers who have been following the story for over a year now, found it very appropriate to see the overall context within which the issue was perhaps being dealt with.
A very important, in fact integral aspect of this was what would happen to President Musharraf after the restoration of the deposed chief justice. At the end Talat Hussain asked each of the four panelists what they thought President Musharraf's response would be and whether he would quit if the deposed chief justice was restored. I would like to mention here a current affairs programme over Ary OneWorld in which anchorperson Kashif Abbasi summed it up at one stage to ask his panelist whether it was a choice between the judge and the general.
In Live With Talat the articulate senior lawyer, Munir A Malik said that the most important outcome of the lawyers movement had been that the public mindset had changed - and that the common man today wanted to know when the judiciary would be restored.
Senior journalist Zahid Hussain felt that President Musharraf could not stay on if the judges were restored, and both Farhatullah Babar and Khawaja Asif said that while he would go to any extent to remain in office, he would have to leave finally.
Talat Hussain felt (hoped) that this was the last weekend before the expiry of the lawyers' deadline and because of the judges issue it wasn't possible to focus on many other crucial and critical issues, that were badly affecting the common man. "We need to focus on other issues" which related to food and energy prices, shortages, street crime, law and order, governance and so on, he said.
As a result of the 13 month lawyers struggle for the restoration of the judiciary, which in a way also reflects the realisation in the public mindset that the issue of justice is very closely related to any changes in the system that are sought.
The role that the television channels have played and sustained since March 2007 has a great deal to do with the awareness created about the battle that has been fought courageously.
There was in this programme also a lot of references to Attorney General Malik A Qaiyum and the role that he played during the last one year, and why he had not been changed or why he had not resigned so far, when the advocate generals in the provinces had done so. Khawaja Asif said, on this subject that he (the Attorney General Qaiyum) was doing a janitorial job at this stage and would soon have to quit.
ENVOY TARIQ AZIZUDDIN: The disturbing subject of kidnapped Pakistan ambassador to Afghanistan, 56-year old Tariq Azizuddin has been viewed with deep concern and anxiety on the Pakistani channels, especially after the TV channel Al Arabiya telecast a video film of the diplomat last week.
The diplomat was kidnapped on 11th February this year, a week before the country's general election and which possibly was a factor why public attention or interest in the case was derailed. Many sensitive and important areas of interest have been sidelined due to the media's focus on the larger issues, like the judiciary or the elections, and its aftermath.
The video showed him with three guards standing behind him, and it was recorded 27 days after his kidnap. The question that has been asked is why it was telecast shown so late. There are many questions that have been asked about the level of interest that has been shown by the Pakistan Foreign Office, and that the Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani has now asked the foreign office to expedite the matter.
There was a strong presentation on this subject on Express News, by columnist Javed Chaudhry who does a regular show called Kal Tak, in which he examined the issue and underlined the significance that lay for a country when its ambassador was kidnapped.
It was indeed a very disturbing sight to have seen the video that Pakistani channels showed repeatedly. Jasmeen Manzoor who is a very forceful anchorperson on the Business Plus channel examined the subject of the kidnapped envoy and raised some very relevant issues. Why was the issue not taken seriously and even the public appeared to have lost interest.
Even the media failed to keep the issue alive, and that his family also has not spoken on the subject. The guest in the programme (on 22nd April) was former Sindh Governor and Federal Interior Minister Lieutenant General Moinuddin Haidar (Retd), who explained that it was understandable that the kidnappers were demanding release of their men as well as ransom money.
IQBAL 70TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY: There was a time when the death anniversary of poet philosopher Allama Mohammad Iqbal, which falls on 21st April was a public holiday. Some years ago, there came a revision in our list of national holidays and it was decided by the government that the country's holidays needed a review, and a downward revision in the number of holidays. Possibly around that time the death anniversary holiday was deleted and instead there was brought in his birthday, which falls on 9th November each year.
On 21st April this year, with the country and the media focused primarily on the restoration of the judiciary, including the deposed chief justice of the Supreme Court and troubled by the rising costs of food items, many important themes have been dwarfed and sidelined, Allama Iqbal's 70th death anniversary was unable to get the focus it deserved.
It makes one wonder whether all the channels had special programmes to highlight his life, his vision, his poetry and his role in the creation of Pakistan. A stereotyped news item appeared in some newspapers with the routine statement that "various social, cultural and literary organisations have arranged functions to highlight the message which he gave to the Muslims through his dynamic poetry".
I noted that one TV channel had a special programme on Iqbal in the evening, and another TV channel was showing some slides highlighting the basic facts in the poet-philosopher's life. Like on many other occasions the slides were in Urdu, which has often made me wonder why they are on in English.
Even the tickers when there is breaking news or follow-up stories of major development do not have English tickers which is a source of frustration for those who prefer English as a medium here as well.
I wonder whether it is asking for too much from our TV channels to not only have special programmes on Iqbal next time, but also advertise them in the print media as they do for their special and political programmes. I have in hand rhymed translations of Iqbal's selected poems done by Khawaja Tariq Mahmood published by Ferozesons in 2005. And I cannot resist but quote from it.
"There are beyond the stars other worlds existent,
-- There are in the trail of love other trials persistent,
-- There are myriad caravans trekking in the space,
-- Environs are not devoid of life ever so insistent".
-- The original is from the well-known poem, which in Roman reads thus
-- "Sitaron Sey Aaagey Jahan Aur Bhi Hai
-- Abhi Ishq Key Imtehan Aur Bhi Hain."
AYUB KHAN'S 34TH DEATH ANNIVERSARY: On 19th April 2008 (Saturday) was the 34th death anniversary of the former president, Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub who was "the first Pakistani military general to seize power through a coup". He died in 1974.
Given the present political climate, with a public perception that views military rule as having been detrimental to the national interest, there were a couple of channels (including Aaj) which took notice of the death anniversary with some clips to supplement the editorial content.
It made me wonder what the younger generation of TV viewers must have thought on seeing this news report. If the current affairs shows were not so preoccupied with the judicial theme, perhaps a candid discussion on the government of Ayub Khan would have been a rich and thought provoking subject.
There was emphatic mention of the military rule of the Ayub Khan on the channels; and one web site on him says that while he was a Field Marshal during the mid-sixties and the president of the country from 1958 to 1969,he was the first native Commander-in-Chief in 1951, was the youngest full-rank general and "self-appointed field marshal" in the country's military history.
The web site says that Ayub Khan enrolled at Aligarh University in 1922,but he did not complete his studies, as he was accepted into the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. For those citizens who have lived through the government of President Ayub Khan, his 34th death anniversary (19th April) brought back memories of his rule, and the public unrest and the movement that was carried out against his policies, especially when he was celebrating his much trumpeted "decade of development".
At one point in the web site it has been stated that "Aggravating an already bad situation, with increasing economic disparity in the country, under his rule, hoarding and manipulation by major sugar manufacturers resulted in controlled price of one kilogram to be increased by one rupee and the whole population took to the streets. As Ayub's popularity plummeted he decided to give up his rule."
I would like to refer to the much discussed and officially publicised political autobiography that Ayub Khan wrote, and which was published in 1967 by the Oxford University Press.
Mr Books, (an Islamabad based publisher) has reprinted it now. In preface he (Ayub Khan) says that " this is essentially a spoken book. After I had defined the broad scope and outlines of the book I asked some friends to prepare some questions on the theme of different chapters. The question-answer sessions began in June 1964 and continued till the end of the year.
The tape recordings of these sessions came to nearly thirty hours and the transcript covered more than 900 pages. I got the transcript sometime in 1965. Since then I have been going over it and revising it from time to time."
He further says, " I have viewed problems as a Pakistani, a Muslim, and an Asian. Pakistan is my passion, my life.... Every moment of my life, I have dedicated to the service of my people. Never for a moment yielding to any pressure or disappointment.... Our society is torn by schisms; the most fundamental is the one that separates the educated classes from the traditional groups".
In his first chapter, in the 296-page book he writes " people have often asked me to write about my life... How does one do that while in the thick of it? Then there is an element of demonstration in writing for public consumption, which is alien to my nature. All my life whatever I have done in response to the call of duty, I have done silently and quietly and not even keeping a regular diary of my experiences."
Last year the Diaries of Field Marshal Mohammad Ayub Khan (1966-1972) were published by the OUP, edited and annotated by Craig Baxter. In this, Baxter writes in the preface that "Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan began his diary in September 1966, and ended his record in October 1972.
When his health began to fail and he was unable to maintain his record of the events of the period, and his comments and interpretations of them.... The diaries were, therefore, embargoed for more than thirty years after the final entry.... Ayub Khan's son Gohar Ayub retained the dairies and it was always the intention of Ayub Khan and his son that the diaries would be released and published.
Ayub Khan further intended that the diaries would be edited by Altaf Gauhar. Since the death of Altaf Gauhar occurred before the anticipated lifting of the embargo, Gohar Ayub entrusted the editing and publishing to Oxford University Press." Then OUP asked Craig Baxter to undertake the editing of the dairies".
A thought flies through the mind here. With the country's media saying more than ever before, and the TV channels showing courage it is time (perhaps) to analyse closely, fairly, and boldly, what military rule has done to this country. Atleast half of our lives we have been directly under army rule. And we have lost half the country. There are so many questions that torment us.
AND BRIEFLY: It was a wonderful sight to have seen the 4 man show team sitting in the Ary Digital morning programme with Marina Khan, some days ago. I thought one of them said (in jest but earnest?) that they were waiting for an invitation from the Kiran and George show It was a morning show with smiles and laughter all the way, and wit and word play that brought cheer to viewers.
Which reminds me that it was very welcome to see that Kiran and George were motivating people to share what ever they could when it came to food, keeping in mind the way food prices were rising here, and the world over.
I wish I had time and space to talk more and more often about the way in which TV channels now focus on our lives. Bolta Pakistan and Left Right and Mujhey Ikhtelaf Hai and Nasim Zehra's Straight Talk are among the shows not to be missed, for that matter Waqt TV also has some absorbing hard hitting shows.
Which reminds me that Merey Mutabiq, which has returned shows Dr Shahid Masood speak with still more confidence, and I quite liked his programme with Imran Khan on Tuesday night.
Imran Khan, was eloquent and critical of military rule and President Musharraf and recalled that he knew Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Shaheed from the days when she was at Oxford. His last meeting with her was recollected, at which Dr Shahid Masood was also present. Which reminds me that I have run out of space... I cannot compete with the channels dear reader!!