TV THOUGHTS: A larger war lies ahead, live appeals for IDPs; sad memories of East Pakistan flood relief

As TV channels in the country push forward the appeals for urgent and long term help for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) whose number had crossed 25 lakhs on Wednesday night the United Nations has described it as one of the world's worst displacement crisis. And the UN plans to launch an appeal for funds later this week.
That overseas resources and comprehensive aid packages from within the country are also being generated is obvious and needs to be underlined. But amongst the numerous questions that arise is whether the response of the people within the country is as high and promising as is being anticipated.
This question came to mind while watching on Aaj TV on Wednesday night, a live telecast in which the popular singer Najam Shiraz observed that the response of the people was not as huge and substantial as was the case in October 2005 when the earthquake hit Azad Kashmir and parts of the North West Frontier Province. That there is even then unfinished and unmet agenda from that natural disaster even today needs to be kept in mind.
This live programme was one on the many that Pakistani news and current affairs channels in particular are telecasting in which the primary and at times the only focus is one trying to motivate the people and the organisations in the country to donate whatever they can, for the growing number of IDPs, who, in vast majorities, also come from stable, middle class families. They stand uprooted now, and until when, no one can tell. It is a war or a military operation whose time scale is unknown, and an indeterminate at this stage.
In fact President Asif Ali Zardari, who has returned after an approximate three-week overseas official tour, has said that thuds war is a prelude to a larger war. In [passing one may mention that one of the themes that is surfacing on the channels is the recent tour of President Zardari the point of emphasis being the cost of his travel etc and whether he should have been away at this point in time when Pakistan is fighting a war for survival. A war for survival is what one leading TV channel has been describing it as.
In this programme which was being anchored by the senior journalist Nadeem Malik (also the moderate anchor of a current affairs show from Islamabad five times a week) and Kiran Fulton (of the Kiran and George show) there were two show biz persons. Najam Shiraz and Fakhre Alam, a singer who also did enormous social work for the earthquake affected people in 2005.
During the conversation the subject arose of why the response in May 2009 has not been as large (?) as was the case four years ago. Najam Shiraz was the one who expressed the view that the morale and the mood of the country is on the low side at this stage of its history. He referred to migration of people or their desire to do so, the outflow of investment from within the country, and the disappointment of the citizens at the way the country has been managed.
This was not contested by the four eloquent media persons in the live show, and conversation obviously moved onto the theme of how can the people of Pakistan be best motivated. I found this, somewhat symbolic Earlier the same show had the noted Aqeel Karim Dhedhi(AKD) on air and it was somewhere in the conversation at that time, that Kiran Fulton appealed to the people not to donate expired medicines.
AKD added that in fact the people should send the quality of medicines that they use for themselves. Of course there were numerous phone calls that came to the show, and those also reflected the enthusiasm and concern of the people for the IDPs.
There was some mention of the amount that an organisation had sent in as donation (or material worth that amount, which I could not follow). AT this point Nadeem Malik in his mild manner added that this was the kind of money that the organization would be spending on entertainment alone! Kiran remarked with a smile that such comments would not encourage more donations. Nadeem remained detached.
That all TV channels are having live programmes which seek to motivate the people to realise the gravity of the situation that has resulted from this war against the Taliban, which has also been endorsed by an All Parties Conference which was called by the Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani on Monday 18th May.
There is plenty of media projection of the Prime Minister's Special Fund for the Victims of Terrorism, and also regular announcement of the funds that are coming in. While the official stance on the APC which released a 16 point conference resolution to end terror, extremism, and sectarianism, was that the resolution was unanimous, voices of dissent included the Jamaat-i-Islami, whose newly elected Amir Syed Munawar Hasan, told a press conference in Mansoora (Lahore) in that the Jamaat had strongly opposed the military operation in the Malakand division.
He said that it was time that the political forces spoke out against the operation. The new Jamaat Amir, who replaced Qazi Hussain Ahmed, has been exclusively interviewed on various TV channels (Samaa, DuniyaNews, Express News) for his views and those of his party on a variety of political issues in the past to those in the [present, has demonstrated an assertiveness that spells a no-nonsense attitude that the party may well have in the days ahead.
So while there are some consistent conventional live shows on various TV channels to appeal to the people to realise the gravity of the ongoing war, and the resultant displacement of settled families that continues to take place, there are also grim live and recorded discussions that are analysing the pros and cons of the military operation. In a way the war against the insurgency has brought forth many other disturbing and dangerous themes that Pakistan is surrounded by.
If there is focus on the role of the present civilian government in this military operation, there is argument about the role of the United States, which many participants have felt is out to keep Pakistan destabilised. It is necessary to mention here what TV channels reported on Tuesday night: that Hilary Clinton, US Secretary of State had said that the United States had been incoherent in its relationship with Pakistan for the last thirty years.
So that raises more nagging questions about the Pakistan-US ties. Also, if there are today cheerless futuristic scenarios that are being created and presented to a worried public mind, there are many references to the past, where military operations have not delivered. There are references to the army action in former East Pakistan, or those operations that have aggravated the situation in Balochistan or even the army action against the MQM in the early nineties.
With these references to the past, I was also reminded of the natural disasters that used to hit East Pakistan, in the shape of floods and cyclones. And the countrywide relief appeals that used to be made, and the response of the people from West Pakistan.
This brings back images from the sixties, when there was only one TV channel (the state owned and managed PTV) and prior to that there was only Radio Pakistan, the newspapers of the National Press Trust, and privately owned media also. If there was a public perception about East Pakistan, there was another about the appeals for help that were orchestrated by official media and official sources.
It needs to be admitted that the public tired of them, at one stage. That there was also doubt and cynicism about how the aid was being used was also a face of reality. On Wednesday evening there was on Dunya News a panel discussion anchored by Nasim Zehra in which the two participants were Dr Farooq Sattar, Federal Minister for Overseas Pakistanis and former Federal Information Ministerm, Sherry Rehman, which was one of the many such discussions that continue to be telecast.
Reminding the view of the sadness that has spread across the country. If on the one hand there are images of how IDPs are suffering or complaining, mirroring the misery that their lives are enveloped by, there are other images of military action that is on, and which is to continue until the terrorists and the Taliban are eliminated.
It is relevant to mention here that on Tuesday night there were shown on the TV channels five burqa clad Arabs who were arrested from the Mohmand agency -- which lends credence to the point that there are foreigners who are part of the insurgency that is on in that part of the country. Indeed the Pakistani public mind must surely be confused and even dismayed by what is currently happening.
MUSHARRAF, CNN NOW: Each time when one sees former military dictator and President Parvez Musharraf on the TV channels, as he speaks on his overseas tour, and in interviews, which get telecast on our TV channels, one wonders about his role in the politics of the country in the future. This time he appeared on the CNN in an interview which became a story for Pakistani channels on Sunday evening (17th May).
He is the first military dictator who has available to him a large world of TV channels plus other media to express himself on. The first military dictator, Field Marshal Mohammed Ayub Khan, during whose period was born the official PTV, was almost quiet after he was made to quit office after a decade of rule.
The second military dictator General Agha Mohammed Yahya Khan came in a context when the country had been pushed into a civil war, and after the fall of Dhaka, he was more or less silent thereafter. The third military dictator President General M Ziaul Haq died in that Bahawalpur aircrash (1988) and that became another story. The fourth military dictator General Parvez Musharraf was forced to quit office last year.
He however chooses to speak on a variety of themes relating to the country, and international affairs, and when asked whether he sees a future role for himself in Pakistan, he answers in many suggestive ways. He said that he was presently enjoying his lectures (lecture circuit as he put it).
Musharraf said that there was a ban on his participation in politics which would expire in November and remarked that "we're not running for office in six months". The former dictator blamed Afghanistan for Pakistan's problems and accused President Karzai for "double dealing".
Meanwhile TV channels and print media are reporting with intermittent regularity about the voices that are being heard about the need for a trial of the former President for a variety of reasons. On May 20 it was reported that the Abbotabad Police had registered a case against Musharraf on the orders of the district and sessions judge for various charges "including murder attempted murder and kidnapping".
A TV channel reported (said Daily Times) that a resident of Abbotabad, Ateequr Rehman had gone missing on June 25, 2004, on the day of his marriage. And his father Sadiq had lodged the report against unidentified persons-- and later this year on March 4, he filed a petition with the district and sessions judge, for the registration of a case against Musharraf.
And on Wednesday night it was on ARY OneWorld in which anchor person Asma Shirazi in her show called Second Opinion that she was talking to a member of the Public account committee of the huge financial irregularities that had been committed in the Musharraf era-- and which had been written off by the State Bank of Pakistan. One assumes that details will follow soon.
It was anchor Jasmeen Manzoor in The Pulse (Business Plus) on Tuesday night that the subject of corruption in higher places in Pakistan and the lack of accountability was being articulately discussed - - corruption too is a major recurring theme in the media. The corruption of the elite. But to what avail, ask the cynics who find the TV channels very revealing.
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