SPOTLIGHT: Vested interests jump in to grind their own axes!: But for the free media, what a lot would go under the carpet!

The "freed" and rejuvenated media has its problems and shortcomings, no doubt, but it is nevertheless providing excellent and timely service in showing a highly polished mirror to our state of governance. When Musharraf "freed" the media he did not know what was coming just as he did not know what would come when he decided to take on Chief Justice of Pakistan Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry on patently flimsy grounds.
Musharraf attempted to backtrack on the media "mistake," but it was too late. The "Jinn" was out of the bottle. If he had succeeded in putting the shackles back on the media what a loss that would have been! Just think: but for the active and nosey media how many wrongdoings would have been swept under the carpet to be never heard of again. As a thumb rule, the more exalted the wrongdoer, the thicker the carpet, from under whose awesome weight, the victims' groans would be audible to no one except the All Knowing!
Exposures of wrongdoing from simple misdemeanours all the way to corruption, felonies and murder by the "high-ups" regularly feature in the media (especially and more poignantly) on the TV. Whenever this happens, the authorities concerned face public pressure for taking actions, which they should be taking in any case as part of their routine obligation but more often than not, do not.
The presence of the media on the scene, real time, often even before the authorities (police for one), makes it difficult for the latter to put a different construal on the wrong done to suit their own underhand motives. This is not to say that all of the print media and all TV channels always cover events in a balanced and responsible manner.
We some times come across instances of Media getting carried away in an effort to be the first to report an event, to cover all stages of a developing real life situation and to make the reports interesting, even spicy. There have also been cases when media coverage by one or the other TV channel has been below par to downright misleading, perhaps due to the owners having their own agenda. On the whole, however, despite the imperative need for the media to improve and exercise self-restraint and decorum, and not to lose sight of objectivity, no one will want the media to be reverted to the bad, old muzzled status.
Bad examples from recent past We had a wave of illegal activities by PML-N lawmakers in the recent past. Shumaila Rana, MPA, was accused of stealing a friend's credit card and promptly using it to buy jewellery.
Unfortunately, for her the purchase was filmed by the jewellery shop camera, which provided what looked like irrefutable proof of the alleged crime. She had to resign but not before Saad Rafique tried to put a feeble defence. Fortunately, for the good name of the party, she was made to resign. The case? It appears to have been "settled out of court!
In another case MPA Munawar Gill was forced to resign when his nephew was caught impersonating the MPA in the Intermediate examination but not before, however, hectic effort by a prominent PML-N MPA to malign the invigilator at the examination and to prove Gill not guilty! Thus ended apparently, Gill's enthusiasm to educate himself beyond tenth class.
Punjab Prisons Minister Chaudhry Abdul Ghafoor was shown in TV footage "scuffling with airport officials reportedly to ensure his Thailand-returned friends' exit from the airport without being frisked". We do not know where the matter stands or how it was settled.
The point in mentioning these cases as an example (out of perhaps as many as half a dozen) during the year, is that but for the fact that the media not only kept attention focused on these criminal activities by the high ups but also provided the proof necessary to convict them in the shape of real time footage of the crime.
Have the wrongdoing and crimes by high ups and the efforts to use official clout to ensure they went scot-free come to an end? By no means! We have as many as three recent cases in which the course of justice was obstructed by "The Bold and the Beautiful", despite proofs provided by the media and pertinent questions raised by it. In one case, the media even came in for serious harassment and was prevented by force from performing its reporting function.
Callous manoeuvring follow brutal death Painful as it is to bring cases like the following into focus, it is necessary to do so in the hope that the collective conscience of the people, if not of that of the high ups, will somehow someday pave the way for justice to rule supreme.
Let us first have a look at one horrible incident in which a maid servant of 12 or 13 years, employed in the home of a senior lawyer (and one time office-bearer in a bar), met her death under suspicious circumstances, including wound marks and scars on various parts of her body.
Once this is said it must be pointed out that our assemblies and high government functionaries got a little carried away and asked for exemplary punishment for the offence quite forgetting that determining the severity of punishment for any offense is the prerogative of the courts after establishing the facts and the circumstances. Trying to get political mileage out of criminal cases is not on!
Sadly, a large group of lawyers - labour union fashion - in a purely legal matter, deemed it their duty to come to the support of their black-coat senior colleague, in effect against letting law take its course. The stigma of improper behaviour associated with certain lawyers some months back when outside a court premises an unresisting police officer was brutally manhandled by them is still fresh in the minds of people. It is also recalled that when the case of the assault on the hapless officer came before the court, lawyer groups had created disorder in the court and raised slogans against the presiding judge.
And now, the same behaviour was on display for all to see! Lawyers, perhaps one hundred or more, crowded around the Court premise, blocked access to it, pushed TV cameramen around, threatened them and generally made it impossible for them to cover the court proceedings.
The police appeared helpless against the show of strength by the lawyers and contented itself with closing shops in the vicinity and escorting the accused in and out of the court. A sad commentary on the state of respect of law by those who are supposed to be its guardians and enforcers!
"Illegal" construction by the privileged? Another matter, which is making headlines is a building owned by Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah, which allegedly escaped scrutiny (for building violations and thereby possible demolition) at a time when scores of multi-storey buildings in Lahore are being razed to the ground following the Supreme Court orders to demolish buildings constructed in violation of building laws in force.
It is alleged that this was managed by Rana Saheb through preventing the High Rise Building Commission from inspecting the building and by surreptitious tampering with the file of the building. Moreover, an essentially residential building, it is alleged, is being used for commercial purposes in violation of the HRBC recommendations.
"The building is now (falsely) shown as a two-storey, residential building in the papers, because a three-storey building violates recommendations by the HRBC," it is further alleged. Thus the allegations are very specific and an impartial inquiry should be able to separate truth from falsehood. Rana Sanaullah has offered "to rectify any violation or pay the penalty if it is recommended by an independent committee formed by the Chief Minister of Punjab".
As the allegations in the case are very specific, it is appropriate that an impartial inquiry be conducted and action indicated taken, including that against the accusers, should any accusations be proved to be male fide (in bad faith). A TV channel which has been running this story as frequently as an evergreen advertisement is allegedly owned by one who has difficulty going to sleep at night following the day in which he fails to twit the tail of the Punjab Tiger! Is there no law against people accusing others of wrongdoing with mala fide intent?
Hit and Run by the "untouchables"? On 23 January 2010, the car belonging to (or in use of) of Chief Secretary to Punjab Javed Mehmood Qazi crushed to death Colonel Ikram (Retd) on a road in the Lahore Cantonment area. Then were committed over the next few days several acts of omission and commission ranging from wilful negligence right down to those bordering on criminal offense.
In the first place, the Chief Secretary allegedly drove away after the accident, using the same driver instead of staying on the spot to make arrangements for emergency medical attention for the seriously injured victim who breathed his last in the Combined Military Hospital. The brother of the deceased, tears in his eyes, called the incident a hit-and-run case and held the Chief Secretary responsible for criminal negligence in not doing his duty under the circumstances.
The car was not impounded immediately for forensic investigations etc as is normal, but was handed over by the Punjab Service Department to Sarwar Road police only on 28 January 10, ie a full 5 days after the incident and only after the media pointed out the omission. A constable moved the FIR. Late Colonel Ikram's (Retd) son found the gate of the police station locked against him when he went to register his FIR and had to speak to police personnel through a heavily barred window!
The driver himself was only arrested on 26 January, ie a full three days after the fatal accident. Also, several days after the event, a secondary FIR was registered against the Chief Secretary. Time and again, the police are found shirking their duty from fear of reprisals from the bigwigs when the latter are involved in wrong doing.
Just see what is happening to the vigorous drive under way to prevent cars with dark glasses from coming on to the road! How many VIP (how the term stinks!) cars were apprehended??? In a welcome, as these lines are being written, better late than never, the CS has gone or has been sent on leave, which is a well-known healthy practice not generally followed by our rulers who sit glued on to their seats come hell or high water!
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