Speculations galore

From the debris of rumours triggered by the sudden departure of President Zardari for Dubai on Tuesday night two things clearly emerge: one, he suffers from some kind of heart condition, a fact that was already known and two, that he is under immense pressure in the wake of recent developments including the Memogate and the November 26 Nato strikes on Pakistani posts in Mohmand Agency. According to reports, he had blacked out and momentarily fainted while chairing a meeting of his party's core committee, which was in session at the Presidency amidst the gathering clouds of threats to his survivability. That he opted to be treated in Dubai, is nothing unusual given that patients prefer to be handled by the doctors they trust and who have treated them previously. He suffers from a heart condition and has been treated earlier also for it. But why has his travel to Dubai, almost unannounced, generated a tsunami of rumours? A number of factors came into play, the most important being the ambiguous and contradictory statements that emanated from the Presidency and other official and semi-official outlets, who have proved to be absolutely unfamiliar with the basics of the science of Mass Communication. Rumours concerning a subject circulate in proportion to the importance and the ambiguity of this subject in the lives of the people both as individuals and as a society. Here the subject-matter was President Zardari who suddenly left the country and the ambiguity was created by the contradictory statements about what 'forced' him to go abroad. The sad coda to the whole affair was the extra pains the official media-managers took to call in Bilawal, as if implying that should something happen to President Zardari an instant filler is available. To what length the government had to go to quash the spectre of rumours and restore normality we hope would be instructive to all sections of the information/propaganda business, as well as the mediators in between in the broadcasting field. The fact that a speculative piece in a foreign outlet should hijack the entire national broadcasting structure - underscores the need for enhanced credibility of the free media. But, no less critical is the second aspect of our argument that President Zardari is under immense pressure some of which is past-specific and stems from the apex court's verdict on the NRO and some from the storm swirling around him in the wake of survival-threatening developments, particularly the Memogate scandal. When truth in the market is being sold at famine rate, speculation becomes rife. What happened on the fateful night of May 2 (May 1 in the United States) is still largely an untold story. Every time the government in Islamabad refutes prior information its rebuttal turns up from sources. Even as the hoped-for dismissal of former ambassador Husain Haqqani's alleged role in the Memogate had yet to make any worthwhile impact, High Commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hassan's rather open admission that the said raid had the consent of the Pakistan government pushed the president back to the centre stage keeping alive the controversy that tends to quicken the presidential heartbeat. Is there a way out of this cul-de-sac? For President Zardari the chances are heavily tilted. As to why Foreign Policy story sold well in Pakistan, the most plausible reason seems to be the possible exit of president Zardari over 'ill-health reports'. In a situation as critical as he faces, the fight-back by the Gilani government is too fragile to be banked on for positive outcome. From day one, the government should have come clean on the challenges that have now acquired unbearable lethality. How come it thinks its parliamentary majority can win it the day in face of unaccommodating political opposition and a skeptic public? Given the unsavoury history of special commissions and committees set up by successive governments there are no takers of Prime Minister Gilani's regular rant that the parliament's national security committee would uncover the truth in the matter. How often, or ever, has a parliamentary committee come up with findings that win over the people? The best available option for the government is its unstinted co-operation with the Supreme Court inquiry and holding its hawks on a tight leash. Copyright Business Recorder, 2011