Channel surfing on Tuesday evening in particular meant that the mind was quietly wondering about what would PTV coverage be like with regard to the news that Asif Ali Zardari had been detained and placed under house arrest in Karachi, at his Bilawal House. He was arrested at the Islamabad airport and the news related to earlier developments were being reported by the Indus news channel during the day.
In so quickly changing scenario in such cases one would rather watch the coverage on ARY or Geo or Indus, or Western sources like CNN and BBC, and it doesn't really matter whether one can monitor the performance of the PTV news sources. Its reputation is good enough to stay away, and miss out.
Once in a while I have consciously tuned into PTV's Khabarnama and realised that not much has changed. That's the impression I have. For example I noticed that when it came to the public meeting that the MMA held in Rawalpindi on Sunday, 19th December, Khabarnama was typically incorrect, to say the least.
While other channels were professionally objective, if at times supportive of the rally (?) PTV in its 9pm bulletin on 19th December showed some unfairly angled visuals of the meeting, and in its brief accompanying text concluded that the people had rejected the rally. How can a news channel say that.? Whither its claims of impartiality and objectivity?
I am glad I was able to see this PTV's style of political reporting, which makes one wonder whether in the days ahead, when the political climate gets hotter, and the tone and tenor of politicians on either side turns "conflicting" will PTV still be unable to report the mainstream of what is happening out there in the political middle. In saying this here one wishes to emphasise that it is truly imperative that PTV while projecting and supporting the government point of view, should also keep its eyes focused on the mood of the totality of the picture.
Having said this let me return to Tuesday evening when viewers were able to see on channels like ARY, Geo, Indus and KTN visual coverage of developments related to the "rearrest" and the security measures that were in place for Asif Ali Zardari. It was significant that the news channels (via the cable) were showing the clashes between the PPP activists (men and women) and the law enforcing agencies (Elite Force of Punjab, said a news report in this daily on 22nd December).
There was also coverage of the heavy security measures that had been taken at the airports, and the footage depicted some of the action that the police was taking against the activists. It did make us wonder about the political weather that appears to be changing in a context of deadlines and issues that relate to the MMA's ultimatum about the President's uniform.
It made one wonder about the changing tone of political coverage on our TV channels. Is it really worth bothering about what PTV is saying and doing? Why fuss about PTV? Because it is supported by tax money?
In passing, it is relevant to mention here that during the week in PTV's morning transmission the veteran TV drama artiste while talking to compere Tauseeq Haidar complained openly and bitterly about the attitude of PTV top management and said that they should seriously look into the working of the Corporation, and they will realise that much is crying for attention. That she was saying this and going live, is perhaps indicative of the kind of freedom that the state run medium can afford!
Returning to the political weather and the weeks ahead, it would truly be interesting to see how authentic PTV will be. As far as the other private channels go, what is said in the political programmes or those that deal with social realism is sometimes very disturbing. It makes you wonder where we are headed for.
Some of the political interviews with Pakistani politicians can be very revealing. Most of them are telecast by the private channels, where the frontiers of freedom and tolerance are stretched, it seems. Often they relate to the country's history and it must surely make the younger generation of viewers wonder about the way in which this society has functioned.
Channel surfing again brought me the chance to see a very candid, absorbing interview of Sardar Ataullah Khan Mengal, a former Chief Minister of Balochistan, on Wednesday around noon. Evidently it was a repeat telecast, and must have gone on air on Tuesday night., Some clips of it were shown on ARYOne news channel, and I missed out the interview. I instead chose to watch Capital Talk, (Hamid Mir) in where the participants were Shaikh Rashid Ahmed, Qazi Hussain Ahmad and Chaudhry Nisar. I also got a chance of seeing Ghulam Mustafa Khar and his son, who is a politician being interviewed (on political subjects, of course) by TV actress Bushra Ansari.
Let me focus on the Ataullah Mengal interview, which was done by Dr Shahid Masood of ARYOne and the canvass was not restricted to Balochistan.
It centred around that largest province of the country, but the themes reflected a kind of a national vision of Pakistan today and yesterday, with an obvious implication or insinuation of what lies head.
It was tough talking by the veteran politician, in which he explained why he has acted the way he has. The very fact that his residence is called "Jae Panah" (a place for refuge?) is symbolic of the kind of personality that this distinguished politician has.
Let us have a look at the variety of themes that emerged so explicitly in the conversation: these were the Gwadur project which has Chinese assistance, and which he said was unacceptable to the Americans, the Iranians, and the Indians. If that be the case then why are the Baloch nationalists being accused of creating trouble there? he asked.
He mentioned the role of the "agencies", which he said were at times acting against the peace process initiatives that had been undertaken by the Federal government. He felt that the Gwadur Project was actually going to create "another Karachi" as a result of which the local population would be outnumbered. He referred to what had happened to the Sindhis in their own province.
In another context while referring to what he described as the silence of the province of Punjab when it came to issues that related to Balochistan, he said it was possible that one day there would be a "Chaudhry Yusuf " instead of "Jam Yusuf" as the chief minister in the province. He said that he was not against mega projects for the development of Balochistan, but was firm that these should be undertaken with a consensus of the people living in Balochistan. One of the points that he elaborated was that the non-locals in Balochistan should not be allowed to vote at this stage. This should be reviewed later by subsequent generations.
Sardar Ataullah Mengal talked of investment, taxes the Pashtoons in Balochistan prior to the Afghan war, and those who have come after the 9/11; the political protection that Balochistan needs; that jobs in the FC should go to the Baloch only; that the change of name of the Muttahida Quami Movement (MQM) was not a real change in effect, and that he did not expect a snap general election in 2005.
In the interview there were used expressions like Greater Punjab, Greater Balochistan, Greater UP and CP, and the Baloch Sardar said that the armed forces were fully supportive of the policies of President Musharraf. He talked of the benefits that retired generals receive and how they were treated like "VIPS".
He was also asked questions about the peace process that has been initiated between India and Pakistan, and the Kashmir issue, and he remarked that Kashmir may become the fifth or sixth province of Pakistan.
It is when you hear such interviews on Pakistani channels now, it makes you wonder about what has been happening in the country ever since its independence. It also makes you think whether the print media was telling it all?
Tuesday night's Capital Talk had Qazi Hussain Ahmed once again spelling out what one may describe as some of the fears that the MMA has about the policies of the present government, which he believes it is following on the lines set by the West, principally, the United States of America, under President Bush. And of course he referred to the uniform issue which is focused on President Pervez Musharraf holding two offices: Chief of Army Staff and that of the President of Pakistan.
Obviously defending the government eloquently and whole-heartedly was the Federal Information Minister Shaikh Rashid Ahmad, who kept asking Qazi Hussain and Chaudhry Nisar to suggest what other options did the President have in the light of 9/11.
There was little that was new in the text of what the three participants were saying, except that the context has changed. Pakistan today has the political reality of the end of 2004 in hand, and a date of the 1st of January 2005 which the MMA has set for a countrywide Protest Day. It makes viewers (read citizens) wonder what lies in the New Year.
If one is go to by what Shaikh Rasheed was quoted on a TV channel as saying in the news bulletins, then there could be political unrest. And as the Minister implied the losers would be both the present government and the MMA.
That ARY digital interview of Ghulam Mustafa Khar and his son telecast on Tuesday night brought out the personal and family dimension of the seasoned politician. One must observe that it is significant to see that the former Punjab governor always speaks with utmost respect when he refers to his ex wives, and in this interview he also disclosed that all his children, have the best of relationships amongst themselves, and he has the best of terms with his former wives.
Ghulam Mustafa Khar also disclosed that one of his failings, all his life ,was that he used foul language when in anger. But when he went for Haj very recently he prayed to Almighty Allah that He should help him to get rid of this habit. And this happened. Now he is a changed man, and uses no such words.
Somehow I end up writing more about the political side of our channels.
However let me observe that there is a very strong non-political side to the channels that our cable operators provide. A dimension that shows that housewives are very much into TV watching especially in the mornings, particularly when it comes to watching health and cooking and art shows on one of the channels. Which is occasion enough to say that the Indus news bulletins are showing an improvement in its coverage in many instances.
I must also observe that one of these days I must write about the programmes like Shaadi on line (Geo). It appears that society has accepted a new form of finding the right matches for bride and grooms in a Pakistan going commercial very rapidly.
Infact, this is happening on the Indian scene too. Little wonder that in India they had a Mrs India 2004 contest last week and which was shown on Sahara TV to eager married women in this country too. This is the other side of social change here. The liberal side.