There is a very healthy focus on the human stories in the private news and current affairs channels and this recent trend is not just welcome, but it is also indicative of the point that the viewers are possibly more interested in events, and incidents that mirror the reality of Pakistani society.
The reality of Pakistan's growing poverty, the rise in crime and terrorism and how it is destroying individual and collective lives, the price rises that are ruining family structures, poor governance that is wrecking Pakistani society, and striking deeper into the roots, corruption and loot and plunder that is staring at citizens in the face, and the daring, defiant manner in which the men, women and families that have plundered the land, and dispossessed its people, dividing them into warring factions -- and there are no men and institutions who have been punished so far.
Having said this one would off hand like to refer to the stories of injustice and inefficiency and corruption that have surfaced from different parts of the country, and which the news channels have covered and investigated with a sense of crusade-with an untiring spirit to expose the ills of this society.
The country's print media has done investigation and exposure for a long time, fighting for the higher values of society, and generally speaking it has done so bravely and well. It seems that there are ample encouraging signs that the electronic media is also demonstrating that it is not enough to be looking at the larger picture that Pakistan presents.
I am sure that viewers have noted and welcomed the individual human story of suffering caused wilfully or accidentally by individuals or institutions -- which TV channels, almost all of them, have telecast with sustained anger, to say the least. It is the sense of justice, and outrage that has been evident in much of the coverage and the discussion that the channels have reflected. This is a good sign.
If on the one hand the TV channels have generally shown a sense of political awareness and maturity, and courage and defiance in their alignment with civil society that has struggled for democracy, and justice and the higher values of life, and the historic movement for the end of the Musharraf dictatorial rule, being an example, it has shown a determined focused attitude while reporting stories of hospital neglect.
Such cases as the death of Wasim Akram's wife, Huma, or the little girl Immanae Malik, in Lahore, or stories of crime against women, especially little girls or even boys.
If these days the channels are focused on the larger picture about the future of democracy in Pakistan, or whether the army will have to step in again to save the entire system, or whether there is going to be a dangerous confrontation between institutions in Pakistan (the judiciary versus the executive) or whether President Asif Ali Zardari has immunity as long as he holds his present office and is outside the purview of all processes of accountability, or whether the Obama inspired and plotted American vision for this region (Afghanistan and Pakistan and India) will augur well for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, there are far smaller stories that are being highlighted with consistency.
I have in mind not just the hospital neglect stories that have come during the week from Karachi, and Liaquatpur, but also the murder of the 12 year old girl Shazia Masih, in Lahore, and the death of retired Colonel Ikram (also a war decorated hero) in hit-and-run case, in which the vehicle that was the cause of the fatal mishap some days ago, was that of the Punjab Chief Secretary.
Both these stories have been looked into some depth, which also mirrors the state of Pakistani society. And how it is changing. Whether Pakistani society is changing and is heading in the right moral direction is a matter of debate as far as I am concerned. If one were to go by many of the signs of our times, there is small reason for genuine cheer, buoyancy, or any optimism for that matter.
In the case of Shazia Masih, the main accused is a lawyer from Lahore, Chaudhry Naeem, who has been granted three day physical remand and the additional district and sessions judge directed the police to produce the accused on 29th January (Yesterday, Friday) TV viewers were shown by almost all channels what happened outside the courts in Lahore Cantonment -- and how large groups of lawyers prevented the TV channels from reporting, and showing visuals of the accused.
All day, on Tuesday, the TV channels reported what had happened in this case, especially how the lawyers "ganged up against the media" and this happened on several occasions in the past. It is significant that the country's lawyers, and the media who were on one side in the struggle for the restoration of the deposed judiciary, and the ouster of Musharraf, have begun to show these divisive strains. And in Lahore, more than anywhere else?
The TV channels also showed how the lawyers had barred members of Shazia's family and their sympathisers from the courtroom, -- and they "literally pushed out media personnel restricting them into a corner, and reportedly used indecent language" against them. They repeatedly shouted anti-media slogans and expressed their anger at what they perceived was a media trial of the accused in this case.
The focus on the lawyers in this particular case was significant, as the lawyers had called for a strike in the provincial capital for 27th January, and which according to media reports was partially effective.
Bu what needs to be contemplated in this case is not just the subject of child labour, that gets reflected, or the way domestic servants are treated in middle and upper middle class, educated homes, but also that lawyers have grouped together to defend their colleague-rightly or wrongly against the family or a girl who has been murdered. What does it all say about Pakistani society? Of course there is much to pontificate here.
For the average citizen what were the signals coming out from the point that there was a countrywide strike call of the lawyers for 28th January (the next day that is) to pressurise the government for the implementation of the recent Supreme Court verdicts, especially those that pertain to the NRO.
One wonders whether the lawyers are lead Pakistani society now, and not the political parties? However on Wednesday around noon, the TV channels had breaking news to announce that the strike had been postponed until 14th February. Does that mean that the political temperature in the country gets lowered? This is yet another question mark in a country where the overall mood is grim and gloomy, and the common man unsure of what lies ahead.
Now take that recent case where the Punjab Chief Secretary's car hit a motorcycle, on which was also riding a retired colonel Ikram (also a war hero said some channels) TV reports have indicated that the police obviously tried to cover up or underplay the serious incident, but because a retired army man was involved, and his family determined to take matters to the highest possible level, and also because of the proactive role that the TV news channels displayed, it seems that the issue is up for attention, and action. But it does raise the all important question.
That what would have happened to this hit-and-run case, had the victim not been from an influential, outspoken family. Or what would have happened had it been just another car which would have disappeared into the dense traffic flows of the Punjab capital. How many hit-and-run cases never get traced in Pakistani society? Or which are so recorded that they favour the stronger richer party.
One must appreciate the candour, and the spontaneity with which some channels have reported this hit-and-run case, and one hopes that there will be more such sustained focus on injustice in this society. And that there will be meaningful, factual follow ups as well-- and that news reporting will not be on a hit-and-run basis. How the electronic media has focused on the sugar issue in 2009, and even now, is an example that gladdens the heart. That sugar prices did not come down, is a sorry reflection on the system that rules our lives.
ALLAMA IQBAL AND SUICIDE? What would the poet philosopher Allama Mohammed Iqbal do or think about whatever is happening in Pakistan at this point in time? This was a question that was raised by Dr Shahid Masood in Merey Mutabiq on Monday while he was talking about the depressing state of affairs in the country with Allama Iqbal's son Dr Javed Iqbal. It is relevant to mention that Dr Javed Iqbal sounded sad and deeply disturbed at the awful conditions prevailing in the country.
The answer to the above question that he gave with reference to Allama Iqbal was that he would have committed suicide, rather than anything else. That was a very revealing insight and candid opinion about today's Pakistan.
Dr Iqbal, also a former Chief Justice of the Lahore High Court, and among the familiar participants in various current affairs programmes, was very critical and unhappy with the way the number of poor was rising in Pakistan and that there were only two classes. The rich and the poor, and that there was an absence of justice, he said and feared that there could be very chaotic times ahead. He clarified that he was not talking about the break up of Pakistan, once again.
In what was a reference to the current nature and extent of corruption Dr Shahid Masood observed that it was a sad commentary on our lives to see young graduates receiving their degrees and various awards from so called VIPs and political leaders whom they knew were in reality charged with crime and corruption from time to time. What kind of a reflection was it of the social and moral fabric of society? He added.
Dr Javed Iqbal responding to a point about how hopeless the situation appeared to be and pointed out that in Islamic History, in certain periods, it was understandable why Sufism had been on the ascent-- because scholars and thinkers etc had opted to seek some kind of refuge in it, rather than face the harsh ruthless reality of their times. It made one wonder what Dr Javed Iqbal was inferring when he made this point.
TWO TV COMMERCIALS In case, I give the impression that I do not watch our TV commercials let me hasten to clarify I do, and even when I do not understand their marketing messages right away or at all, I do not switch channels. That some TV commercials are so ambiguous or have such recurring nuisance value due to their lack of aesthetics is another issue.
And that even two year olds enjoy and get glued to some of our commercials is some thing that I find so very fascinating. I have observed that even six-month-old infants can demonstrate their wonder by looking at the TV screen, when it is on. Is it the music or the image or the mere sound that draws them, I do not know. But TV's magical charm is so apparent.
There are two commercials that I want to focus upon here. One relates to the Standard Chartered Bank, which has a touch of realism that I find very welcome. It begins with a housewife, middle aged and pleasant, telling her husband that he is always reading the newspaper and looking out for bad news from somewhere. She then says to a surprised husband that he is not interested in what is happening in the home.
Then he makes a reference to some family issue. It is from here that the commercial becomes product related. And the SCB product is then highlighted in rather human terms. In a way it is a simple advertisement, and which its realistic beginning is what I find so appealing.
The second TV commercial relates a certain brand of Joshanda, (probably Marhaba) -- which is a very popular winter product across the country. It depicts a modern office where the boss is observing, and complaining that everybody in his team is taking leave from work for reasons like colds, cough, or flu --and similar seasonal illnesses.
So what the energetic boss, (the young man who does the commercial is a familiar face on TV channels, especially in commercials) does is that he informs his colleagues that he has made arrangements for them to have the Joshanda so that they do not have to take leave from work, which affects the productivity of the organisation, -understandably. I would like to imagine that this is a situation that viewers can identify themselves with-- especially as the practice of taking "sick leave" in winter or when the weather is changing, is a common one.
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