Tuesday, July 10, 2007

Khisyani billi

What's going on is very unfortunate, but I cant help but laugh at the implicit acceptance of PTV anchors in various news programs about their bias. The news programs are actually "views" programs. The anchors are not giving us the news but their views (or maybe the ones given to them by the big brother). The questions that they ask of the guests ranging from politicians to religious scholars are, really, answers, not questions. What do you expect if you say to someone, "What would you say about taking several kids and women hostage inside Lal Masjid?" I think that no matter whom they asked this question, even Mr. Ghazi, they'd get the same answer. I hope, in vain, that they'd give us just the news and nothing else.
They were also asking about the religious scholars not having done enough to resolve the situation, which is absurd. PML Q parlimantarians visited the site and staged a nice drama of showing false grief over the situation. Come on, we know exactly how much you politicians care.
There was a news report on PTV a couple of days ago that the forces were not letting paramedics go to Lal Masjid for security reasons and then the next day on the same channel, they were putting the blame on those inside of not letting the paramedics come and get the corpses and the injured.
It's funny how the government gets all concerned about humanitarian stuff on this event. How about those countless hostages in the barracks of the chaudhries, vaderas and sardars, some of them (I'm sure) in the government benches, too. How about military actions there? Arent they terrorists, too? You talk about Islam's view in the foreign media, you wouldnt be satisfied with their portrayal until they are able to show that here in Pakistan we are able to gamble, drink, dance naked, do whatever we like and no one has anything to say about it. Complete independence isnt Islam. What you want is secularism, so come out and admit it.
And, they reported that an anonymous caller had reported 12 girls on hunger strike being held hostage by the alleged terrorists. That doesnt sound authentic enough to quote let alone on national TV. We believe that it is enough for someone to be considered a liar if he/she forwards something he/she heard without verification. Hence, PTV is liar.
Is it just me, or does Ch Shujaat's visit always have dire significance? He visited Balochistan just before Bugti was assasinated. He visited Lal Masjid, came out and the forces stormed in. Doesnt it seem like he's an instrument to distract the other side before the final action?
All of this irrespective of whether this was completely a staged drama or whether what was done by the Lal Masjid or Jamia Hafsa administration was right or wrong. That is not what I am debating here.

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