May
23, 2019
JAVED RANA
Pakistan has been victim of stereotypes and clichés which over the course of decades built a negative perception internationally about this Islamic country, its citizens and their religion. Generally the foreign tourists visiting Pakistan return their homes with an altogether different perception contrary to the one the international media germinated in their minds. This indicates that the genesis of lingering negative perception about Pakistan lies beyond the spillover effects of country’s geo-strategic regional policy---something which many pro-western pundits erroneously believe , is the single biggest factor for painting Pakistan in a bad shade on the world stage.
Issues
emanating misperception
Primarily there are four major issues linked
with the negative perceptions which resultantly have been accumulating
diplomatic pressure on Pakistan since long. The first being the lingering
dispute over Kashmir with India, the second Taliban insurgency in Afghanistan, the
third propaganda regarding mistreatment of minorities and fourth issue is
alleged human right abuses linked with enforced disappearances particularly in
northwest of Pakistan.
On first two issues linked with the national
security, Pakistan has been under fire from India, the US, NATO and the
government in Kabul for supporting what they call--- insurgent groups from
within and outside country’s territory to fan militancy in Afghanistan and Indian
disputed Kashmir region. Both issues are inter-linked in terms of Indian role
to use Afghanistan to sponsor terrorism in Pakistan in an effort to pressurize
Islamabad into giving-in to the Kashmir cause.
Insurgency
& media warfare patterns
The notorious principal of “ the might is
right” still continues to be at play in the statecraft when it comes to
international power politics. However, with the passage of time, the shape and
mode of flexing military muscles have undergone extensive deceptive
manipulations involving insurgent groups, soft and offensive diplomacy through
mainstream and social media. Almost all major world powers and regional
countries in this part of the world, have used modern mediums of communications
to project their anti-terror policies while behind the scene, simultaneously
they have not hesitated in running their foreign policies through proxy
insurgent groups. Hence, they have used insurgents who carried out terror
attacks which led to create favourable international and domestic public pressures
to change the political landscape of a state or the direction of a foreign
policy of a country on their target list.
India established its foothold after 9/11 in
Afghanistan and created adverse pollical conditions to build up diplomatic
pressure on Pakistan to a tipping point to unsuccessfully force Islamabad to
put the Kashmir dispute on back burner. Since then, there has been surge of violence in
south and southwest of Pakistan especially in Baluchistan and Karachi where
India used Baloch rebels and Altaf Hussain led MQM respectively to foment the unrest. Not long ago Indian sponsored over 100 buses crisscrossing on
the streets of London with advertisements inscribing with “Free Baluchistan, Save the Baloch People” and
“Stop Enforced Disappearances” in Baluchistan. The terror attacks have significantly reduced In
Karachi after targeted security operations. However, Indian game plans for Baluchistan are far
from over. New Delhi is likely
to grant citizenship to Brahumdagh Bugti and other terrorists from Baluchistan
who are currently in self-exile in Switzerland. With the foreseeable grant of
citizenship, India would further facilitate them to travel across the
influential world capitals to internationalize “ human rights violations” in Baluchistan
notwithstanding with the fact that unlike disputed Kashmir region, Baluchistan has no locus standi at any
international forum.
In May 2015, the then BJB
government’s sitting Defense Minister, late Manohar Parrikar had vowed to
sponsor terrorism in Pakistan by saying “We have to
neutralize terrorists through terrorists only”. Despite an open confession of sponsoring
terrorism in Pakistan, there was little hue and cry and it was largely ignored
by the international media. Islamabad too, did little diplomatically to exploit
his statement at all relevant international forums.
Since political, economic and geo-strategic
interests of the US, other Western nations and India collaborate with one another,
therefore, they instead effectively use diplomacy and international media to
generate a perception the world over
that Pakistan uses insurgents groups as a tool of its foreign policy in the
region.
Iran, US & Russian’s pattern of supporting
insurgencies
The so-called Islamic State or Daesh emerged in
2014 out of several splinter groups in Iraq following US military intervention against
the then President Sadaam Hussain in 2003. Daesh, originally was a reactionary
force against the Iranian sectarian agenda in Iraq but subsequently it sloganeered
on Islam to attract wide support from Muslim countries. The
US, Israel and many other states in the Middle East allegedly supported and funded
Daesh and weaponized it to meet their geo-strategic goals in different regions
of the world. Subsequently it has been franchised and now regional countries
use this terror outfit to meet their geo-strategic objectives. With ruthless beheadings, the Daesh was used
to tarnish the image of Islam on international media which led to target Muslim
communities the world over in retaliatory violence. Russian and Iran blame the
US of Daesh being its proxy in the Middle East and Afghanistan. The Donald
Trump before being elected the US
President, blamed the then President Barack Obama to be commander -in-chief of
Daesh. Iran spent over 30 billion US dollars to fund insurgency in Iraq, Syria,
Yamen, Afghanistan and many other countries. General Mohammad Ali Jaffari who
commanded elite Iranian revolutionary guards until mid April 2019, admitted in
2016 that Tehran
militarily trained 200,000 youngsters from Pakistan,
Afghanistan, Yamen, Syria and Iraq to prepare the ideologically Shia state
ahead of what he called challenges of end of times. A large numbers of Shia
insurgent infiltrated to Middle East from Pakistan via Iran to fight in Iraq
and Syria. But it has been a taboo to discuss Iran in Pakistan in negative
shade by the top media managers of the private media. The debate on private
media on this subject could have prompted across the board action against Shia
terrorists like those of Daesh and other extremist groups in Pakistan.
Mullah Akthar Mansoor, the then Afghan Taliban
head was killed in US drone attack in 2015 while he was traveling from Iran to
Pakistan. Similarly Tehran hosted families of Alqeada leaders. There was little
outcry in Pakistani and international media.
The US blames Pakistan, Russia and Iran for providing
shelter and weapons to Afghan Taliban. The accusations may be exaggerated but
they are not free of facts. Moscow and Tehran suspect that the US is using
Daesh in Afghanistan to destabilize them while Islamabad has its own reasons to
believe that India-US alliance in Afghanistan is designed at geo-strategic
encirclement of Pakistan. However, unlike other states, over the years Pakistan
has been singled out for supporting Taliban who according to BBC survey control
or contest nearly 70 percent Afghan territory.
Policy
Blunders in aggravating negative image of Pakistan
Pakistani and international media have
invested far more amount of time in propagating western narrative against Pakistan
army and its secret service ISI on supporting militant groups than those of
other regional and international players whose role to promote various insurgent
groups outmatch with that of Pakistan. This is partially because of the
controversial tactical policies of the former military dictator General Pervez
Musharraf.
He perpetuated his rule from October 1999 to
August 2008 through policies which portrayed Islam and Madrassas as a greater
threat to the Western interests in the region and beyond. Behind the scene, allegedly
intelligence services under his command abetted clerics at Lal Masjid in
Islamabad in July 2007 to challenge the writ of the government. It was designed at creating
public panic through media carrying discreet sectarian agenda which was hyped
up to the point of the frenzy to conduct operation against the clerics.
Subsequently hundreds of students were burnt to death through use of phosphorus
notwithstanding the fact that the negotiations with the clerics were successful
and they were ready to vacate the Madrassah. Later on, weapons were smuggled
into the Madrassah to make it look like a battleground as if there was a face
to face gun-battle there. In fact, through this operation, Musharraf once again projected
himself as the one who was fighting American war on terror at a time when the
movement of lawyers was gaining ground to oust him from power.
His
ill-advised action at Lal Masjid subsequently ensued retaliatory violence by
the militant groups who unleased years long terror campaign which since then
have led to the killing of 35,000 Pakistani citizens
and security personnel and injuring of 48000 others.
Musharraf
invested a lot of political capital to project Madrassas as a horrible image of
Islam despite the fact that there are not even one percent of religious schools
involved in the extremism. Negative stories on Madrassas, ISI, Pakistan army,
mistreatment of minorities are sellable like hotcakes in the international
media. The military use its clout to win over defiant journalists in Pakistan. However,
Madrassas which meet lodging and boarding needs of more than 2.6 million poor
students remain on the negative list of local and international media for all
wrong reasons.
Human
Rights Abuses and mistreatment of minorities
In comparison with the West, Pakistani society is far more stronger
given its inter-connected family structure, unifying bond of religion and a
little reported system of discreet generosity with which people look after
their dear and near ones. Th trouble starts when fault-lines of social fabrics are
analyzed from Western perspective. That is why the Western media, many foreign,
Pakistani journalists and NGOs have struggled hard to report and analyze isolated
incidents of mistreatment with women and minorities in an exaggerated manner with
lot of negative publicity which contributed to create an adverse international
perception.
They built up a misleading narrative as if minorities are on
the hitlist of extremists all the time. Many of incidents of personal disputes
on properties within and outside the minority communities were reported as crimes
on religious grounds against them. The cases of enforced disappearances are yet
another source of information which has tarnished the image of Pakistan. This is
where Pakistan needs to put its own house in order and release all those
against whom there is no hard evidence and prosecute those against whom there
is ample evidence of their involvement in terrorism. The highest number of
cases of rape against women occur in the US, UK, France, other Western stations
including India and yet Pakistan figures high on international media for
abusing women rights. Qadiani community known to be backed by strong Western
lobbies must be confronted with hitherto least known hate material, the clerics
of this community has produced. The relevant parts of their hate material must
be provided to diplomats and human rights groups to lay bare facts to end their
propaganda against Pakistan.
Credible
Tools to Reverse Negative Perception
The military by and large has now managed to control a
national narrative on screens of Urdu language private news channels on issues concerning
with country’s national security. However, in the absence of a vibrant private
English news channels, Pakistan has been failing to portray the other side of
the picture on critically important issues the country has been under fire from
powerful world capitals and influential international media. For this to happen,
Pakistan needs private news channels in English language like rival neighbouring
India which has at least 10 to propagate issues connected with its foreign
policy.
Three Pakistani English
channels launched in the past by Dawn, Express and Jang Groups failed to take
off--- partially because they did not have financial back-up plan. Equally
important factor was complete lack of policy directions and confusion prevailed
in making professional choices on what issues they needed to highlight and how
to make their professional presence felt to and reach to the right kind of audience
understanding English language in Pakistan, the region and elsewhere in the
world. Unnecessarily local and national
issues were given preference over those which were hurting country’s
geo-strategic interests in the region. In fact they tried to duplicate policy
of Urdu news channels for English audience, and highlighted unnecessarily local
and national issues. Hence their failure was a foregone conclusion. So is the
problem with country’s state owned English news channel PTV World which is
financially surviving only at the cost of hard earned money of tax payers.
Most recently Indus News, latest English language private news
channel has emerged on cable networks. It may be premature to judge its
capacity and capability. Nonetheless, its trial-run indicates that channel’s
professional judgement to pick up issues to highlight is better than previous
three English channels which were copycat versions of Urdu news channels.
However, it appears to be carrying somewhat unnecessary focus on farfetched
international issues by perhaps broadcasting wire agencies without indigenized
news input.
The government much restructure state owned English news
channel PTV World by giving it a greater autonomy somewhat on the pattern of
BBC World. Both State owned and private English news channels need to be run with
the clear objective of developing its professional capacity so that they could unofficially
become vibrant tools of country’s foreign policy.
The government of Pakistan must encourage more English news channels and finance them if necessary to project its foreign policy in an effort to offset an unending propaganda against the country. The External Publicity Wing of Ministry of Information should be attached to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to better handle intricacies of propaganda warfare on foreign policy issues .
Packaging
Issues on English channels
Television journalism is the name of creativity and it is an
art of presentation of facts with which broad choices are made to contextualize
issues to make distinction of one news channel over the other. The conventional
lengthy talks shows are losing their relevance on television screens after the
emergence of social media in high-tech modern world where people have little
time to waste on watching long programs. Hence, the challenges are on how to
fast transfer information in short news packages ranging from two to five
minutes durations which after being aired on mainstream cable and satellite
networks, can be quickly transmitted on social media. The short and medium
range news packages and news programs must be shared on major social media
platforms through paid advertisements to attract a greater viewership.
English news channels after being restructured on
professional lines, must setup investigation cells to dig up facts on issues
directly affecting country’s national security, economy and hurting Muslims all
over the world with particular focus on India and Israel given the facts that
both of them are pursuing similar brutal policies to suppress Muslims in their
respective occupied territories.
In order to offset the propaganda on issues like forced
conversion of members of the Hindu community, it is high time to bring up facts
on English news channels on how the international media has been misreporting
on Pakistan. And similarly how personal disputes within the minority
communities make headlines as if they were attacks by extremists against
minorities in Pakistan.
Pakistan needs English channels to report of what
International media is either not reporting or misreporting on issues linked
with Pakistan’s foreign policy. Most recent
example is that there was no proof or claim by any of militant group in
Pakistan to have undertaken the responsibility for a suicide attack in Pulwama
in occupied Kashmir which led to killing of 44 Indian security personnel in
February this year. However, the international media reported it repeatedly
that the claim was made by Pakistan based militant group. Had there been a
vibrant English news channels, such propaganda could have been countered right
in the beginning, the failure of which led to built up an intensified
diplomatic pressure on Pakistan.
With over two decades of journalistic experience including a
long stint with Al-Jazeera, Javed Rana is witness to countless monumental
developments taking place in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Javed focuses on
non-state armed actors, legal, political & geostrategic issues.
ENDS
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