امیر جماعت اسلامی منور حسن بیان واپس لیں، سیاسی رہنماؤں و تجزیہ کاروں کا مطالبہ
ویب ڈیسک
اسلام آباد : سیاسی رہنماؤں اور تجزیہ کاروں نے مطالبہ کیا ہے کہ جماعت اسلامی تباہی کی طرف جارہی ہے، منور حسن شہادت پر دہشت گرد اور فوجیوں سے متعلق اپنا بیان واپس لیں، جماعت اسلامی کے رہنما کا کہنا ہے کہ منور حسن کے بیان کو سیاق و سباق سے ہٹ کر پیش کیا گیا جس سے تنازع کھڑا ہوا۔
سماء کے پروگرام ندیم ملک ود لائیو میں وزیر قانون پنجاب رانا ثناء اللہ کا کہنا ہے کہ امیر جماعت اسلامی منور حسن نے حکیم اللہ محسود کو شہید قرار دے کر افواج پاکستان، شہریوں اور دیگر فورسز کے شہداء کے لواحقین کے ساتھ بہت ظلم اور زیادتی کی ہے، منور حسن چاہے کسی کو کچھ بھی سمجھتے ہوں انہیں یہ بیان نہیں دینا چاہئے تھا یہ غیر ذمہ دارانہ ہے۔
انہوں نے مزید کہا کہ جماعت اسلامی نے منور حسن کے بیان کی وضاحت نہیں کی بلکہ اس کا دفاع کیا، فوجی ہمارے کل کیلئے اپنا آج قربان کرتے ہیں، فوج اپنے شہداء کی وارث ہے، منور حسن کے بیان پر آئی ایس پی آر کا رد عمل بالکل درست ہے۔
ان کا کہنا ہے کہ جماعت اسلامی اس بیان کے ساتھ آگے نہیں چل سکتی، منور حسن کو اپنے اس بیان سے پیچھے ہٹنا پڑے گا۔
پیپلزپارٹی کی رہنما شہلا رضا کا کہنا ہے کہ لیاقت بلوچ نے منور حسن کے بیان کو پارٹی پالیسی کے طور پر تسلیم کیا، امیر جماعت اسلامی کا بیان غداری کے مترادف ہے۔
شہلا رضا کا کہنا ہے کہ طالبان جب بھی دھماکے کرتے ہیں تو ان کی کوئی بھی حمایت نہیں کرتا، سب اس کی مذمت کرتے ہیں کیوں کہ ان میں بے گناہ شہری، فوجی اور سیکیورٹی اہلکار شہید ہوتے ہیں۔
ایک موقع پر انہوں نے الزام لگایا کہ امریکا، روس اور پاکستان کے درمیان جنیوا میں مذاکرات کے دوران ضیاء الحق نے اس کی مخالفت کی وہ جنگ سے نکلنا نہیں چاہتے تھے کیوں کہ انہیں ڈالرز مل رہے تھے
شہلا رضا نے مزید کہا کہ القاعدہ کے 8 بڑے لوگ جماعت اسلامی کے رہنماؤں کے گھروں سے پکڑے گئے۔
معروف تجزیہ کار ہارون الرشید کا کہنا تھا کہ یہ بحث شروع ہی نہ ہوتی تو اچھا تھا، ہمارا کام نہیں کہ یہ فیصلہ کریں کہ کون شہید ہے کون نہیں، اس کا فیصلہ اللہ کو کرنا ہے۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ جو لوگ دہشت گردی، اغواء برائے تاوان اور دیگر جرائم کرتے ہیں اور پاکستان کیخلاف بھارت سے پیسہ لیتے ہیں وہ کس طرح شہید کہلا سکتے ہیں۔
ہارون الرشید کا مزید کہنا ہے کہ ہمارے فوجی ہمارے محافظ ہیں، انہوں نے اس ملک کے لئے اپنے سینوں پر گولیاں کھائیں، جماعت اسلامی کو چاہئے کہ وہ غلطی تسلیم کرے اور منور حسن اپنا بیان واپس لیں۔
حافظ نعیم الرحمان کے ایک الزام پر انہوں نے کہا کہ میں نے کبھی طالبان کیلئے نہیں لکھا، ہمیشہ جہاد کی حمایت کی اور کرتا رہوں گا، کالعدم تحریک طالبان پاکستان میں شامل لوگ درندے ہیں، ان کا اسلام سے کوئی تعلق نہیں، ترکی اور ملائیشیا سے مسلمان ماہر نفسیات بلا کر پوچھیں وہ بھی ان لوگوں کو نارمل نہیں کہیں گے۔
انہوں نے رانا ثناء اللہ کی رائے سے اتفاق کرتے ہوئے انہوں نے کہا کہ جماعت اسلامی تباہی کی طرف جارہی ہے۔
جماعت اسلامی کے رہنما حافظ نعیم الرحمان نے منور حسن کا دفاع کرتے ہوئے کہا کہ ان کا بیان سیاق و سباق سے ہٹ کر پیش کیا جارہا ہے جس سے تنازع کھڑا ہوگیا، امیر جماعت اسلامی نے میجر ثناء اللہ کی شہادت پر اظہار مذمت کیا اور طالبان سے کہا تھا کہ وہ اپنی افواج کے خلاف ایسے اقدامات نہ کریں۔
انہوں نے کہا کہ اس معاملے کو الجھانا نہیں چاہئے، آل پارٹیز کانفرنس میں طالبان سے مذاکرات کرنے کا اختیار حکومت کو دیا گیا، امریکا نے میزائل حملہ کرکے پاکستان اور طالبان کے درمیان مذاکرات کو سبوتاژ کیا۔
ایک سوال کے جواب میں ان کا کہنا تھا کہ جنرل ضیاء الحق کو شہید سمجھتا ہوں، ذوالفقار علی بھٹو نے ملک تقسیم کیا اور اپنے ہی لوگوں کے خلاف فوجی آپریشن کرائے، انہیں سپریم کورٹ نے سزا دی تھی۔
ان کا کہنا ہے کہ روس کے خلاف جنگ میں پاک فوج نے افغانوں کی مدد کا اعلان کیا تھا، افغانستان میں طالبان کی حکومت پاکستان کو تسلیم کرتی تھی۔
امریکا کی جنگ سے متعلق حافظ نعیم کہتے ہیں کہ پہلے بھی اس کی مخالفت کی آج بھی کرتے ہیں، جماعت اسلامی نے ہمیشہ واضح طور پر کہا کہ پاکستان کی حفاظت کرنے والے فوجیوں کو شہید سمجھتے ہیں۔
ایک موقع پر انہوں نے کہا کہ ہم آئی ایس پی آر کے پابند نہیں کہ ان کے مطابق جواب دیں اور نہ ہی جماعت اسلامی کو کسی ادارے سے حب الوطنی کے سرٹیفکیٹ کی ضرورت ہے، ہم نے افغانستان اور بنگلہ دیش میں پاکستان کے استحکام کی جنگ لڑی۔
ندیم ملک ود لائیو میں گفتگو کرتے ہوئے دفاعی تجزیہ کار بریگیڈیئر (ر) مسعود الحسن کا کہنا تھا کہ جماعت اسلامی کے بانی ابوالاعلیٰ مودودی نے اپنی کتاب میں واضح کیا ہے کہ کون شہید ہے اور کون نہیں، منور حسن کا بیان ان کی ذاتی رائے ہے، حکیم اللہ کو شہید کہنے اور فوجی کو شہید نہ ماننے پر ان سے پوچھوں گا کہ کیا وہ طالبان کی شریعت کو تسلیم کرتے ہیں۔
مسعود الحسن مزید کہتے ہیں کہ پاکستانی فوج امریکا کی حمایت یا ان کیلئے نہیں لڑرہی، کالعدم تحریک طالبان پاکستان اپنی فوج کے خلاف کارروائیاں کررہی ہے، آئی ایس پی آر نے اپنے افسران اور جوانوں کی شہادت کا دفاع کیا جو ان کا حق ہے۔ سماء
JI urged to withdraw controversial remarks
Staff Report
ISLAMABAD: Senior politicians and analysts on Monday urged Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) chief Syed Munawar Hasan to withdraw his controversial statement about declaring terrorists as martyrs, saying the Islamist party was on a path to self-destruction.
Speaking in SAMAA’s current affairs program, ‘Nadeem Malik Live’, Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah expressed shock at Hasan’s statement and Jamaat’s subsequent press statement. He advised the JI to withdraw its statement in line with the nation’s sentiments. “It was very irresponsible statement by Munawar Hasan. He has caused a massive damage to his party,” he stated.
PPP leader Shehla Raza described Hasan’s statement as an act of treason, saying it is unconstitutional to talk against Pakistani troops, who were laying down their lives for the sake of country.
Senior columnist and analyst Haroon ur Rashid opined that this debate about martyrdom should never have been initiated. “It is painful and shocking to see Hasan’s statement. Hakimullah Mehsud was an Indian agent who used to get money from India. How a person like Mehsud could be called a martyr,” he said. “The TTP members are beasts, who have nothing to do with Islam.”
JI leader Hafiz Naeem ur Rehman said that remarks were taken out of context, explaining that they were aimed at missile strike, which scuttled the peace talks with Taliban. He maintained that Munawar Hasan had also issued a statement to denounce the killing of Maj-Gen Sanullah Niazi. Rehman, however, said that JI doesn’t need a certificate of patriotism from any state institution.
Speaking on this occasion, Brigadier Masoon ul Hasan also deplored Munawar Hasan’s remarks, saying that the JI chief should read Maulana Abul A’la Maududi’s book about the definition of martyrdom. – SAMAA
Geo TV remains the market leader in the News and Current Affairs Category, Followed by second slot for Dunya and 3rd, 4th positions continue to change between Samaa and Express TV, while AAJ TV is largely at 5th Position in recent times in overall share of the viewership. However, as a matter of fact, there is little difference in actual viewership ratings data from 2-5 positions, with one percentage point difference from top-down. Major current affairs talk shows have different ratings, but do not follow the channels’ trends necessarily.
(TWO PDF FILES AND ONE WORD DOC ATTACHED FOR DATA AVAILABLE THROUGH DIFFERENT SOURCES)
RECENTLY A VERY HIGH RANKING GOVERNMENT OF PAKISTAN OFFICIAL DEALING WITH INVESTIGATIONS CLAIMED OVERALL $498 MILLION HAS GONE TO PAKISTANI TV CHANNELS IN RECENT YEARS:
ISLAMABAD: Two Pakistani journalists filing reports home from Washington are drawing their salaries from US State Department funding through a nonprofit intermediary, highlighting the sophisticated nature of America’s efforts to shape its image abroad, The Christian Science Monitor reported on Friday.
Neither of the two media organisations, Express News and Dunya News, discloses that their reporters are paid by the nonprofit America Abroad Media (AAM) on their websites or in the reports filed by their correspondents. Though the journalists have worked under the auspices of AAM since February, AAM only made their links to the news organisations known on their website Wednesday, after being contacted by the Monitor.
“If an American journalist working as a foreign correspondent in Pakistan was paid in a similar manner, would it be morally or professionally acceptable for his news organisation or audience?” asks Badar Alam, editor of Pakistan’s English-language Herald magazine.
The amount currently allocated for the project is some $2 million over two years from the public diplomacy funds allocated by the State Department, according to State Department officials in Washington familiar with the project. That includes salaries for the two correspondents – Huma Imtiaz of Express News and Awais Saleem of Dunya News and a bureau for both TV channels.
Aaron Lobel, president of AAM, says his organisation receives donations from a number of private funders, too, which it mainly spends on its programs on international affairs that run on Public Radio International in the United States.
“The content production is done first and foremost [by] Pakistanis who are here and work with their channels back home to produce content,” says Lobel.
Sometimes the Pakistani journalists and editors at home come up with stories. But AAM also holds production meetings where the group’s managing director, Aliya Salahuddin, suggests stories, says Lobel.
“I understand the fears that define the joint ventures that comprise the US-Pakistan relationship. [But] we are very proud we have a good relationship with Dunya and Express. It allows Pakistani journalists to cover the US with a Pakistani perspective. I haven’t encountered any Pakistani channel that doesn’t want to work with us,” he says, adding that AAM is hopeful of partnering with more Pakistani channels in the future. Both reporters cover a wide variety of stories. Making a clear connection
AAM’s ombudsman, Jeffery Dvorkin, insists there is no US government involvement with content production.
“My role as ombudsman is to help AAM ensure there is no effort by its funders, including the government, to interfere with any of the content produced. Thus far, there have been no efforts of this kind. Secondly, AAM continues to make it clear to the government and to all funders that in order for AAM to proceed with this initiative, the government could have no involvement in content production or selection,” he says.
The State Department official counters that both the US government and AAM ‘encourage’ the channels to make their ties clear. “We’re very proud of this program,” the official says. But eight months into the program, officials from AAM had not reached out to the channels regarding disclosure.
The official notes that this is part of a broader effort to reach out, including bringing Pakistani journalists to the US for short visits under the International Visitor Leadership Program.
Defending his newspaper’s decision not to disclose the source of Imtiaz’s funding, The Express Tribune’s [executive] editor Muhammad Ziauddin told the Monitor: “The lady reports in conjunction with the [nongovernmental organisation AAM]. The lady has been recruited by us in consultation with the NGO in a way we do not need to mention this. By putting that line we would be putting this into perspective but since we already edit [her stories] according to our thinking we do not need to. Editorially we sensitise it to a great extent.”
He adds that the process of building links with government officials is commonplace the world over. “I know a number of instances where a correspondent has landed in Pakistan and has been won over by our own information departments and briefed by our government agencies. Obviously they would like to keep his sources intact and at times he or she obliges [the government].”
Ziauddin adds that the partnership was conducted ‘as an experiment’ and in the future the newspaper intends to pay for its own correspondent in Washington, just as they do in London.
Awais Saleem, chief operating officer of Dunya News, also stated that since final control resided with the channel, they did not feel the need to declare the partnership with AAM to their viewers. Published in The Express Tribune, September 3rd, 2011.
US funding for Pakistani journalists raises questions of transparency
By Issam Ahmed,
Correspondent, CSMonitor
(AXcess News) Islamabad, Pakistan – Two Pakistani journalists filing reports home from Washington are quietly drawing their salaries from US State Department funding through a nonprofit intermediary, highlighting the sophisticated nature of America’s efforts to shape its image abroad.
Neither of the two media organizations, Express News and Dunya News, discloses that their reporters are paid by the nonprofit America Abroad Media (AAM) on their websites or in the reports filed by their correspondents. Though the journalists have worked under the auspices of AAM since February, AAM only made their links to the news organizations known on their website Wednesday, after being contacted by the Monitor.
The lack of transparency by the Pakistani organizations involved could heighten Pakistani mistrust of the US government, which is seen as having an undue level of influence in their country’s affairs.
“If an American journalist working as a foreign correspondent in Pakistan was paid in a similar manner, would it be morally or professionally acceptable for his news organization or audience?” asks Badar Alam, editor of Pakistan’s prestigious English-language Herald magazine.
The amount currently allocated for the project is some $2 million over two years from the public diplomacy funds allocated by the State Department, according to State Department officials in Washington familiar with the project. That includes salaries for the two correspondents – Huma Imtiaz of Express News and Awais Saleem of Dunya News and a bureau for both TV channels.
Aaron Lobel, president of AAM, says his organization receives donations from a number of private funders, too, which it mainly spends on its programs on international affairs that run on Public Radio International in the United States.
The timing of AAM’s website disclosure – after contact from the Monitor – was a coincidence and the update had been planned for “several months,” he says. “We are a small organization with two web guys. They are really working hard on the new site – not just about the Pakistan project but on everything we do. Yes, it would have been better to have a lot of information [before]. We have been preparing this site for a long time to provide that information.”
“The content production is done first and foremost [by] Pakistanis who are here and work with their channels back home to produce content,” says Lobel.
Sometimes the Pakistani journalists and editors at home come up with stories. But AAM also holds production meetings where the group’s managing director, Aliya Salahuddin, suggests stories, says Lobel.
“I understand the fears that define the joint ventures that comprise the US-Pakistan relationship. [But] we are very proud we have a good relationship with Dunya and Express. It allows Pakistani journalists to cover the US with a Pakistani perspective. I haven’t encountered any Pakistani channel that doesn’t want to work with us,” he says, adding that AAM is hopeful of partnering with more Pakistani channels in the future.
Both reporters cover a wide variety of stories, some related to the US government and others not.
In her work for the English-language newspaper the Express Tribune, a respected national Pakistani daily that is a part of the Express Media Group, Huma Imtiaz regularly quotes unnamed US officials, at times from the State Department and at times from the Department of Defense.
In a story published Aug. 16, “Strings attached: Talk of US scorecard rubbished,” Imtiaz interviews a Department of Defense official contradicts an earlier Wall Street Journal report that the US government was making decisions on aid based on Pakistani performance and cooperation.
She has also written for The New York Times, though not since drawing a salary from AAM, and published one essay for the Indian Express on being a Pakistani journalist in America when Osama bin Laden was captured. She also writes for Foreign Policy’s website, where she is credited only as the correspondent for Express News in Washington.
Awais Saleem’s reports include stories on cricket in Chicago and Pakistani fashion in the United States.
Neither reporter was willing to comment on the story. Making a clear connection
AAM’s ombudsman, Jeffery Dvorkin, insists there is no US government involvement with content production.
“My role as ombudsman is to help AAM ensure there is no effort by its funders, including the government, to interfere with any of the content produced. Thus far, there have been no efforts of this kind. Secondly, AAM continues to make it clear to the government and to all funders that in order for AAM to proceed with this initiative, the government could have no involvement in content production or selection,” he says.
Mr. Dvorkin says his only misgiving was about Lobel’s ability to be the AAM’s chief fundraiser and remain involved editorially at the same time – an issue that has since been resolved with the imminent hire of new managing editor.
But the lack of transparency, particularly by the Pakistani news organizations, raises ethical issues for all parties involved, says Richard Wald, a journalism ethics professor at Columbia University in New York City.
“The essential question here is not who pays, but who knows who pays,” says Professor Wald. “In a correct world, if there were such a situation, people should make the connection clear – not simply to the editors and management of the Pakistani papers – but to the receivers of the information so they can judge it on their own.”
He adds there can be a place for government-funded access to reporting for things like equipment and travel so long as it is clear where the funding is coming from.
The State Department official counters that both the US government and AAM “encourage” the channels to make their ties clear. “We’re very proud of this program,” the official says. But eight months into the program, officials from AAM had not reached out to the channels regarding disclosure.
The official notes that this is part of a broader effort to reach out, including bringing Pakistani journalists to the US for short visits under the International Visitor Leadership Program.
Defending his newspaper’s decision not to disclose the source of Imtiaz’s funding, Express Tribune editor Mohammad Ziauddin told the Monitor: “The lady reports in conjunction with the [nongovernmental organization AAM]. The lady has been recruited by us in consultation with the NGO in a way we do not need to mention this. By putting that line we would be putting this into perspective but since we already edit [her stories] according to our thinking we do not need to. Editorially we sensitize it to a great extent.”
He adds that the process of building links with government officials is commonplace the world over. “I know a number of instances where a correspondent has landed in Pakistan and has been won over by our own information departments and briefed by our government agencies. Obviously they would like to keep his sources intact and at times he or she obliges [the government].”
Ziauddin adds that the partnership was conducted “as an experiment” and in the future the newspaper intends to pay for its own correspondent in Washington, just as they do in London. Countering environment of misinformation
Christine Fair, a Pakistan expert and assistant professor at Georgetown University in Washington, says it is important to remember that the US government is operating in an environment of misinformation, where anti-US stories in Pakistan seeded by the Pakistani security establishment are commonplace.
“Is anyone calling them out on this? The Pakistani press is the freest press that money can buy,” she says, adding: “The larger story is the Pakistani media is up for sale to as many people want to buy it. This fiction is that the country is really benefiting from some independent media. The US government wants to get into this game to counter this ISI [Inter Services Intelligence] propaganda.”
Awais Saleem, chief operating officer of Dunya News, also stated that since final control resided with the channel, they did not feel the need to declare the partnership with AAM to their viewers.
ISLAMABAD // The US government has begun funding cable news channels in Pakistan in its latest bid to win the support of a public that generally views the US with animosity. While the practice is fairly common, the United States, which has struggled since its 2001 invasion of neighbouring Afghanistan to persuade Pakistanis that it is an ally, has emerged as the leading investor, industry leaders and politicians say. “A lot of international agencies and a lot of international institutions are working with the broadcasters and have hired air-time to influence the people, or gauge their opinions,” said Sheikh Rashid Ahmed, a former minister for information. Mistrust of American intentions has grown dramatically since the arrest in January of Raymond Davis, a CIA contractor who shot dead two Pakistanis in Lahore. Mr Davis alleged the men were attempting to rob him and he was eventually released after blood money was paid to the dead men’s families. Protests were held throughtout the country after Mr Davis’ release. Political opposition to US drone strikes against militant targets in Pakistan’s north-west tribal region has also risen dramatically since the Davis arrest. Veteran Pakistani broadcasters said the US faces a formidable challenge in changing the Pakistani public’s view and the media’s portrayal of its role in the region. “If you ask a Pakistani television viewer about the US, the only response you’ll get is negative. The media has been instrumental in breaking bridges, rather than building them,” said Aamir Ghauri, a former director of the ARY and Dunya cable news channels, adding that some media outlets have an institutional bias against the US. Nonetheless, the US State Department continues to invest heavily, funnelling money into Pakistani broadcasting in a variety of ways – some obvious, others more discrete. The latest initiative, launched in February, has seen the US State Department offer funding and production support for Pakistani channels to establish a bureau in Washington, channel managers said. The Dunya and Express cable news channels signed up to the project, under which the State Department will fund the $80,000 (Dh294,000) annual salaries of bureau chiefs working out of the offices of America Abroad Media, a non-profit media organisation that specialises in production partnerships Muslim broadcasters. “They would provide all production and technical support in Washington, and arrange access to Congress, the White House and other US institutions,” said Mian Aamir Mahmood, the CEO of Dunya. Mindful of political sensitivities, he claimed to have demanded a contractual amendment to assure Dunya’s retention of editorial control. Mr Mahmood said he wanted to avoid being viewed as an instrument of US propaganda. “American officials were surprised, because Express had signed the original draft, but they accepted our conditions,” Mr Mahmood said. Dunya has nominated a producer, rather than a journalist, for the role, but Express has had problems hiring a suitable “face” for the job, because several candidates pulled out of negotiations after learning of the US funding, said an applicant, who wanted to remain anomymous. Currently, none of Pakistan’s cable news channels has a bureau in Washington. That is a shocking oversight, considering the critical nature of the US-Pakistan relationship, said Shahid Masood, the president of Pearl Communications, a new Dubai-based media house. “Considering Pakistan’s position, you’d expect there to be coverage of all news related to it in the major political centres, but Pakistani broadcasters don’t even cover Nato headquarters in Brussels, even though it’s at war just over the border and is supplied by trucks coming through Pakistan,” he said. The best-known example of US investment in changing Pakistani perceptions is Khabron Se Agay (Beyond the News), an Urdu-language programme on Pakistani Americans produced by the Voice of America (VOA). Since 2006, the programme has been broadcast three times a week on Geo News, the country’s leading cable channel. “Pakistan is, if not the only country, one of the very few that permits American government broadcasts,” said Mr Ahmed, the former information minister. The terms of the agreement between Geo and VOA have no been made public, but advertising tariffs for the prime-time slot it occupies suggest serious money. The National calculated that 30 minutes of air time between 7.30 to 8pm would ordinarily add up to 351 million rupees (Dh15.22 million) a year. Channel managers said that amount would certainly be subject to “bulk buy” discounts, but the money would nonetheless have a major, positive impact on the bottom line of Geo News, industry leaders and politicians said. Mr Mahmood and Geo News managers, speaking on condition of anonymity, estimated the channel costs about Rs100 million a month to operate. Geo is believed to be the only profitable cable news channel in a market where the advertising “pie” is being carved up by an ever growing number of broadcasters, and cable distributors do not share revenue with the channels. Public policy experts said the US funding was aimed at softening the Pakistani channels’ often-irrational spin, but believed Washington was fighting an unwinnable propaganda battle. “The US government doesn’t like the Pakistani media’s portrayal because it wants Pakistanis to think that the US government is a bunch of teddy bears that are here to give them schools and roads, and they are not,” said Mosharraf Zaidi, a Canadian-Pakistan commentator. “The American government is here to protect the American people from terrorists that live and operate freely in Pakistan.”
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NADEEM MALIK 