View Point                                                                         Abid Ullah Jan

Unlearn Old Lessons of Journalism

Sitting in exile, I recall words of Mr. Mustafa, who is working as Sub-editor with daily the Statesman in Pakistan. His oft-repeated lesson-cum-advice was: "Don't be an enemy of your little kids. What will you get from this type of write ups in Pakistan where nothing changes?" Interestingly, same was the message from ISI agents. Now facing an uncertain future, I wonder about the future of journalists -- the custodians of public conscience -- in a republic of fear, called Pakistan. And now, I realise why too many of our reporters are contended with desk journalism.

My crime is violating the rules of journalism in a dictatorship where elites in every walk of life are running rough shod over the poor and Middle class Pakistanis right to live -- where reporters are deluged with transitory events which sometimes obscure the core issues; the gaffes, media releases, staged photo opportunities and hot house intrigues of politics in puppet parliament. Pressed by deadlines, hemmed by the size of the news hole and isolated from research facilities, daily journalists are frequently forced to ignore the facts behind the news. In doing so, journalists fail to make dictators and the corrupt elite accountable.

The report, which became the root cause of my ultimately getting labelled as an anti-state element, was actually the result of my repeated requests to the Frontier Post to expose the elements that suck the nation's blood in the name of human rights and poverty alleviation. We have heard of the challenges the journalists face confronting dictators, hostile military, and narco-terrorists. However, neither the paper, nor any of its reporters were ready to take the risk of annoying the well-respected, well-paid and well-linked "development specialists," who never hesitate to publicly shed tears for the poorest of the poor. I had no option but to shoulder the job myself. My findings appeared on the front page of the Frontier Post for four consecutive days from January 9 to12, 2001.

The Frontier Post offices were burnt to ashes by an angry mob for publishing a blasphemous letter within 40 days of publishing the report. The way the letter made its way to the editorial pages is still a mystery. It is, however, a well known fact that the biggest government-established NGO, Sarhad Rural Support Corporation (SRSC), which was target of the investigative report, distributed sweets among its staff members at the head office the day Frontier Post offices were closed down by the provincial government.

On the other side, nothing happened to SRSC for no less powerful men than Additional Chief Secretary and Governor of NWFP, Iftikhar Hussain Shah, stood in its defence. My problems at the hands of well wishers of SRSC and government agents, however, compounded with each subsequent story I contributed to expose the real nature of Musharraf's rule in the years that followed. The 2001 report itself could not become a ruse to persecute me. However, my anti-dictatorship work in 2002 was good enough to settle old scores with me. Interestingly, both my tormentors and myself didn't know the root cause and the actual actors behind the scene who blew my threat to Musharraf's regime out of proportion.

From the kind of interrogation I faced before leaving the country, I assumed that it was the punishment for calling a spade a spade in the face of a dictator. Lately, I came to know that despite my giving up on exposing corruption by leading NGOs, I still remained on the hit list of the personalities I mentioned in my 2001 report.

I remember words of my fellow journalists. Nevertheless, I do not regret, nor am I worried for myself. I am very pleased to read "Irregularities found in rural uplift projects" (Dawn, March 01, 2002) -- nothing short of a good abstract of my 2001 report.(1) The Dawn report could not have been published at another appropriate time other than now.
Irrespective of what happened to my family, at least, the process that I set in motion is still on and would save many poor families. The Dawn would never have published my report in 2001. Today, however, the same facts are echoed in its pages and my mission against corruption under the banner of poverty alleviation is closer to accomplishment - doesn't matter if my mission against self-appointed rulers seems an exercise in futility.

Time changes and things refuse to remain mismanaged for too long. The Governor NWFP could publicly threat those who were writing against corruption in NGOs of serious consequences. His team could close down another NGO, RISE, before any investigation for mismanaging just Rs. 0.2 million (Dawn, September 12, 2001). (2) But he decided to punish chairman of his Inspection Team and myself for exposing embezzlement worth millions of dollars by SRSC. The Governor was silent when public were openly challenging him in the words: "Now the ball is in governor's court." (3)

I just want to see what does the Governor NWFP, Mr. Steve Jones of British funding agency (DFID), and Fayyaz Baqir and Anne Keeling of UNDP now think about the Dawn's latest report. Mr. Steve Jones was visited by the community members. He was provided with hard evidence of SRSC's corrupt practices. But he didn't hesitate to recommend the organisation for another project worth millions of dollars.

The Governor used military personals in a skilful way to trap me. They spent huge amounts of public funds on an enterprise, which brought no gain to the country and failed even in securing its mean and limited objective. If the purpose of spying on my activities, phone tapping, kidnapping, and detaining me was to secure my silence, the government has failed to achieve its target. Here I am, totally unrepentant, voicing my opinions again. Their success was limited only to branding me an "anti-state element" by shifting focus from my anti-corruption activities to anti-dictatorship write ups.

How could a journalist overthrow a dictatorship? I was linked to already exile journalists Shaheen Sehbai and Khwaja Ashraf in US, and the publisher of my book in UK. Interestingly, I have seen none of them. Not even in picture. Even if I did, how could this make an alliance for overthrowing a regime so strongly backed up by no less a power than Washington.

This is my appeal to the journalists in Pakistan not to say good bye to our critical role in the development and democratic process -- no matter how uninterested the newspapers owners might be. We must not let development become professional-robbery and politics turn into a scripted event where spectacle overwhelms substance. We must not blur our roles to become minor players in an unfolding drama we are attempting to critique. Reporters should not reduce themselves to being little more than reviewers.

Should journalism practitioners explore new methods of news gathering and investigative reporting, corrupt organisations such as SRSC may not survive a few months in the robbery business. So would be the destiny of dictatorial regimes. We must write for a change with the belief that no effort goes in vain. If we worry about our own kids, we may never be able to save million and millions of poorest children from predators of poverty alleviation. If our objective is limited to self, we can never save the nation.

References:
1. Dawn correspondent, "MANSEHRA: Irregularities found in rural uplift projects, February 28, 2003, (see http://www.dawn.com/2003/03/01/local18.htm).
2. Muqaddam Khan, news report, "SWABI :Rules for monitoring NGOs being ignored,"
The Dawn, September 12, 2001 (see: http://www.isb.sdnpk.org/news/01sep12/item21.htm and http://www.isb.sdnpk.org/news/01sep12/item21.htm.
3. See http://lists.isb.sdnpk.org/pipermail/ngo-list/2001-January/000478.html and http://lists.isb.sdnpk.org/pipermail/ngo-list/2001-January/000492.html