Battered Pak media rallies around govt

NEW DELHI, JUNE 2: It may as well be another war, or war-like situation. For the Pakistani press, our infiltrators' are their mujahidee...

NEW DELHI, JUNE 2: It may as well be another war, or war-like situation. For the Pakistani press, our infiltrators8217; are their mujahideen8217; or freedom fighters8217;, our Kargil is their 8220;disputed Kashmir region8221; and our retaliatory air strikes8217; is their use of weapons akin to nerve gas bombs8217;. Faithfully, they put the words intrusion and misadventure in quotes and faithfully also, they report extensively the much-denied horror story of 10 school children 8220;embracing shahadat8221; in mortar shelling in Neelum Valley 8212; their biggest propaganda ploy so far.

And as The News quotes Director-General Inter-Services Public Relations ISPR Brigadier Rashid Qureshi as saying that Indians have been gripped by war hysteria and that they have launched inhuman killing of innocent children, you also wonder at how distinct two nation8217;s perceptions can be. It is a perception that India is not alone in, obviously. The News quotes Qureshi again criticising BBC for being biased and saying the shelling was8220;not deliberate8221;.

Even a normally sane newspaper like The News which belongs to the Jang group of newspapers whose bank accounts were frozen by the Nawaz Sharif Government earlier this year cannot help but splash headlines such as Indian stocks, rupee plunge on Kashmir tensions8221; or even urge readers to respond in its Viewer8217;s Forum8217; on Indian forces have unleashed attacks in Kashmir to eliminate Kashmiri freedom fighters8221;. Even when calling for restraint in its editorial, the paper says 8220;Indian foreign ministry officials appear to be dragging their feet8221; on talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Sartaj Aziz. Even for the so-called independent agency, News Network International NNI, the killing of 10 children, is an occasion to lament India8217;s way of marking International Children8217;s Day.

But in pontificating, the two nations8217; journalists unite. Even Pakistani press pundits can8217;t resist holding forth, as in this editorial in The Dawn: 8220;Even if the Kashmir dispute is resolved, Indiawill continue to remain a threat. The two countries pursue entirely different goals in the conduct of their international relations which means India will continue to perceive Pakistan as a threat to its global ambitions. Therefore, when not involving Pakistan into the vortex of Kashmir, India will exert pressure in other areas, requiring constant build-up of conventional armaments that result in negative pressures on Pakistan8217;s economy.8221;

Which is why it takes an outsider like military historian Brian Cloughley to satirise the phone conversations between the Directors-General of Military Operations of the two nations: 8220;Now what is the hot-line between the DGMOs intended for? What did they talk about? The weather? How is it your end, old boy? Oh, getting a bit hot here, but can8217;t complain, you know; begum sahiba and the kids all right?8221;

But then it is to be understood that this is in a nation where all copies of Najam Sethi8217;s paper, Friday Times, have been seized and his website has beenjammed. And where Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif complains about dirty8217; journalism and says those practising healthy journalism should take serious note of the propaganda that Pakistan was a failed state.