If there was to be a sequel to the movie Mr. Bean’s Holiday, it would be called President Goes to the USA. While Mr. President had a rendezvous half way across the globe with ex girl friends and beauty pageant winners, those back home wished he hadn’t left Islamabad in the first place. The media got its much alleged freedom, but how has that helped us? If the media is so responsible and its role is so vital, why have things gone as far as they have? WHERE IS THE MEDIA? Where are the anchors and the journalists who wanted to jump at every chance? They have the resources to interview sought after terrorists, but lack the guts to confront those in the government. Mr. President, if you want to be the savior you claim you are, stop playing in the hands of our enemies, bring about change, or it will force itself on you.

By Laila Sohail

Monday, 27th October – 2008

Musharraf, the first Pakistani president to have visited Australia, was welcomed to the capital with a 21-gun salute and an honor guard. [2005]

“The extraordinary gesture was so disarming that even a most seasoned Vajpayee couldn’t keep his cool and looked small by accepting the handshake in a rude and acrimonious manner, given the restrains of his politics of bellicosity that even prohibited a relaxed body language and civilized conduct.” Pakistan media praises Musharraf handshake B. Muralidhar [Jan 2002]

Agra was enough to convince most India analysts that if the two countries were to settle their differences in a contest of style, Pakistan would win hands down. Y.P. Rajesh Reddy [05 Jan 2002]

ISLAMABAD, JAN. 6. Pakistani media was all praise today over the manner in which the Pakistan President, Pervez Musharraf, “stole” the show at the SAARC summit in Katmandu by extending his hand of friendship to the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee. The Hindu Jan 7 2002 [India's National paper]

The above are just a few of the headlines following Former President Musharraf’s visits to countries including India, Australia and Nepal. The world saw the President in his tailor made shirwani and a humble smile He might be having troubles back home but when it came to his international image, even those who opposed him could not help but admire his diplomatic style and charm. .

The following are from the news items proceeding current President Asif Ali Zardari’s US visit:

“Pak President Out of Line with Palin,”

“Zardari Shocks with Sexist Remark”

“What excuse does the husband of a global feminist icon have for his faux pas?”

“Zardari Ignores Diplomatic Propriety”

“Zardari pilloried at home as a source of national embarrassment, as he was accused of sexism and impropriety”

While the describing words on You Tube can not be repeated.

If there was to be a sequel to the movie Mr. Bean’s Holiday, it would be called President Goes to the USA. It would definitely win awards in both the Comedy, as well as the Tragedy categories. While Mr. President had a rendezvous half way across the globe with ex girl friends and beauty pageant winners, those back home wished he hadn’t left Islamabad in the first place.

The media got its much alleged freedom, but how has that helped us? If the media is so responsible and its role is so vital, why have things gone as far as they have? There were prudent journalists and analysts who predicted and theorized what is happening today as back as 2005, but our superstars in the media were too busy enjoying their own claim to fame to pay attention. Those who warned about foreign interests or external agencies working within Pakistan were nonsensically criticized, their reputations maligned and their theories called fantasias. The media was busy bombarding President Musharraf, dramatizing Lal Masjid, cashing on to the Lawyers’ movement and running propagandas. All that their little brains could process was Musharraf and his agenda and they failed to look at the bigger issues. There was no strategy, no plan, not even a code of conduct present. Had the media taken a united stand then, had the anchors who today claim to be intellectuals shown a bit of selfless common sense then: it would not have come to this.

But Journalism in Pakistan, like politics, is a commercial self profiting profession and the Media is a profit making enterprise. The President went as far as to say “The world is a safer place after Bush” [not that he was lying; the world has changed for the better for him after his success story Prisoner to President]. He repeatedly condemned the powers the constitution gave to the President and promised to revoke them, but after he inherited them they were not mentioned again [after all he is suffering from Dementia so he may have forgotten his own words]. The PPP sponsored in camera briefings in the parliament have only reconfirmed the underlying agenda. Broken promises, no gas, no electricity, wheat crises, hyper inflation, US missile strikes and intervention, regular US official visits, and a comical visit to the US to complete the package….question is…WHERE IS THE MEDIA? Where are the anchors and the journalists who wanted to jump at every chance? They have the resources to interview sought after terrorists, but lack the guts to confront those in the government. All it takes to quiet them up, is an over confident hushing Sherry, Shush she says, and they all have a finger on their lips. Have they all gone blind and deaf and dyslexic at the same time?

The news strip running at the bottom of the television screen read ‘Due to the bad weather, the flight had to land on Mohtrama Baynazir Bhutto’ I was about to crack a joke on the typing error on the strip, when I saw the bracket with the words “Nawab Shah”. I realized {with amusement} that Mohtrama Baynazir Bhutto was now in fact a place.

To say that we have even a distorted version of democracy in this country, is an understating joke. The decisions are still made in the Presidential drawing room, only now it is in the USA. . Votes are only cast in Pakistan for three reasons, Cast, family name or a free meal. Credentials and past performances are not on the list of qualifications. Using the same ‘mandate of the people’ cliché to justify those who are betraying the country is idiocy. The ideology of democracy is to have rulers that represent the ruled. Every single one of the 16 crore awam would swear allegiance that those in power today have nothing in common with the Islamic ideology in the name of which this country was made. So don’t blame the common man. It is hard to use your brain when the stomach is empty. It is the educated class that is to blame. It is the intellegenzia with twisted philosophies and pseudo intellectual agendas that cover everything except Pakistan. Point your barrels at those who have the audacity to say that the army is still not allowing democracy to function properly, that the ISI has foreign ties, that this democracy is our answer to all problems. Those who sit on live television and continue to praise this delusion of democracy; they are the traitors.

Those who claim that allowing the politicians to make mistakes will achieve true democracy, should keep in mind that these mistakes may threat our very sovereignty, and then democracy will be of no use to us anyway. This government has proven time and again that it is incapable of handling any of the complexities facing Pakistan. We are facing the hardest of times and a multi faceted crisis. What we need is a strong leadership and the best diplomacy has to offer, what we have is a remote controlled government ready to jump at every signal it gets from outside. It must be asked to leave, and if the media is not going to do it, eventually the people will have to. Unless those in power take heed, they will bring upon themselves yet another crisis.

No Mr. President, your daughter can not be the president, your son can not be the president, the conspicuous wills of your dead wife can not decide the fate of this country. Ask your jialas to take a holiday. If you want to be the savior you claim you are, stop playing in the hands of our enemies, bring about change, or it will force itself on you. The media might be sold out, but the people of this county aren’t. Stop with the never ending promises, the grieving widower pleas, and the sympathetic speeches. Don’t sweat it… the people don’t buy it anymore.

Laila Sohail is a young Pakistani commentator and can be reached at: blabbersboo@gmail.com

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Previous Columns by Ms. Sohail:

Wake up, we are already at War

Where there is a will – There is a way! Zardari’s Success Story

Pervez Musharraf: Pakistan’s Only Real Democrat in 40 Years