Declan Walsh writes in NYT:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/27/world/asia/attack-on-journalist-starts-battle-in-pakistani-press.html?_r=0

Hamid Mir has an ambiguous history with the ISI. He shot to prominence after interviewing Osama bin Laden in 1998, and was initially seen as sympathetic to the pro-jihadi agenda of the Pakistani military and the ISI. But in recent years he has championed the cause of Baluch nationalists, angering the army, and highlighted human rights abuses during military operations.

“A lot of us liberals feel a dilemma,” said Abbas Nasir, a former editor at the BBC and Dawn newspaper. “We’re disgusted with the way Geo has behaved in recent years. But we also know the consequences of letting the boots shut down the media. And that’s got to be the bottom line.”

————

Viewpoint’s interview with Saleem Asmi:

Viewpoint: Hamid Mir himself has been popularizing discourses and narratives being used against him for a while, but particularly after the assassination attempt. He used to declare everybody he disagreed as traitor [Mir Jaffar, Mir Saqid was his preferred term], a ‘liberal fascist’, a ‘sell out’ etc. He has been an essential part of the Team Media Taliban, popularizing pro-Taliban, Indiaphobic, and Jihadist ideas [an implicit endorsement of ISI agenda]. Don’t you think one should really feel sorry for Goebels if they for some reason earn Nazi wrath?

Saleem Asmi: Yes, Hamid Mir himself has never been above controversy. He is known to have liaisons with some unseemly characters like Malik Ishaq of LeJ, which cannot perhaps be explained away on the ground of an exercise in investigative journalism. He has been described as India-phobic and Indian agent in the same breath. Some people insist vehemently that he is an ISI agent, and claim to have proofs to back their claim. But what can be said without fear of contradiction is that he has had close relations with Osama and other Al Qaida figures. He had interviewed Osama in Afghanistan and also translated his poetry into Urdu. All said and done one thing very positive about him has been his persistent and uncompromising reports of agencies’ atrocities against the Baloch youth, their continuing kidnappings etc. His unstinted support to the oppressed people of that unfortunate province alone should wash clean all his stigmas. (LUBP’s note: We, with respect, disagree with Mr Asmi on this point. For details, refer to LUBP’s post: Hamid Mir, a champion of Balochs?)

Viewpoint: There used to be an impression beyond media circles that Hamid Mir was hand in glove with the secret agencies. Don’t you think the assassination attempt on Hamid Mir, if it is indeed an ISI plot, is in fact a case of mafia-style action to punish the ‘traitor’?

Saleem Asmi: As I have stated above, it is true that Hamid Mir has often been accused of having close ties with the agencies; it is also true that ISI works as a mafia, but I can’t say if this was a case of eliminating someone for betrayal. I think it is more like silencing a nagging voice.

http://www.viewpointonline.net/2014/04/vp198/mir-s-support-for-baluchistan-alone-should-wash-clean-all-his-stigmas

جیو اور حامد میر بمقابلہ آئی ایس آئی: عاصمہ جہانگیر اور فہمیدہ ریاض کا تبصرہ – See more at: https://lubp.net/archives/312687#sthash.tTkmwhQx.dpuf