Raymond Davis case: How Pakistan’s right-wing media resulted in Shumaila’s death
The widow of the Faheem Shamshad who was killed by Raymond Davis committed suicide because in her words she had no hope of justice as the Punjab police had kept Raymond Davis as an official guest. Shumaila’s family believes that Raymond Davis is responsible for Shumaila’s death. They have threatened they too will do the same if justice is not dispensed to them.
Now, the question arises who made Shumaila believe that Raymond would be freed without due trial?
The answer is simple, off course, our right wing media brainwashed her and made her believe that Raymond Davis would be granted diplomatic immunity and not face trial over her husband’s death.
Although the Lahore High Court has placed Raymond’s name on the Exit Control List and the federal government has already declared that the decision will be made by the courts, yet the right wing media and their US-phobe partners of the civil society are making things worse. They convinced Shumaila that her husband’s suspected killer will probably be freed without trial.
In the final analysis, it is the negative and biased reporting, the conspiracy theories against the civilian government, the spontaneous and habitual anti Americanism that made Shumaila believe that justice would never be served in her case.
“I do not expect any justice from this government,” said Shumaila Kanwal in a statement recorded by the doctor before she died. “That is why I want to kill myself.”
It was the media who made these speculations, rumors and conspiracy theories that ‘the PPP Government is set to release a CIA Terrorist and that the country has been sold to America’. References that Davis might be a part of a mercenary force, Blackwater or XE Services only fed Shumaila’s doubt.
The media’s sensationalism in their reporting and selective coverage of certain issues work to worsen problems in society and create unrest. A lot of the mass media produce very one sided, sensationalist often right wing views on terrorism, extremism Pakistan’s foreign policy especially it’s relationship with US and India, and civilian govt’s democratic liberal positions. It also have a long record of inciting violence against Non Muslims.
Print and electronic media play up certain facts to scaremonger or exaggerate issues just to make a story juicier. A balanced argument is not often presented and in extreme cases this often leads to misguided actions, such as murder and suicide.
This is highly unfortunate that the commercially oriented media today just tends to focus on more of sensational issues, because they’re more likely to gain the most attention of people watching. And media is very much responsible for extremist reactions and behaviors which is increasing day by day.
Dr. Mehdi Hassan, author and journalist Imtiaz Gul, Secretary General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, (PFUJ) Shamsul Islam Naz and religious scholar Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi held media responsible for the death of Shumaila.
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Secretary General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, (PFUJ) Shamsul Islam Naz’s point of view:
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The anti democratic media and its screeching anchors take no time in sensationalizing any issue as it suits them and especially media owners and their real mentors/establishment.
For example, prominent right wing columnist and anchor Javed Chaudhary writes that Shamila had saved herself from agony by committing suicide. By writing this article he has demonstrated support for suicide, expressed his distrust in state’s institution especially in country’s legal and judicial system and encouraged suicidal thoughts.
The media’s job is to provide information to the public, not to mislead them or incite violence and extreme measures.
Free after decades of censorship and press controls, the media in Pakistan seems to have swung to the other extreme of irresponsible coverage. There is no professional code of conduct for electronic media. In their race to win the greatest number of advertisements and rating, our corporate media has thrown discretion and journalistic caution to the winds.
The media is responsible to address the issue related to citizens but too much hysterical and negative reporting was paid to these sorts of diplomatic and judicial issues and the media must remember that irresponsibly boosts fear, not awareness.
Tera Pakaistan He na Mera Pakistan He yeh us Ka Pakistan He go Sadar -e- Pakistan He.
@jeddy tusi vi Sadar di terah Pakistan no own kero te apni zeemendariyan noin samjho te koi positive kaam vi kero…
Here is a news story, which sheds new light on Raymond
Davis case; but the electronic media in Pakistan will never discuss this issue as this is a no go area for them where the wings of Pakistani media start to burn.
Raymond Davis case: Men killed in Lahore were intelligence operatives, says official
ISLAMABAD: The government’s reluctance to free Raymond Davis is attributed to the fact that the two killed in the Lahore shootingwere believed to be the intelligence operatives.
“Yes, they belonged to the security establishment….they found the activities of the American official detrimental to our national security,” disclosed a security official.
He requested not to be identified since he was not authorised to speak to the media on record.
The official confirmed that the president, the prime minister and the chief of army staff (COAS) had discussed the issue in a meeting last week. The three thought it was advisable to resist the US pressure on the Raymond Davis issue and believed the detained American national should not be released at this stage, he said.
He said the government’s tough stance on the controversy was also its reaction to the attempts by certain elements in Washington to implicate the country’s top spy agency, the ISI, in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks.
“The government is very angry with the decision of an American court to summon top ISI officials in connections with the Mumbai attacks,” the official maintained.
The military spokesman was not available for comments.
The officials in the Foreign Office also confirmed the government’s position on the Raymond Davis issue but said he would eventually be released once the firm assurance from the US that such incidents would not recur.
The government was also contemplating to ask the American government to waive off Raymond’s immunity and try him in the US courts, the officials added. A US Embassy official said his government had “no plans yet to agree on such a step”.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 7th, 2011.
Yes, it is true. Media is playing a very negative role to destabilize the democracy in the country and promoting extremism. It is not a responsible and patriotic media.
Jang Group/GEO TV is playing Double Agent on Raymond Davis. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEyfC4s9N1Y
Javed Chaudhry style jahil anchors and writer should remember suicide is forbidden in all religions no matter what. President Zardari and US phobic right wing journalists don’t play politics or add fuel in the fire over suicides be it a teen age suicidal bomber or someone like Shumaila who thinks she is taking this extreme step because killer of her husband will not be trailed because of possible diplomatic immunity clause.
Shame on you Javed Chaudhary…
it is reported that she was hopeless as our anchorperson used to express thier ideas without any self sensor ship principles. i remember one of my dearest friend brother lost his life in air blue crash. they were extremely depressed and tensed. They were continously listening to TV channels for any hope of thier beloved life. They tuned to our very very dear (Danger)Dr shahid masood and kashif abbasi live program on crash. Dr sahib said kuch daer main andhera ho jaye ga aur jangli janwar lashon pe ayen ge. by listening to such nonsense remarks by our senior tajzia kaar and tabsara nigar, that family went into the state of deep depression and misery. and i am the eye witness of that.
and shumaila faheem went into the state of deep depression because of irresponsible behaviour of our media gurus who claim to be the voice of people. huh
U.S. Sen. John Kerry promised the Pakistani people that a jailed U.S. embassy worker will be subjected to a U.S. criminal investigation if he is released by the Pakistani government.
Kerry also expressed regret for the deaths of two Pakistani men in an apparent attempt to smooth over relations with the important ally in the war against extremists and al-Qaida while still insisting that the American needs to be released.
Raymond Allen Davis has been held by Pakistani authorities since he fatally shot two Pakistanis in the eastern city of Lahore on Jan. 27, and his case has become a bitter point of contention between Washington and Islamabad, whose relationship is considered key to ending the war in Afghanistan.
U.S. officials have said Davis shot in self-defense when two armed men on a motorcycle tried to rob him. Pakistani police officials have said they plan to try him for murder, arguing that while the Pakistanis did have a loaded gun, there was no round in the chamber, and saying Davis shot one man as he was trying to flee.
Regardless of guilt, the U.S. says the detention of Davis, a former Special Forces soldier and an embassy worker, is illegal under international agreements covering diplomats. U.S. officials have threatened to withhold billions of dollars in aid to Pakistan unless Davis is freed.
A chorus of American officials have called for his release on the grounds of diplomatic immunity, including President Barack Obama on Tuesday.
Kerry took a softer approach, saying that international law should not be abandoned, but also pledging that Davis would be fully investigated.
“It is customary in an incident like this for our government to conduct a criminal investigation. That is our law. And I can give you the full assurance of our government today that that will take place,” Kerry told reporters Tuesday in the eastern city of Lahore. “So there is no such thing as a suggestion that something is out of law or that America thinks somehow we’re not subject to the law.”
Kerry spoke on a last-minute trip to Pakistan to try to heal relations over the case. He emphasized his sorrow over the incident and the deaths of the two men.
“I want to come here today to express our deepest regret for this tragic event and to express the sorrow of the American people for the loss of life that has taken place,” he said.
His visit came as the Pakistani government appeared to be giving an opening for Davis’ release through the courts.
A Pakistani federal government official told The Associated Press on Tuesday that after reviewing the matter, most experts in Pakistan’s legal and foreign offices believe Davis is immune from prosecution. The official spoke on condition of anonymity because of the subject’s sensitivity.
Pakistani government officials had avoided a definitive stand on Davis’ legal status in the face of popular anger over the shootout. Thousands have rallied against Davis, demanding he be hanged, while the Taliban have threatened attacks against any Pakistani official involved in freeing the 36-year-old Virginia native.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110216/ap_on_re_as/as_pakistan_detained_american
Raymond Davis and Role of our Media
By Majid Maqsood
I have been reading all reports appeared in different Newspapers and watching almost all discussion on our channels just after the shot dead two people by Raymond Davis in Lahore. On very first moments Geo TV showed eye witness who was saying ” there were two persons and both having pistols chased the Gora (English Man) and they wanted to stop and rob him but Gora did not waste a second and he fired at people in front of his car and when both felt down, he came out and took their pictures and tried so hard to flee but he could not out from congested area” Many eye witnesses were shown on different channels but that footage was not repeated at all.
It is also reported by Media that these robbers also snatched Mobil and goods from other people which has been recovered from Hospital but mostly writers calling them innocent people like Raymond Davis was such extremist like many here in Pakistan killing innocent people who had nothing to do with National policy and politics.
If we accept for while Raymond Davis killed innocent people but had it been possible to hang killer in one week by our court but it had never happened in our country, Raymond Davis was detained and case is being heard but our media gave the reflection to the people that Govt is going to release Raymond Davis and it led the suicide of widow of deceased and, how this suicide can be justified when things were in process and she stated that she would be declined justice so she went for suicide? And our media also created confusion in masses like we have been slave of America.
I pity on myself and people of this country where we do not have room for truth and stating facts and we always see and believe in conspiracy theory and that’s why we never get result of any investigation or report and our people never believe whatever it comes out.
Pakistan is a country where mostly people do not know what is immunity and Vienna convention? Pakistan is a signatory of this convention and it has to abide all means and honor the International law but our media does not tell the Nation about this important thing and only singing the same song against America. There is no such discussion what would be repercussions if we execute this diplomat. I am sure today our media considering hero these murders but if any Pakistan murdered robbers in self-defense then that Pakistani would be hero.
Pakistan cannot be isolated from the World and one has to accept this reality that America is a super power of the World and if God forbid anything happens to Raymond Davis in Pakistan then people of this country will have to pay big price and we cannot even think of such devastation that America can do here in Pakistan. It is the American constitution which says she can go for war with any country for their single person. Those people who badly undermine the power of USA and they want to give lesson to USA with their emotions and nonsense and it will lead colossal devastation.
John Kerry arrives in Islamabad and his unscheduled visit reflects us the gravity of situation and USA can take its measures for Raymond Davis and he has also shared the message of President Obama who seeking Pakistan to release Raymond Davis and honor the Vienna Convention.
We must think and rethink on this nonsense approach not accepting the fact because India would be benefited if anything stall comes in our strategic partnership.
Hamid Mir & GEO TV Supported Lal Masjid Operation. (Dunya TV 15 Feb 2011) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dTkrOW0krd4
This is highly unfortunate that the commercially oriented media today just tends to focus on more of sensational issues, because they’re more likely to gain the most attention of people watching. And media is very much responsible for extremist reactions and behaviors which is increasing day by day. Dr. Mehdi Hassan, author and journalist Imtiaz Gul, Secretary General, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, (PFUJ) Shamsul Islam Naz and religious scholar Pakistan Ulema Council (PUC) Chairman Allama Tahir Ashrafi held media responsible for the death of Shumaila.
A message left on another forum:
Any solution to the problem is not about forcing others to accept what we think is right or wrong. Solution should be found on its own merit. Raymond Davis case is a dilemma for Pakistan as both parties want face saving. But since court verdict is always a zero sum game, the case embarrasses judicial wisdom.
A win-win outcome for both parties can only come from cold logic rather than court room. All it needs is a drawing board, chart decision tree on it, assign dollar value to each decision nodes and select the one which is least costly under the given the compulsion. After all Pakistan has made such decisions in the past. But cold logic trashes spirit and hope of honor for those who are too attached to it.
We always see the Journalists giving lectures on morality, ethics and pretending to be advocates of rule of law. These journalists will always highlight the wrongdoings of anyone else in the society, but when it comes to their own community, they unite and act as mafia. One typical example is the criminal silence across the board by all Pakistani Journalists on Nazir Naji’s use of abusive language against another junior journalist. Isn’t it shameful for those priests cum journalists who could not gather moral courage to utter a single word to condemn this disgusting behavior of a disgusting fellow journalist?