Imtiaz Gul’s comments:

It is indeed a very sad reflection on how money and moneyed people can
use others including media as pawns in their game, and that the
mediapersons also willingly become part of the sinister games. A
bitter reflection on the state of society where money rules – even
ill-gotten and being spent on vehicles such as media.

Now on express tribune:

What do you get when you leave the camera on with two TV anchors and a business tycoon during an advertisement break? A candid video of what went on behind the scenes during what is termed a “planted show” on one of the biggest scandals in Pakistan’s history.
Behind the scenes footage showing Dunya TV anchors Mubashir Lucman and Meher Bokhari talking to Malik Riaz during their show surfaced on YouTube under the title “Malik Riaz Planted Interview with Mehar Bokhari and Mubashir Lukman on dunya tv“ on Thursday. The show aired on the TV channel on Wednesday.
The footage shows conversations between Lucman, Bokhari and Riaz focused on the kind of questions they will be asking. Both anchors are also instructed against interrupting Riaz during the interview.
Bokhari is heard saying a question is planted towards the end of the video.
“Say what you want… what question should we ask. It will appear as though it is planted… it is, but it shouldn’t appear it is.”
The video begins with general conversation and is followed by Riaz questioning the anchors on why they are not asking why he is part of “deals”.
Lucman is then seen on the phone asking if the interview is going fine and defending himself by saying Riaz is being given a chance.
Who is he speaking to? Abdul Qadir Gilani, he says.
The anchor tells “Gilani” that he wants to clear his name from taking money and he wants to talk about Hamid Mir’s allegations, but Riaz isn’t letting him take his name. “No, no,” says the business tycoon in response to that.
Riaz then asks “Gilani” to pray for him.
In between Lucman’s smoke break, Bokhari turns to Riaz to discuss what they will ask next. A brief discussion and a “khul kay poochain”, Meher says that they will discuss journalists at the end of the show, so as to “clear her name” at least.
Lucman tells Riaz, “Today I will ask you to give me in front of everyone. Give me a villa like you gave Hamid”. “No, no,” is Riaz’s response once again, followed by a “why not” from Lucman.
Yet another break later, both anchors and Riaz are once again seen discussing what the next discussion will be.
Riaz once again mentions that he wants them to ask why he is in every deal, and is told by Bokhari that she is not interested in asking that question, but is in return told that he wants to go back to it. “So go back,” says Lucman.
Riaz is seen occasionally choosing topics of his choice, focusing on the chief justice as well. He is also visibly upset during one part of the video, where he says that most of his questions are left and the work isn’t done.
Smoke breaks, thumbs up from both anchors, a high five and questions of how the show is going so far are also seen during the video.
Little arguments between both anchors are also regularly seen during the video, mostly on order of asking questions and the time each has to take.
Lucman also tells Riaz that he will ask a “conspiracy theory” question that he wanted to become the prime minister.
He tells Riaz that he will not answer the question before 10, as this will make people wait for it otherwise they won’t come back to the show.
In another interesting revelation, Riaz states that he does not eat roti, chawal or meetha, and will eat an egg or chicken. Lucman asks Bokhari to get barbecue instead.
Riaz is not to be interrupted
The second part of the video has strict instructions coming in for both Lucman and Bokhari that Riaz is not to be interrupted.
Both anchors give their assurance that they will not be interrupting the businessman now. Lucman also tells someone off camera that they should not be pressurising them for a break, and says that they will go over time if they have to.
Lucman then asks Riaz to give him a “dhamaka”, and is promised that he will get one on the next show.
Bokhari also delivers a message from Maryam Nawaz that a car had been offered to them but they had declined it after saying thank you.
During this talk, a muffled off screen voice says something and Riaz tells the female to stay queit.
The second part also sees both anchors getting into a little tiff over camera time. Bokhari calls Lucman childish, who takes his mic off and leaves.
Riaz appears desperate when Lucman walks off, asking him to come back, saying it will be unfair for him.
An angry Lucman returns and tells Riaz that he will say live on air that he was pressurised into doing the show by him and Mian Amir.
Riaz continues trying to reconcile between the two during all of this.
He then begs both anchors and says that the program will be spoilt and that his life is at stake. Lucman then tells Riaz that he will say that he had gone to meet the man who also had documents to show against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar.
A video close to 26 minutes will now just add to the only dangerously brewing storm that has a member of the judiciary linked to it.

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There is nothing special in this clip.

This sort of activity can be seen during break period of any Talk Show. Who soever has done this should be given Nishan-e-Haider.

I know Mubashir Luqman since he was PRO to Musarrat Misbah, the lady who runs Depilex, a chain of beauty saloons in Pakistan, and also the head of SMILE NGO that ‘works for acid victims.’

In 2004-2005, Mubashir was her PRO and as PRO his basic job was to arrange press conferences.
As a beat reporter, I had to attend such news conferences. I remember, he was a penny-less and poverty-hit man. Then he was introduced to Pervez Musharraf through Musarrat Misbah. Then he was appointed Minister in the interim-government. Now he is said to be a millionaire, who travels in Mercedes and four-wheel-drive.
We know that what type of ‘short-cuts’ he used to mint money to become so-called top journalist.
In fact, he is a ‘middle-man’ not a journalist.

Regards,

Ashraf Javed

ISI released the video. They did not want their dog to be loyal to Abdul Qadir Gilani. The dog (Malik) has been taught a lesson. He has now reverted to his old masters.

All is set. Everything will be sorted out between Malik Riaz and Iftikhar Chaudhry in the next few days. CJ will vent his anger not at army or Malik Riaz but on Zardari-Gilani and their ministers.

That’s what the script says!

So, basically we find out the following things:

1. This was a total set-up of an interview, with planted questions.

2. Malik Riaz is not only told the questions before-hand, he is fed some of the answers too and prompted by the intrepid interviewers to say things he might have forgot to mention.

3. The Prime Minister’s son Abdul Qadir Gilani is in the know and involved, as are the Sharif brothers in a slightly different way.

4. There are instructions from Dunya TV management ‘not to interrupt’ Malik Riaz, even if it means going over time. Obviously, Dunya TV is more beholden to him than anyone could have guessed.

5. There actually were plenty of ego-clashes between the Bokhari and Lucman, even more than what was visible on air yesterday, over how much time each was getting to ask their questions. At one point, Malik Riaz tries to placate them both by telling them that they should put aside their squabbles because this programme is a matter of life or death for him. Meher tells Lucman to “be professional.” You are allowed to laugh.

6. Other than providing an unembarrassed and shameless platform to someone well known for buying off the media in the shape of a fake ‘grilling’, the main thrust of the interviewers is to clear their own names as people bought off by Malik Riaz by throwing up smokescreens of asking hard-hitting questions. “Do you want to clear our names here?” asks Bokhari of Lucman while trying to decide the schedule of questions.

I don’t really think you’re going to ever clear your names after this, Ms Bokhari and Mr Lucman. Same goes for Dunya TV and its politician owner Mian Aamir Mahmood for that matter.

: : : Update : : :

1. For those who cannot understand the Urdu, here is a good summary of the videos. http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/06/14/news/national/mubashar-lucman-suspended-for-%E2%80%98off-air%E2%80%99-comments/

2. According to Dunya TV sources, Mubasher Lucman has either been ‘suspended’ or fired for saying during the show that he was being pressurised to do the show by Mian Aamir Mahmood and Malik Riaz.

3. Dunya TV News Director Nasim Zehra too is rumoured to have resigned.

PUPPETS ON A STRING?
News Comments (73)
Sajid Khan Lodhy 9 hrs ago | Comments (73)

LAHORE – That trouble comes in threes could not be any truer than in the case of the latest scandal hitting mainstream media and social media, dubbed “Mediagate”. What started as mere allegations against Dr Arsalan Iftikhar that first turned into a storm that shook the very foundations of judiciary, has now turned into another earth-shaking scandal that has put at stake the careers of many prominent journalists in the country, and putting into question the role of the media as a watchdog against corrupt practices.
“Bahriagate” or “Familygate” has seemingly opened up a Pandora’s Box, and Malik Riaz’s revelations have put some of the anchors on a warpath.
After appearing in a press conference, which in itself spurred the Supreme Court to initiate contempt of court proceedings, the real estate tycoon and central character of Bahriagate, Malik Riaz, appeared in an interview on Dunya News TV channel, hosted by Mehar Bukhari and Mubasher Lucman, which has brought a rumble along the foundations of Pakistani media.
First it was Najam Sethi of Geo TV and Syed Talat Husain of Dawn News who sparred and traded punches a few days ago, mostly over their intellectual capacity and professional integrity. Echoes of this episode had barely died down when this explosion was heard on the vibes.
The recent interview was routine business but what really proved to be shocking was behind-the-scenes video footage that somehow got leaked and was uploaded on YouTube, and was soon doing the rounds in the social media. It appears from the footage that Malik Riaz had planted questions in the interview. The hosts also appear to be helping him prepare his answers, and in certain cases mouth-fed him some answers. He appeared to take full advantage of his position and contact with the management of Dunya News who told the hosts not to interrupt him and give him as much time as he wanted.
The video also shows political scions of Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani and Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) President Nawaz Sharif interrupting and giving their input to the hosts on points relevant to them.
“Why don’t you start talking about it yourself, otherwise [if we ask] it will seem planted, which it is, but I don’t know if it should look planted,” an otherwise ferocious Mehar at one point suggested to Malik Riaz.
Both Mehar and Lucman in the start reminded Riaz of mentioning ‘Code of Conduct’ for judges, where “as per section 4 listed on their website also, even if a judge is related to one of the lawyers involved in a case or personally knows someone in the case, they should quit,” Lucman says, while Mehar adds, “and in this case it’s his [CJ’s] son”.
During the interview Mubasher Lucaman, known for his no holds barred approach, seemed upset and offended at the very idea of hosting a programme jointly with Mehar Bukhari, who in herself has seen a fair deal of controversy during her career as an anchorperson. He was piqued when Mehar insisted on deciding who was going to ask Malik Riaz questions. In fact, he did get up and walked out of the room when Mehar did not give in. Later, under persuasion by both his co-host and the guest, he came back. He also said: “I’ll say it on air that I’ve been ‘pressurised’ by Mian Amir Mehmood and Malik Riaz to do this programme.”
It also appeared that he was more interested in defending the political scion of the Chaudhrys of Gujrat, Moonis Elahi, who Mehar wanted to ask a question about from Malik Riaz, than asking direct questions from the guest.
Lucman was also adamant in bringing into debate the name of Hamid Mir, host of a well-known TV talk show, for “taking a villa” from the tycoon to which Malik Riaz resisted. Lucman apparently handed him a cell phone, in his support, on the other line of which was, he said, Abdul Qadir Gilani, the son of Prime Minister Gilani. Meantime, Maryam Nawaz sent a text message to Mehar clarifying the situation regarding allegations that Malik Riaz had given Hamza Shehbaz a bullet-proof car.
The video has become the talk of the town as almost every talk show was seen discussing it.
Hamid Mir of Geo News used the video in his programme, Capital Talk, and asked scathing questions from his guests that included Khawaja Asif of the PML-N, Qamaruz Zaman Kaira of PPP and Imran Khan of PTI. He was quick to point out the laxity shown by his colleagues in the media though he exonerated himself from all the allegations levelled against him in that interview. He insisted, “All of us journalists who have been named in the list must put ourselves up for accountability by the PFUJ and the courts.”
He was referring to a list allegedly published on the official letterhead of Bahria Town and containing names of 19 journalists with the amount of money, vehicles, property and other favours they received from the Bahria Town management. The Bahria Town management has denied publishing the list.
In their defence, the management of Dunya News claims that the controversial video footage was stolen by a rival media group and thus could have been manipulated and edited into something it never was intended for.
Mehar gave a dispassionate defence of her actions in her programme ‘Crossfire’ while claiming that nothing out of the ordinary was done during the interview. “Everybody in media does what we did,” she said. “Journalists in that list are in the process of consultation on how to take legal action against Bahria Town,” she added.
Meanwhile, sources told Pakistan Today that Lucman has been “suspended for three days” by the Dunya News management, and an enquiry has been started against him for his controversial actions during the interview. Malik Riaz had in fact warned him during the interview that he would have to answer a lot of questions about his comment with regard to “having been pressurised by Mian Amir” on-air.
Meanwhile, in a related development, Nasim Zehra has resigned from her position as the Director Current Affairs, Dunya News, in the aftermath of this leaking of behind-the-scenes video.
The turmoil at Dunya News also brings into focus the role of emerging media barons and their hobnobbing with the powers that be.

http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2012/06/14/news/national/mubashar-lucman-suspended-for-%E2%80%98off-air%E2%80%99-comments/

Talat Hussain on leaded video and Riaz Thaikaydaar:

http://youtu.be/EL2xInflyms

The day media itself got embroiled in scandal
From the Newspaper | Amir Wasim | 9 hours ago 0

Real estate tycoon Malik Riaz (C) waves to members of the media as he leaves after appearing before the Supreme Court in Islamabad, June 12, 2012. — Photo by Reuters
ISLAMABAD, June 14: Malik Riaz strode on to the national political scene vowing to expose the court but he has ended up facilitating an expose of the media, the climax of which came with the release of footage in which two talk show hosts interacted with the property tycoon in a manner that suggested an interview more pre-planned and coordinated than a ‘hard talk’.

Since the familygate scandal broke out, the media in Pakistan has not covered itself with glory. It has been under discussion just as much as Riaz and his alleged links with Arsalan Iftikhar.

Initially the scepticism was targeted at the manner in which the scandal came to light, in which well-known talk show hosts spilled the beans only to later admit that there was little proof of its authenticity.

Shortly after this, a twitter war broke out as anchors accused each other of being in the pay of the country’s most well-known property tycoon. One accused the other of being linked to Riaz; the other hit back on twitter and said the first was in the pay of the Americans. Accusations on social media and indirect ones in their own shows proved to be just as entertaining as the antics of Riaz.

But on Thursday the talk show hosts overtook the SC and the tycoon. The messengers became the story themselves when the footage of the interaction of Mubashir Lucman and Mehr Bokhari with Riaz on Wednesday night were uploaded on the internet. They had interviewed him for their channel in a special programme.

The footage of their unguarded conversation with each other and with Riaz as they discussed the interview during commercial breaks was a damning indictment of the electronic media. Even on the night of the interview, there was an opinion that the two hosts had not grilled the tycoon as much as they could have because they were busy jostling with each other for space and time.

But this still did not prepare everyone for the internet edition of the interview.

The nearly 30-minute long video shows the two discussing questions with Riaz.

At one point, Ms Bokhari is heard saying: “Say what you want…what question should we ask. It will appear as though it is planted…it is, but it shouldn’t appear it is.”

Both the anchors have also been shown receiving instructions from an “unknown” person, asking them not to “interrupt” Riaz during the interview and provide him unlimited time.

What has lent credence to the perception that the entire exchange was pre-planned are the unverified rumours of Ms Bokhari and Mr Lucman being among those media people who have received money and other benefits from Mr Riaz. In fact, the two bring this issue up with their ‘guest’ and insist that he has to clear this up before the interview ends.

At one point, Lucman tells Riaz, “Give me a villa like you have given Hamid Mir [who hosts a show at Geo TV]”. He goes on to add during a phone call, ostensibly from Abdul Qadir Gilani, the prime minister’s son, that Riaz had stopped him from naming Mir on air.

Mr Lucman then hands over the phone to Riaz who is heard calling Mr Gilani “Bunny” and asking if everything is going well. The name dropping does not end here.

Ms Bokhari also informs Malik Riaz that she has received a message from Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, that Hamza Shahbaz turned down the bullet-proof car offered by Mr Riaz.

The businessmen can also be seen choosing questions that he is to be asked. “You ask me as to why I am involved in all the deals,” he tells the two sitting in front of him.

‘Childish’ walkout

But while the anchors refrain from firing at Riaz they do attack each other as they fight for more airtime. Bokhari calls Lucman childish when he walks out of the studio.

Later, Riaz is seen asking someone to tell his daughter to call Lucman and console him. The reason for his concern is the interview; the business tycoon says: “you are spoiling my programme.”

An angry Lucman returns only to threaten that he will say on air that he was pressured into doing the show by Riaz and Mian Amir, the channel owner.

The comfortable and friendly relationship between the two hosts and the controversial property tycoon and the manner in which Riaz seems to be calling the shots have combined to paint a damning picture.

By evening it was evident that rival channels were not going to pass up on a good story. News bulletins ran the footage and talk shows had a field day. Some attacked the two anchors while others used it to illustrate the already legendary control of Riaz over the media.

The SC’s criticism of the media in its short order the very same afternoon lent more irony to the situation. As this footage was doing the rounds, the SC said that “It is worth remembering that ultimately every person and every institution is the custodian of his/its own reputation and integrity. If we don’t guard our reputation the honourable people of Pakistan will be justified in pointing fingers at us. The same applies to all other institutions, including the media.”

Lucman suspended

The two talk show hosts remained incommunicado all day long though Ms Bokhari in her Thursday night show ran the footage in order to offer a clarification. Interestingly, her defence was mostly limited to herself; she announced that the management had suspended Mr Lucman and ordered an inquiry.

She conceded only to one planted question in the interview, but said that she had refused to ask the question as it was based on Riaz’s information – that the chief justice had arranged a room for his son at Balochistan House.

She also denied receiving any benefit from Mr Riaz and said that she along with others whose names have appeared on an unverified list planned to sue Mr Riaz as the list doing the rounds appears to be printed on a Bahria Town letter head.

Mr Lucman could not be contacted.

Hamid Mir, the anchor of Geo TV, when contacted, also denied that he had received any villa from Riaz. He said that an inquiry should be ordered and Riaz should be asked to provide the list of the journalists he had given benefits to. He said he wanted the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) to take notice of the allegations and of the presence of “black sheep” among the journalists.

Mr Mir termed it a “planned conspiracy” to damage the credibility of both the judiciary and the media.

When contacted, PFUJ president Pervez Shaukat said that he had already convened a meeting of the Federal Executive Council in Lahore to review the situation.

http://dawn.com/2012/06/15/the-day-media-itself-got-embroiled-in-scandal/

Media wars Dunya and Geo slug it out all day
Posted on 2012-06-16 10:38:27
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LAHORE – There’s a war raging on in the media. And another in the hearts and minds of the people.
The Malik Riaz-Arsalan graft scandal has brought forth a facet of media that was the last thing on people’s mind, who marveled at the freedom and impartiality exercised by the country’s fourth estate while grinding the politicians for their alleged corruption and indifference towards the people.
Wednesday’s “exclusive” interview of Malik Riaz conducted by fiery Dunya News anchor Meher Bukhari, who a Norwegian founder of a trendy genre of journalism once called the “perfect type of candidate to promote Pakistan”, and Mubashar Lucman, the host of Khari Baat (true talk), was little expected to become for Pakistanis what the atomic bomb was for Hiroshima. While Dunya News spent the day in damage control exercises like downplaying its rival Geo News, claiming how the channel had lied to people at several occasions and backtracked, and talking to the people on the streets who instantly supported Dunya News for its upright stance and morals, all is still not well on the air waves.
Dunya News posted on its website that Geo News was admonished for airing baseless news against the judiciary in Arsalan case order.
Its transmission also kept repeating the following tickers, demonizing Geo News and its anchors:
(1)Hamid Mir was accused by Sheikh Rashid for arranging ‘paid’ programmes.
(2)Hamid Mir and Kamran Khan confessed in writing to the Supreme Court that they aired stories without verification.
(3) Shaheen Sehbai’s interview was uploaded without establishing the authenticity of its contents.
(4) Geo News picked up propaganda campaign against judiciary after Shaheen Sehbai uploaded the interview.
Not one to stay back, Geo News was persistent in its efforts to impress upon its viewers the channel’s “unflinching support for the judiciary and its impartiality”.
Sana Bucha, anchor of “Lekin”, jumped into the foray with Hamid Mir as one of the participants. The other three invited were the PPP’s Nadeem Afzal Chan, the PML-N’s Khawaja Asif and the PML-Q’s Sheikh Waqas Akram.
What these exercises will result in nobody knows, but some social media users said all would be forgotten in time as Pakistanis had poor memory and the anchors would soon be seen on other channels. A worthy argument indeed!
Earlier in the day, the Kohisar Police Station in Islamabad registered an FIR [First Information Report] against unidentified people for uploading “off-air” segments of Malik Riaz’s interview. The application was filed by the administration officer of Dunya News.
The leaked footage of the “off-air” of Meher and Lucman’s controversial guest Malik Riaz has not only gone viral but has in the process opened up an irrepressible can of worms. The “off-air” scenes show the two anchors taking instructions from an unidentified caller of not hindering Malik Riaz’s talk, Lucman itching to take a shot at Geo News anchor Hamid, and Meher considering how to make a question not look planted, were saddening for everyone who watched it.
Mubashar Lucman has reportedly been temporarily sacked, while Meher has been asked to resign within 24 hours or get sacked.
All these remain reports yet to be verified, but what is verifiable is that the credibility of media as an impartial voice has been extremely compromised.

http://www.thefrontierpost.com/news/2383/

Blow to the media
From the Newspaper | 9 hours ago 0

PAKISTAN’S electronic media has demonstrated often enough that it has grown faster than it has been able to mature. In this context, the scandal that has broken out in the wake of business tycoon Malik Riaz’s allegations against Arsalan Iftikhar, the chief justice’s son, is mind-blowing. On Wednesday, a news channel aired a ‘special’ during which two anchors ‘grilled’ Mr Riaz. A day later, the public was treated to behind-the-scenes footage of the three talking off-air. The video is compromising and indicates that the interview was fixed, with Mr Riaz approving the questions beforehand. A couple of phone calls, with the callers giving instructions and advice, during the clip have also dragged other names into the fray. More disturbingly, certain comments on this clip have led to concerns that the latter may have been ‘bought’ by Mr Riaz. A list of several journalists who allegedly received funds/favours from Mr Riaz has been in circulation — although Bahria Town has denied its authenticity.

The affair has blown the lid off two issues: intellectual dishonesty where the public is duped through set-ups and planted stories, and the clout wielded on TV channels by some of those being quizzed. Neither is new or limited to Pakistan. Unfortunately, what is popularly known as lifafa journalism, where some newsmen received money or favours from the police, agencies and politicians, has expanded to include business interests seeking to buy the sympathies or silence of journalists. So what lessons do we walk away with? First and foremost, the media in general needs to ponder over what constitutes integrity in journalism. For this, an internal mechanism imparting the values of ethical journalism is a necessity at media houses. The public, meanwhile, must learn to be more educated consumers of the news and not take everything at face value. At the same time, we hope that such incidents do not translate into a situation where the entire media is regarded as tainted. The media’s independence today has been achieved after decades of struggle against obscurantist regimes. The actions of a few should not tarnish the good work of others.

http://dawn.com/2012/06/16/blow-to-the-media/

Sanaullah for action against Meher, Lucman, Malik Riaz
By: NNI | June 15, 2012, 6:30 pm | 0

Punjab Law Minister Rana Sanaullah has demanded action against Mubashir Lucman, Meher Bukhari and Malik Riaz.
Talking to media on Friday, he said Mian Amir Mehmood, owner of Dunyia News, was Malik Riaz of the future.
He said that those who used to expose politicians in their shows had now exposed. “I salute the journalist who air the video footage,” he said the nation could not appeased without taking action against the anchors.
The law minister said the nation was standing by the Supreme Court of Pakistan instead of media, lawyers and politicians.
“How Mian Amir Mehmood became a billionaire while himself say he used to travel on a scooter in 1990,” he said.

http://www.nation.com.pk/pakistan-news-newspaper-daily-english-online/lahore/15-Jun-2012/sanaullah-for-action-against-meher-lucman-malik-riaz

Laibaah ‏@Laibaah1
ISI released the video in order to remind Malik Riaz that his masters sit in Aabpara, not in the PM House.
Why did ISI leak Dunya TV video is to be compared to why did ISI arrest Mullah Baradar. Malik Riaz was bypassing them!

Meher Bokhari is owned by Mian Amir is owned by General Kayani. All activists (Beena & Na Beena) know that but won’t admit.

The perfect storm

Babar Sattar
Saturday, June 16, 2012 From Print Edition

The writer is a lawyer based in Islamabad.

The conspiracy narrative is appealing. Pakistan’s makeshift accountability system comprises the media and the judiciary. The media brings into public focus stories of corruption of the ruling elite and the court takes suo motu notice, orders inquiries, stipulates timeframes, assumes supervisory responsibility and produces legal consequences for illegal conduct.

Take away the role of the media and the Supreme Court and the plunder of state largesse would be a no-holds-barred affair. As the power of the judiciary and even the media is largely rooted in probity and credibility, take that away and the distinction between those being judged and those doing the judging vanishes into thin air. And hence the Riaz Malik exposé that maligns the judges and the journalists by dragging them into the cesspool he lords over.

All this is fine. But what is the one factor outside the control of someone like Malik Riaz that makes such grand conspiracy work? Free will? Could he contrive moral failings or defects amongst the righteous that he could later expose? Even if we assume that the ‘evil’ Malik meticulously laid out a trap for unsuspecting decent folk (there’s much talk of entrapment these days) was he holding a gun to their heads forcing them to take a dip in the cesspool?

Can it be that we are all mad at Malik Riaz because he has shown us the mirror and our reality makes us nauseous? Is he lying through his teeth when he says money makes the mare go? Is he maligning the judiciary if he suggests that our justice system is corrupt? If we didn’t name names, wouldn’t we all agree that graft is firmly entrenched in the media business?

Can there be a simpler, non-conspiratorial explanation for Malik Riaz’s actions? Let’s consider this. Here is a man who has mastered the art of using money to make things happen. He has accumulated a heap of money and created a spoils system outside the structure of the state for the benefit of all segments of the power elite. He believes everyone wants a piece of the forbidden fruit.

He is not greedy and is willing to share the boodle with everyone who has power. He believes he is not wicked for in an otherwise dysfunctional state he is delivering value as a developer and paying his dues to the society through charity programmes. So why expose and jeopardise the ‘public-private partnership’ that has been working so well?

Could it be a combination of fear and anger? Malik Riaz got afraid when his son was booked for murder in the car-racing incident. He felt his son was being unfairly implicated. There were other cases picked up by the Supreme Court in suo motu jurisdiction that took the long arm of criminal law to the person of Malik Riaz. For once he found himself at the wrong end of the system. He instinctively tried to buy his way out of the mess. As the crucial matters were before Court One in the SC, no one lesser than the CJ himself could help. He engaged the CJ’s son. The son happily accepted the largesse lavished upon him but did not deliver. This provoked anger. Pakistan was a sordid place, but so sordid that there was no honour left amongst thieves either?

And Arsalan Iftikhar alone did not arouse the anger. What was the point of years of ‘sharing and caring’ if in his hour of need no one was able to shield him? As time passed, the SC continued with its proceedings and Arsalan Iftikhar with his merry-making on borrowed money, the frustration mounted. The code of conduct in the dark world was clear enough. If you take money, you get the job done. If you can’t, you return the money and apologise. If you do neither, you’re not a freeloader but a blackmailer. And so Malik Riaz went postal. If he was going down, he certainly wasn’t going down alone. Could the government, the establishment, stop him? Maybe. But here came the congruence of interest. Who in the power elite wouldn’t benefit from a shamed and subdued Supreme Court?

The challenge of reforming our state and society is herculean. But let he who has not sinned cast the first stone is what Malik Riaz seems to be saying. And the argument has resonance. Arsalan Iftikhar doesn’t preside over a court. By establishing through documentary evidence that Arsalan did actually accept monetary benefits and by alleging that the money was accepted in the Supreme Court’s name in order to influence the outcome of judicial proceedings, it is the integrity, independence and credibility of the SC that has been impugned. The charge levelled by Malik Riaz never was that the exercise of authority by the SC or the CJ had been influenced by illegal gratification. That was not the main cause of concern in public mind.

The charge was that the CJ’s son had made a promise (in the name of the SC) in return for consideration and had failed to deliver. Consequently the questions and doubts in the public mind were threefold: One, did the CJ’s son accept money and benefits from Malik Riaz? Two, if so, was the receipt of money the outcome of genuine business dealings between private persons?

And three, if the CJ’s son accepted money by creating an impression that he could get someone relief from the SC, would the SC prosecute him with the same fervour and rigor that it unleashes on those implicated in lesser corruption scandals? In not recognising and addressing these questions and concerns in the Arsalan Iftikhar-Malik Riaz case, the Supreme Court has seriously erred.

The three failings evident in the Supreme Court ruling are these. One, the assertion that the court usually refrains from exercising its inquisitorial powers under Article 184(3) isn’t backed by the court’s record in the many corruption cases it has handled recently. When it assumes supervisory jurisdiction and issues categorical directions and timeframes for inquiries in other scandals, why leave this matter to the attorney general? Application of restraint in one case and activism in others without any significant distinction in the subject matter raises the question of whether the court is applying double standards.

Two, the court celebrates the role of the media when it highlights scandals implicating executive officeholders, but issues a sermon when the media acts as a whistleblower in a graft case involving the CJ’s son. There is no denying that the media needs its own code of ethics, but a case involving the alleged impropriety of the CJ’s son might not have been an opportune time to drive home the point. Additionally, here the media did not allege any facts that are untrue. So having stumbled on an embarrassing story regarding the CJ’s son, should it have simply shoved it under the carpet in the ‘larger national interest’?

And finally, to assert that the concerns in public mind stand addressed because Malik Riaz has submitted in writing that court verdicts weren’t affected by his bribes is to miss the point completely. This man sits on national TV for two hours and continues to hurl accusations at the CJ and his son and the honourable court asserts the very next day in a detailed judgment that the matter now rests. Such naïveté lends credence to SC detractors who allege that we are living in an era of selective justice.

In its handling of the Arsalan Iftikhar case the Supreme Court might have squandered a vital opportunity to salvage its reputation as a neutral arbiter of the law. Now if Malik Riaz is punished it will be called a vendetta. And if he is let off, it’ll be seen as a deal. Welcome to Orwell’s Pakis-farm: all animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.

Email: sattar@post.harvard.edu

http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-9-114750-The-perfect-storm

From Yunis Habib to Malik Riaz — Dr Haider Shah

Entrepreneurs that create wealth need recognition as national heroes. However, as Karl Marx says, money is power and in private hands, it becomes a personal power

With the appearance of a ‘planted’ interview of Malik Riaz by a Lahore-based private channel, the fast paced and high-pitched drama that began with a whispering campaign has taken a new sensational turn. As a columnist of a national daily, I must say that I have been suffering from a kind of bipolar depression after reading news stories, op-ed pieces and watching various talk shows for the last few days. ‘It is the best of times, it is the worst of times’ is the line that best represents the pendulum-like movement of my emotional state after watching the conduct of various media personalities.

At a bigger level, Pakistan appears to be like the mythical Sisyphus who is suffering from the curse of moving in circles. Whenever one feels that a new era has begun, the ghost of bygone periods is resurrected and we begin the same excruciating ordeal all over again. Just a few months ago, the Asghar Khan case helped everyone see how dirty money was used by the intelligence agencies to ‘manage’ the political process of the country. For the first time, the shady character, Yunis Habib was exposed and former heads of the military establishment were made answerable for their past actions. However, here we are, dealing with another storm with a new tycoon at the centre.

Some time ago, an officer shared with me some interesting facts about Raja Zarat who was once just a clerk in the customs department. The clerk soon became chairman of Bawan Shah Group of industries and attained so much power that even collectors would seek his favour for postings. When his misdeeds became well known, he was arrested for a multi-billion rupees fraud. When asked why he was not arrested earlier, the answer was that he not only enjoyed the blessings of certain bigwigs of politics but intelligence agencies would also come to his rescue. Unfortunately, that is how a scheme of things works in reality behind the façade of patriotic slogans.

Moneyed men are mostly very risk-averse individuals who normally are frightened by their own shadows. When they roar like lions one must, therefore, not take everything at its face value. If the dots are joined, one can have a feeling that bekhudi besabab nahi Ghalib (ecstasy is not without a cause Ghalib). The extra cautious prime minister suddenly started putting up a very defiant show in the wake of his contempt of court conviction. The government seems to have reached a strategic agreement with the security establishment as both consider the expanding power and the growing prestige of the independent judiciary a cause for concern. After opening the Pandora’s Box of the Asghar Khan case, the Supreme Court has started ignoring the red lines drawn by the security establishment, for instance, asking difficult questions in the missing persons cases. Just as the US and international jihadis forged a strategic alliance in the 1980s to deal with the more potent threat of the Soviet Union, one can see a possibility of a similar alliance developing between the present government and the security establishment. Riaz Malik’s boldness may therefore be on account of some assurances received from these seats of power.

Sometime ago, I had written about the power of discourse and how various vested interest groups try to manipulate the social discourse by giving a strategic spin to observed facts. The Malik Riaz affair is also a good case study for understanding the mechanics of controlling the social discourse. First, let us examine the bare facts. A business tycoon has levelled an allegation against the son of the Chief Justice of Pakistan that he was looked after very well during his foreign visits by the family members of Malik Riaz and a few millions of rupees were spent on his protocol. The news is whispered into the ears of a few well-known media personalities, the Chief Justice takes a suo motu notice and the case is heard in the Supreme Court. Now these facts can generate three possible discourses. One, these allegations are baseless and one should not give them any attention. Second, these are allegations and can have a malicious motive, but must be properly investigated and whoever is found guilty must be punished. Third, the allegations are very serious and hence the Chief Justice must resign. If we wish to see rule of law and good governance flourish in the country, it is the second kind of discourse that we should promote. The most dangerous is the third type, which certain media personalities are trying to sell. Institutions are the sum total of the individuals that make them up and the values that drive the conduct of those individuals. If holding press conferences against the courts is not stopped, the state will disintegrate soon.

No individual should be punished just because we feel jealous of his rags to riches story. Entrepreneurs that create wealth need recognition as national heroes. However, as Karl Marx says, money is power and in private hands, it becomes a personal power. The law should deter amassing of wealth through dubious means or its abuse in any form. Just today, a tycoon Allen Stanford was sentenced to 110 years in jail by a US court for operating a Ponzi scheme that defrauded 30,000 individual investors of more than $ seven billion. We need to see the same long reach of the law, which should facilitate genuine entrepreneurs in Pakistan but must award exemplary punishments to those that use money to create more money by trying to purchase opinion makers and honourable judges of the country.

The writer teaches public policy in the UK and is the founding member of the Rationalist Society of Pakistan. He can be reached at hashah9@yahoo.com

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2012%5C06%5C16%5Cstory_16-6-2012_pg3_5

عجیب بات ہے کہ یہ منصوبہ آئی ایس آئی نے بنایا اور پروگرام کے دوران گیلانی کے بیٹے کا فون آیا۔ عجیب بات ہے واقعی عجیب بات ہے۔