Human Rights Advocacy and Media Watch
Many of us in India and Pakistan clearly remember how in 1999 the Pakistan-India peace dialogue between Nawaz Sharif and Atal Bihari Vajpayee was undermined by the then Pakistan army chief General Pervez Musharraf through his Kargil misadventures. We also remember that while Indian Prime Minister was being accorded a red carpet welcome in Lahore, Pakistan army was busy in sending
Related article:
A glaring example of how ISI dictates Pakistani newspapers: The case of a missing WikiLeak cable
Let Us Build Pakistan rightly claims that ‘Jang group’ is inherently biased against democratic politics, is continuously propagating misconceptions about Pakistan Peoples Party led civilian government and is also preaching hate toward neighbor countries. It is basic journalistic principle that news should be reported in neutral terms and published after cross verification but this group always ignored basic journalistic principles i.e(fact-checking/two independent sources rule).
Global leaders and all the concerned citizens of the world are continuously praising Julian Assange by saying that he is doing better work than many journalists and diplomats and they also questioning his arrest. It appears every person who believes in democracy and freedom suporting WikiLeaks showing concern for Julian Assange and declaring him as a real hero of Cyber-Age.
A former CIA agent whose duties included briefing the first President Bush and Ronald Reagan, has written an open letter of support for WikiLeaks and its founder Julian Assange.
Ray McGovern told Close Up he considers Assange to be a hero for “challenging the empire”
McGovern says WikiLeaks is doing the job the mainstream media has stopped doing. And WikiLeaks has given the public an “incredible” insight into the reality of what is happening in Iraq and Afghanistan
“Why was Mr. Assange hidden in prison?” Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin asked at a news conference. “Is this democracy?”
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said Thursday in Brasilia. “There is nothing, nothing for freedom of expression and against the imprisonment of this guy who was doing better work than many of the ambassadors.”
“The brave man was arrested because he was exposing the real face of the big powers,” Tariq Naeemullah said.
Hundreds of protesters gathered in three Australian cities today to rage against the arrest of Julian Assange. Some wearing face masks, they marched, chanted and waved banners as they called for the release of the WikiLeaks founder.
The government was branded “sycophants to the US” for condemning Mr Assange’s website while campaigners raised $250,000 to buy advertisements in the New York Times supporting him.
Protesters also criticised his arrest in Britain, during rallies in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne.
Many see his detention as an attempt to hinder the continued release of hundreds of thousands of government files through WikiLeaks.
“Assange is a hero of our time, telling truth is not a crime,” the marchers chanted.
WikiLeaks supporters have vowed to wreak havoc on companies that are deemed as enemies of the whistleblowing website, and UK’s biggest online retailer Amazon has been cited as the next target.
It’s interesting to note that WikiLeaks has won awards including the 2008 Freedom of Expression award from the Index on Censorship and the2009 Amnesty International human rights reporting award.
A day after his arrest in London, WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has defended his website. In his op-ed Assange says democracies require strong media to keep governments honest, and WikiLeaks plays a role in this.
WikiLeaks has also provoked fury in Washington for publishing some of the 250,000 documents it has obtained from US embassies around the world -and have caused traditional media outlets to rethink how they report on sensitive information. The New York Times released a statement explaining that it believes that the “documents serve an important public interest, illuminating the goals, successes, compromises and frustrations of American diplomacy in a way that other accounts cannot match”. It went on to acknowledge the reality though that if it did not publish the documents another newspaper inevitably would with the United Kingdom’s The Guardian, France’s Le Monde, and Spain’s El Paris all granted access. In some ways the exclusive publication of these documents has also driven jealousy amongst the media with independent journalist Anthony Lowensteinsuggesting reporters lack a backbone in challenging government condemnations.
The U.N.’s top human rights official raised the alarm Thursday over officials’ and corporations’ moves to cut off WikiLeaks’ funding and starve it of server space – something she described as “potentially violating WikiLeaks’ right to freedom of expression.”
Navi Pillay also expressed surprise at the scale of the online attacks that have targeted major American financial players – in some cases denying access to their websites for hours at a time.
“It’s truly what media would call a cyber-war. It’s just astonishing what is happening,” Pillay told reporters in Geneva.
Pillay said if WikiLeaks had broken the law “then this should be handled through the legal system and not through pressure and intimidation.”
Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks show us what democracy should be about: transparency. Governments should be ashamed of the gulf between what they say in public an what they say behind closed doors.
The flow of online support has also sparked some solidarity on the streets. One pro-WikiLeaks protest in Australia sent about 250 demonstrators into the streets of Brisbane, surprisingly even in the central Pakistani city of Multan, dozens took to the streets to protest Assange’s detention.
And, on the contrary the whole world condemning ‘Jang Group’ for its policies and Latest Fakeleaks. If there’s anything more exiciting than real WikiLeaks revelations, it’s fake ones, interestingly this cable not revealed by Wikileaks but our leading publishing groups, who have been continuously advocating for ‘sovereignty’ and ‘self reliance’ , so keeping these high values in mind they recently invented their own ‘cablegate’, and here it’s first revelation, “Enough evidence of Indian involvement in Waziristan, Balochistan,” read the front-page story in the News; an almost identical story appeared in the Urdu-language Jang, Pakistan’s bestselling daily. So ‘proudly creator’ can brand it like ‘Mickeyleaks’ .
On Thursday, Pakistan was shaken as the front pages of several of its major dailies were splashed with damning WikiLeaks stories accusing the Indian government of conspiring with Hindu fundamentalists and supporting Islamist militants in Pakistani tribal regions. Other cables described India’s top generals as “as vain, egotistical and genocidal,” while in the same breath lavishing praise on Pakistani generals.
The Australian in it’s Op-Ed writes, IN the maelstrom of competing WikiLeaks revelations, the temptation to gild the lily was probably always going to be too great to resist.
And so it proved for a few of Pakistan’s more enthusiastic media players, who yesterday cited leaked US diplomatic cables describing senior Indian generals as egotistical and genocidal, and linking Indian intelligence agencies to the Taliban insurgency in Waziristan and the Balochistan separatist movement.
According to the BBC report, Pakistani newspapers have admitted they were hoaxed after publishing reports based on fake Wikileaks cables containing anti-Indian propaganda.
PTI, reporting from Islamabad, said the papers had “reproduced an elaborate Internet hoax”. The Guardian, which is one of the newspapers partnering with WikiLeaks in the publication of the cables, said the reports could be “the first case of WikiLeaks being exploited for propaganda purposes”.
The Guardian which first published the cables have now proved that the reports in Pakistani dailies are fake and not accurate. Guardian did it own searches and here’s what it published after that:
An extensive search of the WikiLeaks database by the Guardian by date, name and keyword failed to locate any of the incendiary allegations.
It suggests this is the first case of WikiLeaks being exploited for propaganda purposes.
The controversial claims, published in four Pakistani national papers, were credited to the Online Agency, an Islamabad-based news service that has frequently run pro-army stories in the past.
No journalist is bylined.
Red-faced, Pakistan newspapers and websites retracted the fake WikiLeaks stories they published yesterday and apologised saying they regret publishing the stories.
The English-language Express Tribune newspaper, a Pakistani affiliate of the International Herald Tribune, published a front-page retraction.
The daily said it “deeply regrets publishing this story without due verification and apologises profusely for any inconvenience”.
But Urdu daily Jang, which had reported the fake Wikileaks story on its front page, did not mention it on Friday.
Surely it requires no profound wisdom or special knowledge about Journalism and communication to see fundamental flaws in ‘News Reporting’, even layman can easily detect jang group’s bias against civilian democratic government and it’s anti peace propoganda by using simple journalistic techniques. If you review and analyze the content of it’s messages, it’s leading writer and columnist and jumping jack anchors always highlight negativity and one-sided version and mostly they don’t include alternative points of view and even they don’ t fairly and honestly present alternative arguments plus they deliberately ignore obviously conflicting arguments. they even used negative words and images to describe other points of view and ascribe negative motivations to alternative points of view.
Here is a really interesting comment at ‘Cafe Pyala’ by Sagar:
Isn’t this the same group that promotes ‘Aman ki Asha’ jointly with
Times of India. Wonder why only Asha (hope) and why not actual Aman
itself? And how can someone claiming to promote ‘Aman’ call themselves
the ‘Jang’ group? Strange paradox.
Let Us Build Pakistan rightly claims that ‘Jang group’ is inherently biased toward democratic politics, it is continuously propagating misconceptions about Pakistan Peoples Party led elected civilian government and it is also preaching hate toward our neighbor countries. It is basic journalistic principle that news should be reported in neutral terms and published after cross verification but this group always ignored basic journalistic principles i.e(fact-checking/two independent sources rule).
And excellent suggestion by our fellow bloggers at “New Pakistan”:
This isn’t just about whether or not the media is reliable – it’s about whether or not the media is intentionally or unintentionally sabotaging our national security. In any other country that claims to view journalism as a serious institution, a scandal of this magnitude would result in massive sackings. It will be instructive to see whether or not Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman has the courage and the principles to clean house.
Because let’s face it. Jang Group is humiliated today, as is the entire nation. But if Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman doesn’t care about how his company and his nation look in the eyes of the rest of the world, he doesn’t have to do a thing. The people who read and believe this crap don’t read The Guardian, even if they do read English, so they likely don’t even know about the situation.
No matter what Jang decides to do internally, though, the courts should immediately begin an inquiry into this mess. Seriously, if there was ever a cause worthy of suo moto notice, is this not it? How can the FO expect India to be cooperative while Jang is running defamatory articles about them? We want the Americans to treat us with respect while Ansar Abbasi is on TV telling Moeed Pirzada that all this WikiLeaks stuff is a big American conspiracy and saying that there are no boundaries to the ruthlessness and carelessness of Americans. Where is Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman while all of this is happening?
If Jang Group wants to be a joke, that’s fine. They can continue selling all the fictions they want. But when they start publishing crap that undercuts the ability of government and military officials to do their jobs, that is where we need to draw the line. I strongly believe in a free media. And I strongly defend the right – even the responsibility – of the media to hold the government accountable. But I do NOT support the right for anyone in the media to SABOTAGE the government.
'Lance Naik' Mohsin Jamil Baig: A long-time ISI mole in Pakistan's 'free' media along with Dr Shahid Masood, Shaheen Sehbai, Ansar Abbasi, Zafar Hilaly, Mosharraf Zaidi, Talat Hussain, Hamid Mir, Majeed Nizami and Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman
Related article:
Story of a spy agency’s news agency – by Aamer Ahmed Khan
A glaring example of how ISI dictates Pakistani newspapers: The case of a missing WikiLeak cable
News agency fails to confirm source of WikiLeaks disclosure
Source: The News, December 10, 2010
By our correspondent
KARACHI: A story filed by a news agency about purported WikiLeaks cables disclosing Indiaís involvement in Balochistan and Waziristan, carried by The News, Daily Jang and many other Pakistani newspapers, has been widely criticised as not being accurate. The prestigious British newspaper The Guardian described the report as “the first case of WikiLeaks being exploited for propaganda purposes”.
The report said that US diplomats described senior Indian generals as vain, egotistical and genocidal, and that India’s government was secretly allied with Hindu fundamentalists. It also claimed that Indian spies were covertly supporting Islamist militants in the tribal belt and Balochistan.
The story was released by the Islamabad-based Online news agency and was run by The News and Daily Jang with the confidence that it was a genuine report and must have been vetted before release. However, several inquiries suggest that this was not the case.
When contacted, the owner of the agency, Mohsin Baig, and some of the editorial staff were themselves unclear about the source of the story and said they would investigate the matter at their end.
Mohsin Baig said he had just returned from Turkey where he had accompanied the prime minister on his official visit and was therefore in the dark about how the story was released. He said he would talk to his editorial staff and get back to us. After a while, Onlineís news editor contacted us and told us he too was unaware about the source of the story and would check and get back to us as soon as possible. Despite repeated requests, he declined to contact the employee who had downloaded the news, and asked us to check with them the next day. On further inquiries, we learnt from our sources that the story was dubious and may have been planted.
A check on the Internet as well as The Guardian report showed that the story was not based on Wikileaks cables, and had in fact originated from some local websites such as The Daily Mail and Rupee News known for their close connections with certain intelligence agencies. The Guardian quoted Shaheen Sehbai, Group Editor The News, as describing the story as “agencies’ copy” and said he would investigate its origins.
……..
اس بارے میں بی بی سی کے نامہ نگار حفیظ چاچڑ سے بات کرتے ہوئے خبر رساں ایجنسی آن لائن کے سربراہ محسن بیگ نےدعوٰی کیا یہ دستاویز اصل ہے۔ انہوں نے ان اخبارات پر تنقید کی جنہوں نے اس خبر پر معذرت شائع کی ہے۔
ان کے مطابق ’اگر ہماری خبر کی وکی لیکس تردید کر دے تو ان اخبارات کی معذرت جائز ہے اور وکی لیکس کی اس خبر کے انٹرنیٹ پر بے شمار لنکس موجود ہیں‘۔
محسن بیگ نے کہا کہ وکی لیکس کے دستاویزات شائع کرنے کا برطانوی اخبار گارڈین کے پاس کوئی اختیار نہیں ہے اور یہ دستاویزات انٹرنیٹ پر موجود ہیں اور انہیں کوئی بھی چھاپ سکتا ہے۔ انہوں نے ان خبروں کی بھی تردید کی جن میں کہا گیا ہے کہ خبر رساں ایجنسی کو یہ خبر مخصوص مقاصد پورے کرنے کے لیے دی گئی تھی۔
Source: BBC Urdu
……..
An official introduction of the Online News Agency:
Online-International News Network
A testimony to Pakistan’s claim to media independence
It is indeed our great privilege to introduce Pakistan’s leading news/photo agency Online International News Network (OINN) to you. This is Pakistan’s first bilingual news and photo wire service, dedicated to issues that are neglected by the mainstream media. We focus on national and global processes affecting the economic, social and political development of the people of Pakistan in particular and the region in general. We disseminate genuine as well as useful information to the nation and the people across the globe.
OINN is different from contemporary Pakistani news agencies in many ways. There has been a very strong feeling in the outside world that there is no credible and independent source of information in Pakistan, chiefly because the electronic media including radio and television networks are state-owned.
It was in this background that Mr Mohsin Baig, the company’s Chairman thought of setting up a news network worthy of credibility at home as well as in the foreign world. Mr Baig, who has been a journalist in his own right and now Chief Executive Online initiated this project in January 1999.
Chairman’s primary concern was to build a highly professional team of reputable journalists, and marry it with state-of-the-art technology. Following these objectives, each journalist was selected on merits to ensure maintaining high journalistic values and each equipment was specially designed to cater to the modern day needs. This was done, keeping in view, that we were at the turn of the century and as a nation we have to enter the next millennium with dignity and honour.
As we were still in the process of training our staff at new technology and preparing a style-sheet when an unforeseen event of Oct 12, 1999 took place in the country with military take-over in Pakistan. The Online team on that day huddled together, and unanimously decided to break ground forthwith, ahead of its scheduled launching of Nov 1, 1999. We jumped in the arena half-prepared, yet we were largely welcomed by the print media within Pakistan.
After attaining the status of a credible and most subscribed news/photo service provider in Pakistan, we later launched our English/Arabic news and pictures service for daily, weekly and monthly publications across the globe.
Online is the first-ever Pakistani news agency operating English, Urdu and Arabic news services simultaneously along with comprehensive national and international photo coverage. Our news reports often appear in the national and international print media while our photographs dominate news pages in most of the newspapers coming out from Islamabad, Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar and Quetta besides some leading papers in the Middle East, Europe and the United States.
In English, Arabic and Urdu languages, we offer information packages to suit diverse needs; both local and international publications, print and electronic media, dailies and weeklies, magazines and periodic journals, specialised and subject-specific publications. We are also equipped for prompt dissemination of breaking news to the print and electronic media around the world.
Today, we are proud to operate off a root network purpose-built for Online in the United States. Naturally, our transmission quality and timings match any other big news agency of the world.
The constituent elements of Online are an independent policy, a pioneering spirit, a highly motivated professional core team, state-of-the-art technology, strategically located Bureaux and Correspondents spread all over Pakistan, and above all a sense of mission.
INDEPENDENCE
An independent policy is the very substratum of the credibility for a news organisation. Naturally, everyone in the business claim they are independent. Few, however, appreciate what independence actually takes, and how difficult it is to uphold.
Online deems its financial independence to be the bedrock of its policy independence. A single-owner proposition from day one, the organization has kept its hands clean of any government grant, party contribution, or philanthropic endowment, and has a firm determination to always keep things this way.
Equally important at Online is intellectual independence, for vested interest groups have traditionally found it a breeze to infiltrate the ranks of media organisations with their henchmen. At Online, however, we have been able to foster a strong tradition of liberal thinking in a brief span of time so that any of our key members would feel disgraced if seen to be biased.
Freethinking professionals constitute the core team at Online, who have the intellectual duty to uphold liberal, rational thought at every level of the organisation, at the same time maintaining the richness of diversity of ideas characteristic to our society.
BUREAUX AND CORRESPONDENTS
It is our pride to claim that Online with its Central office in New York and head office in Islamabad is a news network that has its bureaus at each provincial headquarters in Pakistan besides some major cities including Muzaffarabad, Hyderabad, Faisalabad, and Multan. Our bureaux are headed by senior, respectable and professional journalists. Their reporting teams comprise young, educated and honest reporters and photographers. More than 450 correspondents represent Online in every district and tehsil headquarter of the country.
This much for our domestic network; as well, Online has its correspondents in important world capitals and major cities including Washington, New York, Koeln (Germany), Moscow, Tokyo, Chicago, London, Amsterdam, Dubai, Cairo, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait covering events round-the-clock.
Working in tandem with our core team, this extensive network of ears and eyes puts Online on top of the news ahead of the competition.
Bawa:
آن لائن نیوز ایجنسی کا فوج آئی ایس آئی سے تعلق بہت گہرا اور پرانا ہے. فوج نے پھر اسی ایجنسی کو وکی لیکس کی آڑ میں اپنے مخصوس پروپیگنڈہ کے لیے استعمال کیا. جنگ گروپ نے بغیر کسی تصدیق کے اس سٹوری کو شائع کرکے فوج اور اسٹبلشمنٹ سے اپنے خفیہ تعلقات کی نشاندھی بھی کر دی ہے
ماضی میں اسی آن لائن نیوز ایجنسی کے ڈائیریکٹر محسن بیگ نے فوج اور خفیہ ایجنسیوں کی ایما پر ڈاکٹر شاہد مسعود کی مدد سے ڈاکٹر شازیہ کو ملک چھوڑنے پر مجبور کیا تاکہ کیپٹن حماد کی کرتوتوں کی وجہ سے ہونے والی بدنامی سے فوج کو بچایا جا سکے
Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman’s (Jang Group) Aman Ki Aasha
Sagar (via Cafe Pyala):
Isn’t this the same group that promotes ‘Aman ki Asha’ jointly with Times of India. Wonder why only Asha (hope) and why not actual Aman itself? And how can someone claiming to promote ‘Aman’ call themselves the ‘Jang’ group? Strange paradox.
Dr Shazia Khalid’s case
Rape victim Dr Shazia Khalid herself revealed Dr Shahid Masood and Mohsin Beg’s role during an interview with BBC Urdu on Sept 5, 2005. Here comes the link FYI.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/miscellaneous/story/2005/09/050909_shazia_text_nisar.shtml
A perspective on Dr Shahid Masood’s dubious journalism – by Dr Ayesha Siddiqa
We reproduce below an excerpt from Dr Ayesha Siddiqa’s email (circulated in the Press Pakistan group) to Dr Moeed Pirzada explaining her perspective on Dr Shahid Masood and his style of journalism. Unlike Shahid Masood who is a medical doctor by profession, Ayesha Siddiqa has a PhD from King’s College, London. Dr Siddiqa highlights certain worrying areas in Dr Shahid Masood’s style of journalism including the dubious role he played in Shazia Khalid case (who was raped by a Pakistan Army officer), and also the opportunistic role Shahid Masood played in organizing some sham conferences in the USA.
It is surprising that Dr Shahid Masood has the gumption to keep marketing himself and move from one to another channel. Perhaps, it also shows how desperate are channels to take someone who has no honor and reputation left.
It is certainly not about changing channels but what you do with that time. I have nothing against Shahid Masood’s campaign against Zardari’s corruption at all. I have an issue with Masood’s intellectual corruption. I stopped appearing on his programs when I saw him editing selectively.
I had criticised Mr Zardari which was relayed but minus the context. And it wasn’t even a long speech which had to be edited. This is professional dishonesty. He edits to fit his own thesis which means quoting people out of context.
Not to mention the role he played in the Shazia Khalid case. Who, in Pakistan’s media, will dare do a ‘merey mutabiq’ on that tragic but painful case?
He was in Washington recently trying to convince the world about his independent-mindedness by arguing that how he wanted to take the army chief to task.
The question is that does he dare do that or was it just for his own face-saving (plz refer to the Shazia Khalid case for his credentials).
I know a lot of people will be jumping up and down if i argue that the media in Pakistan today is different from the media of the 1980s. The old one had more balls and a spirit. This one has technology but no spirit. And this is not even about presenting a pro-government picture.
Plz note that I fully realize that the government has its point of view and the right to argue for its perspective. Before anyone jumps up and quotes the example of foreign media, I will say that yes people make a choice and seek information from the government which is a big source itself. However, I see people on the media who don’t then boither to study the details to make their view look independent. Their script is so carefully written for them. You listen to them or read their writing and you know which one is actually a provided script.
But going back to Shahid Masood, I heard him speak at a conference in Canada. Nothing to say except how he was given a bullet-proof jacket by BB and then straight to when he became chairman PTV. I asked him during the break about would it not have beena good idea to remain independent and his answer was that how many people have chairman and MD PTV on their CV. So, at the end of the day it is all about cooking up your resume!
I wish one could ask him about the couple of conferences he organized in the US with money from (don’t know where) on which he had absolutely nothing to say because the subject was beyond him.
These incidents or events are basically tip of the iceberg. ….pray ask yourself the question from the perspective of an ordinary citizen that this intellectual dishonesty and corruption is becoming intolerable. As an ordinary citizen I would like to believe in something.
Regards
ayesha
……….
Some useful links and resources which point towards the ugly role played by Daktar Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig in the Shazia Khalid case:
“On 19 March 2005, when an investigation into the crime was supposed to be underway, Dr. Shazia Khalid was spirited out of Pakistan into a “safe haven abroad”, allegedly on the pretext of escaping imminent assassination. But the moment she was out of Pakistan and seeking asylum in the UK, Shazia and her husband Khalid were dumped and disowned by the very government that transferred her there. Dr Khalid claims to have been blackmailed into leaving the country by government officials trying to cover up her rape.”
Who was the person acting on behalf of Pakistan Army / the ISI insisting that Dr Shazia Khalid must leave the country? Yes, our own Dr Shahid Masood.
Here is Dr Shazia Khalid’s story in her own words:
Q. How did you end up in the UK?
“Dr Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig came from Islamabad to see us in Karachi. They told us they had met with the high authorities there and that we had no choice but to leave Pakistan as our lives were in danger.
They asked us where we wanted to go. We argued that we did not wish to leave, but they insisted our lives were in serious danger and we could not stay in Pakistan. We said Canada was the logical choice. I have a sister-in-law and a brother-in-law and family friends there, but I had never been out of Pakistan before. So they brought us the forms for Canadian immigration which they said they would submit on our behalf. Not much time had passed since the incident so I was still in shock.
Masood returned two days later and said the Canadian High Commission required more time, perhaps four or five weeks. He said it would be a great risk to wait that long and so he had brought the form for a UK visa. We said we didn’t know anyone in the UK but he remained adamant that we go to the UK while they continued with the Canada application.”
“There was another problem. I didn’t want to leave without my adopted son, Adnan. He is actually the son of my late brother who passed away when Adnan was four. But they said: “For now, you and your husband go. Once you are there, we will get his paperwork done and he will follow soon after.””
“Q. What is your situation in the UK?
In the beginning when we arrived and filed our asylum application, the UK government gave us a small hotel room to stay in. Now, four months later, we have been shifted to this new place. We spoke to our solicitor and asked about all our options but unless our case is expedited we are stuck. We cannot go anywhere, nor take employment. My husband and I lived comfortably in Pakistan, but now we are almost destitute. We get £30 a week from the state and have this bedsit to live in but it is not much of a life. People in the media have been talking about it as if we’ve been living a life of comfort and are enjoying ourselves in London. It’s nothing like that. Our daily routine is restricted to this room, the library, and to the solicitor’s office and back. We don’t meet anyone, except the occasional journalist. It’s almost like being imprisoned.
We arrived on 18 March. While we were still in Islamabad, Mohsin Baig took us to meet Tariq Aziz, special advisor to the President. He said that once we were in the UK they would sort out our migration to Canada. They would also send a representative who would help us get settled and gain employment status so we could get our lives going again. I told him that I want my son to come with us, but he said the same thing: “You go first and I will make sure that your son follows.”
But once we got here, they stopped all contact. The first time we called them, they told us to relax and get some rest, and that they were looking into our immigration status. After that they stopped taking our calls and we were completely abandoned and had no idea who or where to turn to.”
“I’ve lost my job, my career, my life. We are estranged – from our own home, our country, my family, my son. From where I am standing right now, my future looks bleak.”
http://www.opendemocracy.net/democracy-protest/pakistan_2868.jsp
…..
According to the following source, Iftikhar Ahmed of Jawab Deh asked some tough questions from Dr Shahid Masood on this topic:
Dr Shaid was confronted on this program by Iftikhar—regarding Dr Shazia—Dr Shahid blamed it on his friend—I forgot the name—the the interviewer pegged him back by saying the he had talked to the other person who reitterated that it was Dr Shahid who was responsible of making the Dr Shaiza issue and making arrangements for her asylum to Canada.
It is on youtube and someone pasted that video on our site as well.
– Is Dr. Masood an agent of the Security network that controls the affairs in Pakistan?
– What was the cause of his saying that Dr. Shazia’s life is not guaranteed for even a day in Pakistan and that they should forget justice on her rape?
– What made him back off from the repeated promises that he would arrange Canada visa for her and just vanished like a ghost after Dr. Shazia and her hubby were standing and stranding on London footpaths.
– What restricts him not say a word on this incident?
http://jazbablog.com/jazba/2008/09/19/shahid-masood-2/
1. Dr. Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig compelled ill fated Dr. Shazia Khalid (who was brutally raped in Sui, Baluchistan) and her hubby to fly to London. For this purpose they arrived from Islamabad to Karachi and made several visits to the poor couple who were in the “safe” hands of Agency. While this act of them (instead of giving help to get justice from Pakistani courts, he threatened them that the couple’s lives were in danger and not safe for “even one day”) is against Dr. Shahid’s so self proclaimed image of champion of justice, this creates a question whether Dr. Shahid is Agency’s agent or not. Both Dr. Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig dissociated from this episode the moment Dr. Shazia and her hubby were standing and stranding on London footpaths as if they were never instrumental in the couple’s flight. If Dr. Masood by any chance reads this post, kindly tell the “hidden truth” to the masses.
http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2009/09/05/geo-tv-kamran-khan-and-the-lies-of-dr-shahid-masood/
From that moment on, Dr. Shahid has touched every issue and non-issue as well but never touched the issue of this horrible rape case and that what his role was in Dr. Shazia’s flight to London. Mind you, Dr. Shazia and her husband were in agency’s “safe hands” during the period these two journalists were visiting the couple and strongly pursuing them to leave the country. Only Dr. Shahid Masood can untie this knot.
http://pakalert.wordpress.com/2008/11/25/it-gets-worse-for-dr-shahid-masood/
…..
Dr Shaiza Khalid’s Interview (Source: BBC Urdu)
: ہم تو شروع سے چاہتے تھے کہ ہم کیس کریں، میڈیا میں آئیں تاکہ لوگوں کو پتہ چل سکے کہ میرے ساتھ کیا ہوا ہے اور ٹریبیونل کے لیے ہم کوئٹہ جانا چاہتے تھے۔
دیکھیں انہوں نے اپنی ایجینسیز کی رپورٹ پر کہہ دیا ہو گا کہ وہ بے قصور ہے لیکن ایک جگہ پہ انہوں یہ بھی کہا ہے کہ ڈاکٹر شازیہ کے کیس میں ان کو بہت کچھ پتہ ہے۔ لیکن اگر وہ اپنی بات فاش کریں گے تو ڈاکٹر شازیہ کی جان کو خطرہ ہے۔ اس کا مطلب ان کوپتہ تھا کہ ملزم کون ہے۔ مگر ٹھیک ہے اگر وہ چیف سسپکٹ نہیں ہے کوئی اور ہے تو ان کو پتہ ہے وہ کون ہے کیوں نہیں بتاتے۔
جب میری شناخت پریڈ ہوئی تھی تو شناخت پریڈ کے دوران ملٹری انٹیلیجنس کا ایک میجر آیا۔ اس نے کہا کہ جی آپ کی جانوں کو خطرہ ہے آپ ملک سے نکل جائیں تو اچھا ہے آپ کے لیے اور ہم آپ کو خوشخبری سنائیں گے آپ ملک سے باہر جہاں بھی جائیں گے تو ہم آپ کو خوشخبری سنائیں گے کہ ملزم پکڑا گیا ہے۔ ہمیں پتہ ہے، ایم آئی اے کے لوگوں کو پتہ ہے۔ یہ ٹربیونلز یہ پولیس انوسٹیگیشنز آپ ان کو چھوڑ دیں، یہ سب ہمارے اوپر ہے، ہم جانتے ہیں کہ اصل مجرم کون ہے۔وہ کہہ رہے ہیں کہ ان کو پتہ ہے۔اب جب ایم آئی اے کے لوگ کہہ رہے ہیں۔ وہ کور کمنانڈر کا پیغام لے کر آیا تھا میجر۔
سوال: کون سا کور کمانڈر
مسٹر خالد: نام نہیں بتایا۔ لیکن انہوں نہ کہا کہ میں بلوچستان سے آیا ہوں۔
سوال: اس نے آپ کو اپنا کارڈ دکھایا تھا، ایم آئی سے ہی تھا۔
جواب: وہاں ایس ایس پی جو تھا وہاں پہ، جج تھا جو ساتھ بیٹھا ہوا تھا۔ ان سے بھی وہ ملا تھا، ان سے بھی وہ باتیں کر رہا تھا۔ ہمیں اس نے کچھ نہیں بتایا کہ وہ ایم آئی کا آدمی تھا۔ میجر نے بتایا کہ دو طرح کے پیغام ہیں اس کے پاس، بلوچستان سے کچھ لوگ مارنا چاہ رہے ہیں آپ کو، کراچی میں گھوم رہے ہیں ہتھیاروں کے ساتھ، اس لیے آپ کی جان کو خطرہ ہے، ملک سے باہر چلے جائیں اور دوسرا یہ کہ جو کلپرٹ ہے اس کے بارے میں ہم جانتے ہیں۔ پولیس نہیں جانتی۔
سوال: آپ کہ رہی ہیں کہ آپ کا بیٹا بھی وہیں پر ہے۔ اپنے بیٹے کے بارے میں کچھ بتائیں۔
جواب: میرا یہ بیٹا لے کر پالا ہوا ہے ۔ جب چار سال کا تھا تو اس کے والد کی وفات ہوگئی تھی تو اس کی امی نے دوسری شادی کر لی تھی۔تب سے میں ہی اس کی دیکھ بھال کر رہی ہوں۔ لیکن مجھے ڈر لگ رہا ہے کیونکہ جب ہم اسلام آباد میں تھے تو وہ لوگ کہہ رہے تھے کے یہاں آپ کا بیٹا بھی ہے اور آپ تو چلے جائیں گے ہم کچھ بھی کر سکتے ہیں۔
سوال: یہ کس نے کہا تھا آپ کو؟
جواب: یہ نیوز آن لائن کے جو ڈائریکٹر ہیں محسن بیگ، انہوں نے کہا تھا۔
سوال: آپ کا جو بیٹا ہے اس کو انہوں نے آپ کو لے جانے نہیں دیا کہ آپ خود اس کو وہاں چھوڑ کر آئے ہیں۔
جواب: جب ہم کراچی میں تھے تو ڈاکٹر شاہد مسعود اے آر وائی کے اور محسن بیگ ہمارے پاس ملنے کے لیے آئے تو شاہد مسعود نے کہا کہ محسن بیگ حکومت کا بندہ ہے۔ ہم آپ کی مدد کریں گے۔ آپ کی جانوں کو خطرہ ہے۔
سوال: جانوں کا خطرہ کس سے ہے؟
جواب: کہنے لگے کہ اسلام آباد کی ایجنسیز سے ہم ملے ہیں تو آپ لوگوں کو بہت رسک ہے اور بلوچستان کے حالات آپ کی اشو کی وجہ بہت خراب ہو گئے ہیں۔
مسٹر خالد: ہم سے ملنے سے پہلے وہ اسلام آباد گئے تھے۔ محسن تو وہ ظاہری بات ہے کہ وہ ایجنسی کا بندہ ہی ہے اور شاہد مسعود نے بھی اس کا اقرار کیا۔ اس نے مجھے کہا تھا کہ محسن بیگ گورنمنٹ کا آدمی ہے۔ میں (شاہد مسعود) اور محسن آپ کی مدد کریں گے۔ اب گورنمنٹ شاہد مسعود اور محسن بیگ کے درمیان جو کھچڑی پک رہی تھی اس کا ہمیں تو علم نہیں۔ شاہد مسعود ہم سے اسلام آباد میں انٹرویو لینے کے بعد غائب ہو گیا تھا۔ پھر دوبئی سے اس نے فون کیا تھا۔ بڑا ڈرا ہوا تھا اور ایجنسیز کے لئیے اس نے کافی بری طرح سے باتیں کی تھیں کہ وہ تو ’مجھے ہی مار دینا چاہتے تھے اور میں اپنی جان بچا کے چار ائیرپورٹس سے اپنے ٹکٹ بک کرواکے اور جان بچا کے نکلا ہوں‘۔ پھر اس کے بعد محسن صاحب آ کے کھڑے ہو گئے جی شاہد مسعود صاحب کو ہم نے فرنٹ پہ رکھا ہوا تھا۔ سارا کام اور آپکا ویزہ وغیرہ تو ہمارا کام ہے، وہ تو ہم نے کیا ہے۔ پریزیڈنٹ سے بھی میں آپ کو اجازت دلوا رہا ہوں اور طارق عزیز جو سپیشل ایڈوائزر ہیں ان سے بھی اس نے ملاقات کروائی لیکن اس نے کہا تھا کہ- – – –
سوال: طارق عزیز سے ملے؟
جواب: مسٹر خالد: جی ان سے ملاقات ہوئی۔
سوال: انہوں نہ کیا کہا تھا آپ سے؟
مسٹر خالد: طارق عزیز سے جو ملاقات ہوئی تھی اس سے پہلے محسن بیگ صاحب نے ہمیں کہا تھا کہ آپ طارق عزیز صحاب کو کچھ نہ کہیں، آپ ان کی باتیں سنیں۔ میں نے کہا ٹھیک ہے۔ اور پھر ان سے ملاقات ہوئی انہوں نہ کہا کہ آپ نے تو بہت اچھا کیا ہے اور آپ کی سٹیٹمنٹ جو خود ہی انہوں تیار کی تھی اسی سٹیٹمنٹ کی بات کی۔
سوال: سٹیٹمنٹ میں کیا لکھا ہوا تھا؟
مسٹر خالد: سٹیٹمنٹ میں کچھ ایسی چیزیں تھیں جس طرح سے پی پی ایل کو بچایا گیا تھا کہ پی پی ایل نے شازیہ کو ٹریٹمنٹ دیا تھا، میڈیکل سپورٹ دی تھی۔ ایسی کوئی بات نہیں، دنیا کو پتہ ہے کہ پی پی ایل نے کیا رویہ اختیار کیا وہ تو آن ریکارڈ ہے، پولیس کے ریکارڈ سے آپ دیکھ لیں کہ انہوں نے کوئی تعاون پولیس کے ساتھ بھی نہیں کیا۔ تو وہ تو جھوٹ نہیں بول رہے۔ اور سینٹ میں بھی اس چیز کو اچھالا گیا ہے۔ ایم ڈی کو بلایا گیا ہے۔ بلکہ ٹریبیونل میں جو انکی یکطرفہ رپورٹس ہیں ان میں بھی یہ بتایا گیا ہے کہ پی پی ایل کی یہ ذمہ داری ہے۔
سوال: سٹیٹمنٹ میں یہ لکھا ہوا تھا کہ شازیہ کو پی پی ایل نے بڑی اچھی طرح سے ٹریٹ کیا۔
مسٹر خالد: جی
سوال: اور یہ وہ خود لکھ کے لائے ہوئے تھے؟
مسٹر خالد: جی لکھ کے لائے ہوئے تھے۔
ڈاکٹر شازیہ: اور ا س میں یہ بھی لکھا ہوا تھا کہ میں اپنی مرضی سے ملک چھوڑ کے جا رہی ہوں اور حکومت نے میرا بہت ساتھ دیا ہے۔ تو میں نے کہا کہ میں اس سٹیٹمنٹ پہ سائن نہیں کروں گی۔ تو محسن بیگ نے کہا کہ اگر تم سائن نہیں کرو گی تو ایجنسیز والے یہ کہتے کہ اگر ہم خالی کاغذ پر لکیریں بھی ڈالیں تب بھی آپ اس پر – – – -سائن کرکے یہاں سے اپنی جان بچاؤ اور بھاگو۔
سوال: اس میٹنگ میں جب آپ طارق عزیز سے ملے تھے تو آپ تھیں آپ کے خاوند تھے،محسن بیگ تھے اور طارق عزیز تھے بس۔ (تاہم محسن بیگ نے بی بی سی سے بات کرتے ہوئے اس بات کی تردید کی ہے کہ انہوں نے ڈاکٹر شازیہ کی ملاقات طارق عزیز سے کروائی تھی)۔
مسٹر خالد: نہیں شازیہ کی جو بھابھی تھی وہ ان کے ساتھ تھی، تو طارق عزیز کو بھی ہم نہ کہا تھا کہ عدنان کو وہ ہمارے بیٹے جیسا ہے ہم اس کو لے جانا چاہتے ہیں تو انہوں نے کہا کہ جی آپ اس وقت چلے جائیں آپ کے پاس وقت بہت کم ہے۔ آپ یو کے جائیں اور اس کے بعد محسن وغیرہ بھی ہیں ہم آپ لوگوں کی مدد کریں گے اور عدنان بھی آپ کو آ کر مل لے گا۔
سوال: پاسپورٹ آپ کے کس پاس تھے؟
مسٹر خالد: پاسپورٹ ہمارے شاہد مسعود کے پاس تھے اور جب اس کو انہوں نے نکال دیا تو اس نے پاسپورٹ جو تھے کسی دوست کو دئیے تھے اور ان کا دوست ہمارے پاس تقریباً رات ایک بجے آیا تھا اور پاسپورٹ ہمیں دے کر چلا گیا۔
سوال: ویزہ کس نے لگوایا تھا۔
جواب: دونوں نے۔ شاہد مسعود نے
مسٹر خالد: شاہد مسعود نے، محسن بیگ نے لگوایا ہے۔ اب کس نے لگوایا ہے ہمیں نہیں پتہ اس بات کا۔
ڈاکٹر شازیہ: دو دن میں وہ ہمارا پاسپورٹ لے کر گئے اور دو دن میں واپس کر دئیے۔ تو دو دن میں ویزا کون لگوا سکتا ہے۔
شیخ رشید صاحب کا بیان آیا تھا کہ ہم نے نہیں بھیجا اور کوئی این جی او ہے جس نے یہاں ان لوگوں کو بلوایا ہے۔
مسٹر خالد: شیخ رشید کا بیان اس طرح آیا تھا کہ ہمیں تو پتہ ہی نہیں ہے کہ ڈاکٹر شازیہ کیسے فلائی کر گئیں اور ہم نے امیگریشن سے پتہ کروایا کہ اس طرح کا کوئی بندہ نہیں گیا۔
سوال: ایک اخبار نے ایک فائنڈنگ کی تھی اور آپ کی تصویر آئی تھی ائیرپورٹ پر۔ وہ ائیرپورٹ پر ہی کھینچی گئی تھی، اس کے پیچھے جو صوفہ تھا وہ تو کہیں نہیں پایا گیا۔
جواب: نہیں جب مجھ سے سٹیٹمنٹ لی گئی تھی اسلام آباد میں اس وقت میرے فوٹوز نکالے تھے انہوں نے۔
مسٹر خالد: اس وقت گیسٹ ہاؤس میں فوٹو لئیے تھے۔ اچھا شیخ رشید صاحب کی بات کریں کیونکہ وہ تو اس طرح کی باتیں کر رہے ہیں کہ ہمیں جی پتہ نہیں ہے اور این جی اوز نے بھیجی ہیں۔ اس کے بعد ہیومن رائٹس اور این جی اوز نے اس باتوں کی تردید کی تھی۔ اب یہ بتائیں کہ حلومت اس طرح کے جھوٹ کب تک بولتی رہے گی۔
سوال: آپ کی کسی این جی اوز نے مدد نہیں کی تھی۔
مسٹر خالد: کسی این جی اوز نے نہیں۔ جب ہم طارق عزیز سے مل کر جا رہے ہیں اور ان سے اجازت لے کر جا رہے ہیں تو سمجھیں کہ بات تو ختم ہو گئی۔ ہم سمجھ رہے تھے جیسے کے صدر سے مل کے جا رہے تھے۔
اس وقت جو حالات تھے ہم خود گھبرائے ہوئے تھے اور ہمیں ڈرایا جا رہا تھا۔ اور محسن بیگ اس طرح کی باتیں کرتے تھے اور کہتے تھے یہاں سے نکل جائیں آپ کی زندگی بچ جائے گی۔
سوال: آپ وہاں سے جانا چاہتے تھے۔
جواب: ذاتی طور پہ ہم نہیں نکلنا چاہتے تھے لیکن حالات جو ہو گئے تھے تو ہم مجبور ہو گئے کہ ہم نکلیں۔اس اشو اتنا پولیٹیسائز کیا جا رہا تھا اور انصاف تو مل ہی نہیں پا رہا تھا۔ ایم آئی کے کرنل مجھے ملے تھے، کرنل حفاظت صاحب ملے تھے انہوں نے کہا کہ 48 گھنٹوں کے اندر آپ کو ایک بندہ ملے گا۔ کلپرٹ ملے گا۔ ایم آئی کے جنرل نے کہا کہ وہ میرے ہاتھ میں ہے۔
http://www.bbc.co.uk/urdu/miscellaneous/story/2005/09/printable/050909_shazia_text_nisar.shtml
….
Another controversy surrounds Dr Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig
Saturday, June 19, 2010
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010619story_19-6-2010_pg7_4
* Email claims TV anchor had role in forcing rape victim Dr Shazia out of country
* Masood denied UK asylum for fraudulent practices
Staff Report
LAHORE: Noted TV show host Dr Shahid Masood is surrounded by yet another controversy after the surfacing of allegations regarding his role in forcing Dr Shazia Khalid out of the country.
Shazia had alleged that an army officer had raped her in a hospital while she was serving in Balochistan in 2005. The controversy is associated with an email circulated with the name of noted defence analyst Dr Ayesha Siddiqa. The email said Dr Shahid Masood and another person, Mohsin Baig, harassed Dr Shazia, warning her that she and her family would be assassinated if they did not leave the country immediately and if the proceedings of her case were not halted in Pakistan.
Dr Shazia was quoted as saying that Dr Shahid and Mohsin Baig made her rush out of the country. Daily Times tried contacting Dr Shahid a number of times for comments, but failed to get through.
British refusal: Also, documents obtained from reliable sources in the British Home Office revealed that Masood was denied asylum in the United Kingdom for fraudulent practices.
According to the documents, he travelled to the UK on April 26, 2000, with his family. Masood sought asylum in Britain on May 3, 2000, but his request was denied by the British authorities who stated, “On June 9, 2000, a decision was made to give directions for his removal from the United Kingdom as mentioned in Section 16(1) of the Immigration Act 1971 and to refuse to grant asylum under paragraph 336 of HC 395.” Paragraph 336 of HC 395 authorises British officials concerned to remove any individual who enters the UK illegally.
While giving the reasons for the rejection, the authorities wrote, “He claimed to have entered the United Kingdom on April 26, 2000, using a Pakistani passport of which he was not the rightful owner, accompanied by his daughter and his sister and her two children.” Dr Shahid attached a statement of evidence form SEF3 dated May 16, 2000, asylum interview record SEF4 dated June 5, 2000, and other documents supporting his application. The document mentioned Home Office Reference Number M1045053, and Port Reference Number EDD/00/4390.
Khalid Humayun:
I think Dr. Shazia Khalid rape case in Sui Baluchistan also belongs to 2005 and in that case a captain of Pak Army is an alleged accused. Without coming in the court of law and clearing his innocence, Captain Hammad was cleared by none other than Musharraf stating that the matter had been investigated and Captain Hammad was not involved in any way. Not to mention, two eminent journalists compelled Dr Shazia and her hubby to fly away from Pakistan lest they were going to be killed. Where do the courts of Pakistan and justice stand in between this sordid story? And where are those two journalists namely Dr. Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig and under whose instructions they came all the way from Islamabad to Karachi to convey the message to the iill fated couple “better leave the country of face the death”.
Dr. Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig, arrived all the way from Islamabad to Karachi and met the poor couple and advised them that they better leave the country within “24 hours” as “their lifes are not safe for even one day”. Who are Dr. Shahid Masood and Mohsin Baig? Are not they media men? Five years of this brutal rape has gone by and not a single word from these two gentlemen!
Pakistan Blogzine 