MEDIA-INSPIRED ATTITUDES

In the preceding days, I have had some strange experiences , which I owe to the imprudence of our media and machinations of our "characterless" politicians. Both “entities” have exploited and continue to hold hostage the innocent Pakistanis for their self-centered petty gains. Let me travel with you to not so distant past when media with its cohorts-the wicked politicians, initiated a venomous campaign to malign our Armed Forces. The campaign is not yet over though there is a relative lull there. I owe this slowed down impetus to few such happenings like the Salala and Giyari incidents, which gave way to positive sentiments towards our Defence Forces. Nevertheless, the evil twins (media and politicians) have quite successfully sown seeds of discord among our masses with respect to role of military high-ups in particular and the Armed Forces in general, in national affairs. May it be the issue of implicating ISI in the case of missing persons or alleged institutional highhandedness of security agencies / Army, etc, such disputatious issues have created unnecessary ill-will towards our Armed Forces. However, this is not to deny that few practices and policies of our Armed Forces with implications at national level, lend themselves to review and adjustment. However, there is a huge difference between constructive criticism and media stunt meant to serve ulterior motives. Unfortunately, in the case of our media-politicians nexus, the balance has always tilted heavily in favour of the later (media stunt)! There has been a serious fall-out of this joint politico-media malicious campaign. I experienced the manifestation of this fall-out on two occasions in recent past. Firstly, returning from a relative's place one evening, I had to wait en-route due to a traffic jam. As I crept forward and realized the reason for the traffic jam, I could not hold myself back from asking the insensitive driver whose wrong parking had caused an avoidable traffic jam. To my surprise, instead of correcting his mistake, he was not even ready to admit his folly. To make matters worse, when I declared my identity upon his insistence as the argument developed, he started an extremely haywire talk about Armed Forces. I was mum and stood perplexed when he initiated one-sided arguments like, "What should I do if you are a Lieutenant Colonel?" and, "I have seen many Lieutenant Colonels and Brigadiers!" and so on. At that time, I was instantly reminded of the media campaign that I discussed above. I never imagined that I could experience its implications firsthand so early! The logic behind blaming an institution for a perceived folly of an individual that too within a “personal-affair paradigm”, was mind-boggling. Before the situation could conflagrate further and became a media-story on "Highhandedness of an Army Officer in Public", I preferred to disengage respectfully. However, on my way off, I reported the matter to the Traffic Warden nearby. Few days later, I experienced a similar-like incident. On a sunny and humid day, I was returning from hospital dressed in military Uniform. As I approached a busy intersection, I observed that the traffic signals were off as usual and there was no traffic warden to regulate the traffic. Unable to find my way across after considerable waiting, unwillingly I accelerated to force my way through the intersection like many of my "country-mates". While doing so, however, I could not miss the spectacle of gazing eyes of one the drivers which appear more disapproving of my my uniform rather than my behaviour. In a flash of second, I could make out that he took my action more in terms of highhandedness of an "Army wala" in uniform rather than an apparent violation of traffic norms! The two incidents proved to be great learning experiences for me. I realized that attitudes convey a lot. They expose what lie deep inside hearts and minds. My experiences speak volumes of the effectiveness of the media venom in a short span of time. On the face of it, these might seem trivial encounters but to a thinking and aware mind, these are tell-tale signs of what the future may hold for us. The lesson learnt is that until we, the people of Pakistan, do not develop our mental faculties to think and crystallize independent considered opinions, we shall continue to act as tools in the hands of an ever-exploitative media.