Excellent speech by Musharraf at RUSI

[A.Rahman]

Hi,

This journalist is again very fortunate that he is not russian and Musharraf not a Putin. Otherwise strangers would have found a stripped and mutilated human form on the banks of river Moskva.

or better yet, dying from radiation poisoning.

 

[Asghar]

I too thought it was an excellent speech, very logical and straight to the point from a man who has Pakistan in his heart. Never has a President or any leader of Pakistan been so open and sincere and willing to answer any question put to him, especially in Pakistan and does not openly lie to win support. His tour was in the interest of Pakistan and I'm sure that even if he was no longer the President he would still call on countries for investment in Pakistan and promote growth.

Just wish President Musharraf would put more soul into his speeches to the Nation as they sometimes come across as lackluster.

With regard to the CJ issue, President Musharraf had already been cleared to contest the Presidential Election by the Supreme Court even though legally it was not required (not sure on that). After that however it was outside of the Supreme Court jurisdiction, they are not the law makers of the Nation, the National Assembly is and when they vote for a President that is final. The National Assembly is the supreme body that makes law along with the ability to make changes to the Constitution. The Supreme Court can only make verdicts within this law and not outside it as they seemed to be planning on doing. It is not the fault of President Musharraf that the former CJ started operating outside of his role and involved himself in matters that the Supreme Court has no business in.

The journalists in Pakistan want to go anywhere they want, cover anything that want, harass anyone they want, say anything they want, make up stories and if anything gets in their way they complain that media is not free, no matter what the consequences of their reporting to individuals and the Nation. I don't think they are immature (as newspapers have always been around) but just plain stupid.

Ziauddin should appologise to the President, it was not the place to ask such a question. The President gave another speech later that day to PML-Q supporters and mentioned the journalist saying that he was the only Pakistani there and with people like him Pakistan does not need enemies.

 

[S-2]

I heard the spat and Musharraf's later comments about a maturing society and harm caused by a prematurely unfettered media.

While I understood his reservations, I still believe that the best answer here is the public. If Pakistanis will tolerate this questioning by supporting this reporter or others (circulation or ratings) such that they can stay in business, then the questions shall be rudely posed from time to time.

OTOH, no exclusives will be awarded to this guy by Musharraf. Of THAT we can be sure. Over time, the media begins to police itself by the monetary consequences of their reporting- not threats of censure, etc.

There's tolerance in him. There's an edge there too. I listened again. It's a rancorous moment that's a tad uncomfortable. The question by the Pakistani reporter was the only downer and wasn't handled well by Musharraf. The guy's a lowly reporter. He's a president of an important nation

The question wouldn't be asked in Pakistan. The provided response shouldn't have been offered in London at RUSI. For everything else said by Musharraf, that moment instantly ran the risk of being the lead story of the presentation.

 

[solid snake]

I think this is the interview where Musharraf told other Pakistani reporters "do teen tika do". Usually Musharraf is a cool guy but this was shocking and disappointing to hear.

 

[Spring Onion]

OTOH, no exclusives will be awarded to this guy by Musharraf. Of THAT we can be sure. Over time, the media begins to police itself by the monetary consequences of their reporting- not threats of censure, etc.

very well said Sir as there is very minute possibility to censur things in the first place

 

[Energon]

Not at all. The event was true and he admitted it. However he is not very far from the truth when he suggested that aspersions cast by Pakistanis above all are used by the western press and that is what really hurts Pakistan the most. You need to be in Pakistan or see how easily Pakistan's interest have been compromised by journalist and if you claim that all the journalists world over do this then you are way off here. I would suggest we start looking at the US newspapers first...there are definitely areas where the US press does not go...why can't we ask the same of the Pakistani journalists?

May I also suggest that if you want Pakistani journalism to carry on with this sort of stuff, then you should also be bashing all of the Western media for glossing over the innumerable FUBARs overseen by the western governments.

The American and the western press is extremely brutal when it comes to castigating George Bush, or any American president for that matter. Heck, the Whitehouse is always complaining about the "liberal bias" of the media and CBS's Dan Rather even ran a false story about Bush's past with the air national guard. Every white house and Capitol Hill scandal is exploited to the max. Bill Clinton's affair, Bush and Rummy's evangelical roots, Jim McGreevy's homosexuality, Laura Bush's history with clinical depression... I would hardly call the American media as the bastion of nationalism; the same goes with India, I have no idea what Quraishi is talking about. The Indian media certainly loves taking their pot shots with the leaders. All the parties are extremely incensed with the way they are portrayed; yet nothing has changed. The rest of the stories which are seen as nationalistic, such as articles on new military capabilities, economics, tech etc... those are completely situational; India is doing very well right now and there is general optimism; but I don't think the news media per se is responsible for any of it. True, the Indian governments of late have tried to improve their image; but they have been doing this through genuine PR campaigns, which have nothing to do with Journalists.

People can stick the fundamentals of journalism where there is no light

Musharraf has done just that. He has pretty much disbarred the news media in Pakistan for which he is paying a high price. Chances are that journalists have to accost Musharraf abroad because they will never get answers to difficult questions in any setting within Pakistan. At least in an international setting, Musharraf is compelled to answer. Moreover, with that emotional outburst, he automatically vindicated the position of all the dissenting Pakistani journalists.

there is also something known as the integrity and pride of the nation at stake as well.

True, but again, this does not fall into the job description of journalist. If Musharraf wants to improve the image of Pakistan and increase nationalism, then his administration too should consider hiring a PR firm and achieve this through more appropriate channels. But putting this burden on the news media is a grave faux pas, which makes Pakistan look like even more of a Banana Republic.


I think most of you guys are misunderstanding my position. I am by no means anti-Musharraf; nor do I know or have anything to do with this journalist. However, the point I'm trying to make is that these types of reactions by Musharraf are actually more detrimental to him. Any objective observer knows that the question posed by the journalist was extremely genuine, what his intentions etc are and/or how it makes an impact upon the "image" of Pakistan is a non sequitur given the veracity of the issue. Moreover it was an open ended question. Musharraf totally blew it, and basically handed a moral victory to the very media he is battling. Instead of getting personal and indignantly defensive, he should have just given a very curt reply without committing to anything.

 

[blain2]

The American and the western press is extremely brutal when it comes to castigating George Bush, or any American president for that matter. Heck, the Whitehouse is always complaining about the "liberal bias" of the media and CBS's Dan Rather even ran a false story about Bush's past with the air national guard. Every white house and Capitol Hill scandal is exploited to the max. Bill Clinton's affair, Bush and Rummy's evangelical roots, Jim McGreevy's homosexuality, Laura Bush's history with clinical depression... I would hardly call the American media as the bastion of nationalism; the same goes with India, I have no idea what Quraishi is talking about. The Indian media certainly loves taking their pot shots with the leaders. All the parties are extremely incensed with the way they are portrayed; yet nothing has changed. The rest of the stories which are seen as nationalistic, such as articles on new military capabilities, economics, tech etc... those are completely situational; India is doing very well right now and there is general optimism; but I don't think the news media per se is responsible for any of it. True, the Indian governments of late have tried to improve their image; but they have been doing this through genuine PR campaigns, which have nothing to do with Journalists.

Beating up Musharraf is not the issue. He gets more flak than Bush, Rumsfeld, Manmohan Sing and every other Tom, Dick and Harry put together. You just need to look at what Pakistani press has been writing about him. So this discussion is not about critiquing a personality, its about a country and her interests. If anything, its Musharraf's magnanimity that he does not take offense at the personal bashing even though his personal life has none of the drama that comes along with being in the White House.

The main issue is dragging the country and its institutions (especially the military) for a public berating (which is what the intention of Mr. Ziauddin was). Tell me the last time someone in the White house Press Corps got up and berated the performance of US forces in Iraq and Afghanistan? It just does not happen! While you can criticize the war, no American journalist can survive putting doubts about the performance of US forces and that too in a question to the President of the United States (currently the atmosphere in the US is simply to thank every person in uniform for their service to the nation)....is it a little bit too much to ask for of the Pakistani nation when their men in uniform have lost so many in this GWOT? I think not. For any Pakistani, the primary concern should be Pakistan when outside. You have a problem with things on the inside then work it on the inside.

During the imposition of emergency, I happened to be in DC and some Pakistani friends rang me up asking if I wanted to come along for a rally in front of the White House to protest against Musharraf and his imposition of the Emergency. Although I am not for the forceful removal of judiciary in Pakistan or imposition of emergency, I politely declined because in my opinion, there is no need for Pakistanis to protest an internal affair of Pakistan outside of Pakistan (in other words, I'd rather not do my dirty laundry outside).

Additionally, there have been failures in intelligence, execution and follow-through of operations by the US and NATO forces but nobody is willing to pose that question to the President of the United States because everybody is deterred by the threat of getting branded anti-American..this is the reality of the issue on hand. So by the same token, why should any Pakistani allow the same type of criticism of their own forces when these forces are doing their level best? This critique does not help, it only gets you a pat on the back by Pakistan bashers.

The fact that Ziauddin included the security of the nuclear weapons in his question was the real reason he got hammered by Musharraf. You can't be that irresponsible in journalism.

Musharraf has done just that. He has pretty much disbarred the news media in Pakistan for which he is paying a high price. Chances are that journalists have to accost Musharraf abroad because they will never get answers to difficult questions in any setting within Pakistan. At least in an international setting, Musharraf is compelled to answer. Moreover, with that emotional outburst, he automatically vindicated the position of all the dissenting Pakistani journalists.

I disagree! You can go to Pakistan and see the level of freedom these guys have. The problem is responsibility that has to be exercised by both sides. While the Government had given these guys an open forum, most of the media in Pakistan was simply about sensationalism (that gets them the most viewers). Internal Security was actually getting compromised because of the reporting of the press so some curbs had to be put in place. Even then, pick up any English or Urdu newspaper and read its editorial and its ruthless when it comes to talking about Musharraf so this question of not getting a chance to accost does not even arise.

With regards to curbs, do you remember the embedded journalists with the US forces in Iraq? Quite a few got booted for reporting stuff (including that idiot Geraldo Rivera) which ran counter to the goals of the US military in Iraq. Pakistani security forces are engaged in dealing with similar challenges, you can't expect Pakistan to follow rules when you have the Americans curbing the right of the media elsewhere. You got rules then embrace them uniformly otherwise this selective criticism of yours won't do.

 

[Energon]

I don't know man, the lackluster performance in Iraq has been openly beaten to death in the media. Granted, the brunt of this is borne by the political bodies (particularly the Whitehouse) and not the military; however in Pakistan the military pretty much is the government, which makes them a legitimate target. I still don't see how or what was so wrong about that question, it was fairly straightforward and most of all open ended. Also the nuclear issue is at the forefront of global matters and was by no means irresponsible.

I have a feeling that this whole "image in the international press" is more of a sensitive issue for Pakistanis living abroad, particularly in the west. I guess I can understand this anguish, because I've always noticed it within South Asians living here; however that is still a non issue.

The press and the journalists must keep asking difficult questions, it's their job; if they capitulate to pressure on account of national sentiment or from a direct threat from Musharraf, they'd be severely compromising the entire institution of journalism... at which point the whole thing becomes pointless.

 

[PakForce Unlimited]

An excellent speech.
Any one know how to save this speech on one's computer?

On this page RUSI Previous Events, simply left click on the speech link and save target instead of opening it. Then it will download to your computer.

 

[bravo0744]

Doesn't work, I suppose