Why it is that educated & intelligent members of this august forum get down to the age-old rhetoric of conspiracy, anti- Pakistani & treason associated with all those who have a different opinion. Why can’t there be a debate based on proper arguments and without taking a partisan approach?
I have never known any media mogul in my life and can’t say for sure whether Jang-group or Dawn group or both received foreign funding (as alleged by Imran Khan & the PTI stalwarts) or they are lily-white. Neither do I agree that investigation & arrest of a media mogul tantamount to curbing freedom of Press if ample proof of wrongdoing exists.
Let us look at this case objectively. Jang -Group owner is accused of having 7 acres of prime land allotted to him 34 years ago by Nawaz Sharif who was then Chief Minister of Punjab.
The first logical question to ask is that NAB was instituted by Musharraf in 1999, why dig up this case now if a gross injustice was done, why not earlier?
The second question is that Shakil-ur-Rahman is the beneficiary; the deed was actually done by then Chief Minister and executed probably by the senior officers of the LDA; why arrest only the beneficiary, why not the people who actually allotted the land? The third question is that does being the beneficiary big enough a crime to warrant arrest merely because the NAB was not satisfied with the answers of the accused?
To a simple person like me, it appears that NAB was instructed by Imran Khan to punish the GEO group. Probably because NAB could not find any evidence of some serious wrongdoing (like receiving funding from India) and only managed to come up with a possible shady transaction of 34 years ago; a flimsy excuse of not being satisfied with the replies was used to put Shakil Rahman behind bars. He will be left there to rot for a few months then granted bail by courts due to a lack of sufficient evidence. The case will die out after a couple of years without any conviction. Imran Khan is also annoyed with the DAWN Group, let us see what NAB digs up against the Dawn Group owners.
In my humble opinion, while the previous regimes of Nawaz Sharif & Musharraf only hurt the strongly critical media financially, by shutting down their broad-costs & not giving any Gov’t adverts; Naya Pakistan regime locks up those that overtly criticize her bad governance.
No one would deny that anyone and everyone who breaks the law and amasses wealth through illegal means should be apprehended and put behind bars; there must be concrete evidence of guilt and not on mere rumors or flimsy grounds.
IMHO, while other regime wasted state funds on needless foreign trips, Naya Pakistan wastes on lawyers' fees through needless court cases. At least the lawyers are getting rich.
I fully concur on all points, arguments and cautiously concluded comments that you've made.
I too am flummoxed at the multitudes of people who don't give a second thought before condemning the accused based on unverified political beliefs that they have unwittingly internalised. We're living in a very toxic political environment IMO, and I lay at least a part of the blame for the changes I perceive on Imran Khan. More-so than in the past, he has successfully convinced a large proportion of the population that all the ills and shortcomings they see in their daily lives are due to the irredeemable moral and financial corruption of his political rivals/adversaries, whom he paints as an out of touch civilian elite. Never a shred of evidence seems to be needed to convince people of this. I was among the PTI supporters up to a time too. I was taken in by the messaging and did not see major flaws in ideology and conduct until 2014 or so. I too, had I remained of these views, would be pleased to see NAB going after opposition media and politicians. I don't doubt that IK put NAB up to this, possibly even against the cautions and advice of his benefactors and keepers.
As for NAB, I personally think it shouldn't exist. It should be abolished, with its purview being absorbed by other relevant departments; FBR, SECP, FIA et al. NAB is primarily a tool for political victimization. And the really sad thing to see is that these views are so entrenched, that when these frivolous cases reach the courts, and the courts have no choice but to dismiss them, the people who've internalised these views turn on the courts.
On the matter of demonising the opposition, anti-establishment media, and those who old 'against the grain' views. They are routinely thought of as anti-state, anti-Pakistan, traitors with Indian benefactors. The blame for this also lies primarily on our establishment, our state propaganda predates IK and might exist after IK goes. It doesn't matter who says or does what in politics. We could all have the GDP per capita of Norway and the growth rate of China, literacy rate approaching 99.9% and HDI of 1, all with supreme political stability. As long as the current system prevails however, people who point out uncomfortable truths or dare to read too deeply into the history, or current machinations of the state, will find their honest reporting being silenced, marginalised and demonised in this way.
I can't say for sure whether this man is guilty or innocent, but it's hard not to be deeply skeptical.
