Pakistani Journalist Hamid Mir's Unhinged Response to Attack on Asad Toor

[RiazHaq]

Pakistani Journalist Hamid Mir's Unhinged Response to Attack on Asad Toor

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

Hamid Mir, a primetime TV talk show host, has reacted angrily to an attack on fellow Pakistani journalist Asad Ali Toor this week. Without explicitly naming anyone in the Pakistan Army or the ISI (Inter-Services Intelligence Service), Mir has accused their leadership of cowardice in allegedly ordering attacks on journalists. Dredging up the name of "General Rani", believed to have been former Army Chief and President Yahya Khan's mistress in the 1970s, Hamid Mir has threatened to reveal similar scandals of current Pakistan Army generals.

Hamid Mir (2nd from right) with Asad Toor

Pakistan ISI has denied any role in the attack on Toor. A statement of the agency said: "The ISI believes that when the faces of the accused can be clearly seen on CCTV, there should be no hurdle in the investigation" It further added, "The continuation of such allegations shows that the ISI is being targeted [...] under an organized conspiracy".

This entire episode has raised the following questions:

1. Why the attacks on journalists in Pakistan? Are they specially targeted? Are other ordinary citizens subjected to similar but less publicized attacks? Is it a symptom of a larger phenomenon of failing criminal justice system?

2. Why are the Pakistani military and intelligence agencies automatically blamed without any investigation or evidence? Whose responsibility is it to carry out such investigations and prosecute perpetrators?

3. Has Hamid Mir crossed the line between journalism and propaganda? Are some Pakistani journalists deliberately maligning Pakistani military and ISI leadership in the name of free speech? Should they be investigated for slander?

4. Where do most Pakistanis stand vis-a-vis the military? Do they have greater confidence in the military or the journalists who blame the military for attacks?

Please watch the following discussion on this subject:

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Pakistani Journalist Hamid Mir's Unhinged Response to Attack on Asad Toor

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

 

[Blacklight]

Bye bye Mr.Mir Jaffer. Time for you to retire permanently.

 

[Goritoes]

Bye bye Mr.Mir Jaffer. Time for you to retire permanently.

Funny thing is that Journalists who will sit on the laps of American embassy staff and go dance in their late-night parties are threatening others of exposing their personal life affairs
Only if one day Americans decide to reveal the level of compromises our Journalists would do to get grants and American citizenships, they won't be able to see their face in the mirror.

 

[Sifar zero]

Imagine your wife going through 9 months of pain just to give birth to a child and then throughout his childhood you feed and send him to school by working hard.And when he graduates school you send him to a expensive university which you pay for by the money you actually saved for your retirement life but you love your son more than yourself and spend the money on him.And in the end the child you looked after for all your life grows up to be Hamid Mir.I do not know about you I would be pretty sad.

 

[khail007]

What is special with journalists, politicians or advocates, that they should be dealt as VIPs?
Every Pakistani should be treated equally.
The three classes mentioned above are mostly formed by corrupts and they are overwhelmingly pressurising the society for special treatment and some institutes are bowing to it because in return they are favoured by these corrupts.
Hamid Mir reputation was not an exemplary one and nor his father's.
If government of Bangladesh accepts, we could despatch him and his whole family there to live in peace.

 

[RiazHaq]

Commission Must Investigate Hamid Mir's Ties to Spies & Militants

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

Attempt on Hamid Mir's life has rightly drawn widespread outrage in Pakistan and around the world. It has to be condemned without reservations. Hamid Mir is reported have suspected that he was on Pakistani intelligence agency ISI's "hit list".

Pakistani Journalist Hamid Mir

In addition to raising serious questions about the role of the media and the ISI, the assassination attempt has also refreshed memories of journalist Saleem Shahzad's murder in 2011 for which ISI was blamed. Here are some of the questions that I would like to explore:

Questions:

1. What is the relationship between Pakistani journalists and the various spy agencies, including the ISI, operating in Pakistan?

2. How do Pakistani journalists work with militants to cover multiple ongoing insurgencies in Pakistan?

3. Has Pakistani media played a responsible journalistic role in covering national security issues?

Saleem Shahzad's Murder:

To answer the above questions, let us look at the media coverage of Saleem Shahzad's murder in 2011.

World media widely reported the allegations made against the ISI by former US Chairman of Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen in a Senate committee hearing in Washington. Adm Mullen alleged that Pakistani government "sanctioned" Shahzad's murder.

What the media left out of their coverage of Shahzad's murder were internal emails of Stratfor analysts leaked by Wikileaks. Stratfor bills itself as a "global intelligence" company. It is widely believed to be a leading intelligence contractor for US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The leaked emails talked about the "Fine line between an investigative journalist and spy" and added that "The poor bastard went down the rabbit hole and was neutralized".

In another secret email, Stratfor Vice President Fred Burton wrote as follows:

"I'm sure the ISI extracted a confession of his CIA work before he died. There will be a leaked story about his double agent work and the Pakis rub the CIA's nose in it. Its what intel agencies do. Tit for tat. The world will soon forget him. Price one pays for playing the game."

Hamid Mir with TTP terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri. Mir said he also met TTP leaders Hakimullah Mehsud and Mullah Fazlullah.

Attempt on Hamid Mir:

Hamid Mir has built a successful career in journalism on close contacts with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. He is known to have had unusual access to Al Qaeda, Taliban and Baloch militants not granted to others. Mir is the only journalist with the distinction to have interviewed Osama Bin Laden three times, including the last interview that took place after Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. It has raised questions about his interlocutors, including the ISI and the Taliban.

A 13 minute taped audio conversation between Hamid Mir and a TTP militant (believed to be Usman Punjabi alias Mohammad Omar) was released in 2010 just after the double murder of former ISI agents Colonel Imam and Squadron Leader Khawaja Khalid by the Taliban.

Here are a few excerpts of Hamid Mir's alleged statements from the audio tape:

"... he (Khalid Khwaja) had done all this. After that Maulana Abdul Aziz was arrested and Mr Abdul Rashid Ghazi telephoned me and said, “Now, I don’t have any option. Now, my family and ulema have been defamed as my brother was arrested in a burqa and presented on Pakistan Television. This is a large stain which can only be removed with my blood.” So, he lived up to his words and sacrificed. So, Khalid Khawaja and his wife, anyone may know or not, they will have to answer before Allah Almighty."

"He (Khawaja) himself has confessed in front me that he had links with William Casey. Ok! Leave William, ask him about the Qadiyanis, because I personally believe that Qadiyanis are worse than infidels, what kind of links does he have with Qadiyanis? What relationship does he have with Mansoor Ijaz? Why does he use his money? Why does he go everywhere with him when he comes to Pakistan? Why does he bring him to the mujahideen?"

"He (Canady) was martyred in North Waziristan. He (Khawaja) came to me with Canady’s wife and a daughter, saying Canady’s son, Karim, is at Rawalpindi’s CMH and is injured and the army had arrested him. He asked me to arrange a meeting between the injured and his mother. I said this is very difficult for me and I can’t do this because already they are all against me. But, he said all that you need to do is to arrange a meeting between a mother and her son. So, I arranged it with a lot of difficulties and sent the woman to Rawalpindi CMH, but when she reached there she took a camera out of her burqa and asked her son to record a message that he is innocent, has no links with anyone and has been kept here illegally. She was arrested there because a nurse saw her and seized the camera from her. But I was held responsible for all of it as they told me that I had sent this woman. It was revealed after her arrest that the woman had a Canadian passport and had visited Canada two months ago. After that I faced a lot of difficulties. The Canadian government released the woman and her daughter and then she went back to Canada. In Toronto, she held a press conference and admitted that she worked for the CIA. Now Khalid Khawaja has a long beard and his wife wears a full veil so people like us, who are involved in worldly affairs and have committed sins, believe that if we will help them, we might be forgotten for our sins. When these kinds of people betray us, we lose confidence on the religion itself."

The Daily Times newspaper, which first reported on the tape, said at the time that the information passed on by Mir to the Taliban "could have led to the execution" of former ISI official Khalid Khwaja. Mir denied it was his voice but others authenticated it. Jang Group said it would investigate but nothing came out of it.

Summary:

It appears from the above mixture of allegations and facts that Hamid Mir is not just a journalist but a player in the ongoing militancy in Pakistan. He seems to have worked closely with both the spies and the militants in the past. It also appears that he has managed to alienate both over time and made himself their target. Any serious judicial commission investigation of what happened to Hamid Mir last week must take into account his dealings with the intelligence agencies and the militant outfits to reach any credible conclusion. It is necessary to protect journalists and restore Pakistanis' faith in the media.
Here's a video discussion on the subject:


GeoTV's Hamid Mir Survives Murder Attempt, Blames ISI & Triggers Media Wars from WBT TV on Vimeo.

Here are the tapes of Hamid Mir's alleged conversation with Usman Punjabi:

Hamid Mir Geo. TV (Exposed Call with Asian Tigers) by xeest-us



Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pak Taliban Target Right-Wing Media, Politicians in Pakistan

Vindictive Media and Judges Pursue Musharraf

Lal Masjid Case

TTP Terror Threat Looms Large

Taliban vs. Pakistan

Musharraf's Treason Trial

General Kayani's Speech on Terror War Ownership

Impact of Youth Vote and Taliban Violence on Elections 2013

Imran Khan's Social Media Campaign

Pakistan Elections 2013 Predictions

Why is Democracy Failing in Pakistan?

Viewpoint From Overseas-Vimeo

Viewpoint From Overseas-Youtube

Commission Must Investigate Hamid Mir's Ties to Spies & Militants

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

 

[Adecypher]

What he said even a western Journalist on the fringe cannot dare to say on mainstream media ... and still THEY question us “ke sahafat kyun azaad nahi hey?”...

 

[RiazHaq]

#Pakistani journo #HamidMir ‘taken off air’ after #military outburst: “If you’re breaking into our homes to assault us, well, we cannot enter your homes as you have tanks and guns, but we can make things public, things from inside your homes.” #AsadToor https://aje.io/hsrwce


Prominent Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir has been taken off the air just days after he spoke out against the country’s military at a protest against an attack on another journalist.

Mir told Al Jazeera he has been informed he will not be hosting “Capital Talk” on Geo News from Monday evening.

“I’ve only been told by Geo management that I won’t be hosting the show,” Mir said.

“They said there is a lot of pressure [after the statements at the protest last week]. They did not say who it is coming from.”

With specifying a reason for the move, Geo News’s management confirmed to Al Jazeera that Mir had been taken off-air and would not be hosting the show.

Informed sources told Al Jazeera that Geo News had been “pressured to fire [Mir]”.


Last week, independent Pakistani journalist Asad Ali Toor, known for his critical coverage of the country’s government and military, was attacked in his Islamabad home by three unidentified men, who beat him up and warned him about his work.

Play Video
In his speech at the protest against the attack in Islamabad on Friday, Mir had threatened to identify those responsible for a spate of recent attacks on journalists in Pakistan. He used several terms implying the involvement of the Pakistani military and named Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa.

“If you’re breaking into our homes to assault us, well, we cannot enter your homes as you have tanks and guns, but we can make things public, things from inside your homes,” Mir said at the protest, alluding to the military’s involvement.

In 2014, Mir survived a shooting attack by unidentified attackers shortly after he hosted an episode of his programme that focused on alleged rights violations by the military in the southwestern Balochistan province.

“The space is completely shrinking. In fact, I’d say it is finishing. You are not even allowed to express yourself while you are not on duty,” said Iqbal Khattak, Reporters Without Borders (RSF) representative in Pakistan and head of media rights group Freedom Network, in response to Mir being taken off-air.


“I think we were proven right that the state and the government are putting pressure to influence the editorial independence of certain media houses.”


Khattak said the threats against journalists specifically targeted those who reported in a critical manner on the government and the military.

“Journalists who are critical of the government policies are under pressure, and those who are saying that ‘everything is fine’, they have no issues as far as their security and safety are concerned.”

ISI’s involvement
Toor, who was attacked on Wednesday, said in a police report that one of his attackers identified himself as belonging to the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), the country’s main intelligence agency.

On Saturday, the Pakistan government termed the accusation “a well-thought-out conspiracy”.

Pakistan’s military has directly ruled the country for roughly half of its 74-year history, and critics say it continues to exercise control over many aspects of Prime Minister Imran Khan’s government.

In 2019, an Al Jazeera investigation found that journalists, editors and managers at news organisations across the country reported their work was being censored by the government and the military through the targeting of their news organisations using financial means.

 

[RiazHaq]

Pakistan's ISI wins apology over claim it shot Hamid Mir

Pakistan's ISI wins apology over claim it shot Hamid Mir

Pakistan's Jang media group apologises to the country's feared ISI intelligence agency for its coverage of the shooting of journalist Hamid Mir.

www.bbc.com

"The Jang group wants to categorically state that it has the greatest regard and respect for the armed forces of Pakistan and its leadership. It was never our intention to malign or offend any institution or person," the apology said.

Jang conceded that its coverage had been "misleading, disproportionate and inappropriate, giving [the] impression of a campaign".

"This caused deep hurt to ISI as an institution, its director general Lt Gen Zaheer ul-Islam, members of his family, the rank and file of the armed forces and a large number of our viewers. We deeply apologise for hurting them all."

Last week, Jang's newspapers carried full-page adverts apologising for a morning show on Geo that led to charges of blasphemy by the religious lobby.

The channel, once Pakistan's most-watched, has been accused of unprofessional conduct by the military and treachery by its business rivals.

It says it has lost more than 80% of its viewers in the month since Mr Mir was shot six times in Karachi.

He survived and is recovering. Who attacked him remains unclear.

Pakistan's media regulator Pemra is set to consider the ISI's complaint against Geo on Wednesday.

 

[RiazHaq]

Who was the mastermind of the attack on #AsadToor? #PakistanArmy's harshest critic Gul Bukhari says #ISI had nothing to do with the attack on Toor. She alleges that fellow journalist Imran Riaz Khan ordered the attack & his people carried it out

 

[mourning sage]

Another bastard birthed by the military coming to bite it on the ***. Hamid Mir has shown his true colours on more than one occasion. To continue to respect him and feed him gets you this. The propaganda against the military is strong. This is all part of N's attempt to push the fauj over the ledge and boy is it achieving success.

 

[Sifar zero]

Commission Must Investigate Hamid Mir's Ties to Spies & Militants

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

Attempt on Hamid Mir's life has rightly drawn widespread outrage in Pakistan and around the world. It has to be condemned without reservations. Hamid Mir is reported have suspected that he was on Pakistani intelligence agency ISI's "hit list".

Pakistani Journalist Hamid Mir

In addition to raising serious questions about the role of the media and the ISI, the assassination attempt has also refreshed memories of journalist Saleem Shahzad's murder in 2011 for which ISI was blamed. Here are some of the questions that I would like to explore:

Questions:

1. What is the relationship between Pakistani journalists and the various spy agencies, including the ISI, operating in Pakistan?

2. How do Pakistani journalists work with militants to cover multiple ongoing insurgencies in Pakistan?

3. Has Pakistani media played a responsible journalistic role in covering national security issues?

Saleem Shahzad's Murder:

To answer the above questions, let us look at the media coverage of Saleem Shahzad's murder in 2011.

World media widely reported the allegations made against the ISI by former US Chairman of Joint Chiefs Admiral Mike Mullen in a Senate committee hearing in Washington. Adm Mullen alleged that Pakistani government "sanctioned" Shahzad's murder.

What the media left out of their coverage of Shahzad's murder were internal emails of Stratfor analysts leaked by Wikileaks. Stratfor bills itself as a "global intelligence" company. It is widely believed to be a leading intelligence contractor for US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA).

The leaked emails talked about the "Fine line between an investigative journalist and spy" and added that "The poor bastard went down the rabbit hole and was neutralized".

In another secret email, Stratfor Vice President Fred Burton wrote as follows:

"I'm sure the ISI extracted a confession of his CIA work before he died. There will be a leaked story about his double agent work and the Pakis rub the CIA's nose in it. Its what intel agencies do. Tit for tat. The world will soon forget him. Price one pays for playing the game."

Hamid Mir with TTP terrorist Ilyas Kashmiri. Mir said he also met TTP leaders Hakimullah Mehsud and Mullah Fazlullah.

Attempt on Hamid Mir:

Hamid Mir has built a successful career in journalism on close contacts with Al Qaeda and the Taliban. He is known to have had unusual access to Al Qaeda, Taliban and Baloch militants not granted to others. Mir is the only journalist with the distinction to have interviewed Osama Bin Laden three times, including the last interview that took place after Sept 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States. It has raised questions about his interlocutors, including the ISI and the Taliban.

A 13 minute taped audio conversation between Hamid Mir and a TTP militant (believed to be Usman Punjabi alias Mohammad Omar) was released in 2010 just after the double murder of former ISI agents Colonel Imam and Squadron Leader Khawaja Khalid by the Taliban.

Here are a few excerpts of Hamid Mir's alleged statements from the audio tape:

"... he (Khalid Khwaja) had done all this. After that Maulana Abdul Aziz was arrested and Mr Abdul Rashid Ghazi telephoned me and said, “Now, I don’t have any option. Now, my family and ulema have been defamed as my brother was arrested in a burqa and presented on Pakistan Television. This is a large stain which can only be removed with my blood.” So, he lived up to his words and sacrificed. So, Khalid Khawaja and his wife, anyone may know or not, they will have to answer before Allah Almighty."

"He (Khawaja) himself has confessed in front me that he had links with William Casey. Ok! Leave William, ask him about the Qadiyanis, because I personally believe that Qadiyanis are worse than infidels, what kind of links does he have with Qadiyanis? What relationship does he have with Mansoor Ijaz? Why does he use his money? Why does he go everywhere with him when he comes to Pakistan? Why does he bring him to the mujahideen?"

"He (Canady) was martyred in North Waziristan. He (Khawaja) came to me with Canady’s wife and a daughter, saying Canady’s son, Karim, is at Rawalpindi’s CMH and is injured and the army had arrested him. He asked me to arrange a meeting between the injured and his mother. I said this is very difficult for me and I can’t do this because already they are all against me. But, he said all that you need to do is to arrange a meeting between a mother and her son. So, I arranged it with a lot of difficulties and sent the woman to Rawalpindi CMH, but when she reached there she took a camera out of her burqa and asked her son to record a message that he is innocent, has no links with anyone and has been kept here illegally. She was arrested there because a nurse saw her and seized the camera from her. But I was held responsible for all of it as they told me that I had sent this woman. It was revealed after her arrest that the woman had a Canadian passport and had visited Canada two months ago. After that I faced a lot of difficulties. The Canadian government released the woman and her daughter and then she went back to Canada. In Toronto, she held a press conference and admitted that she worked for the CIA. Now Khalid Khawaja has a long beard and his wife wears a full veil so people like us, who are involved in worldly affairs and have committed sins, believe that if we will help them, we might be forgotten for our sins. When these kinds of people betray us, we lose confidence on the religion itself."

The Daily Times newspaper, which first reported on the tape, said at the time that the information passed on by Mir to the Taliban "could have led to the execution" of former ISI official Khalid Khwaja. Mir denied it was his voice but others authenticated it. Jang Group said it would investigate but nothing came out of it.

Summary:

It appears from the above mixture of allegations and facts that Hamid Mir is not just a journalist but a player in the ongoing militancy in Pakistan. He seems to have worked closely with both the spies and the militants in the past. It also appears that he has managed to alienate both over time and made himself their target. Any serious judicial commission investigation of what happened to Hamid Mir last week must take into account his dealings with the intelligence agencies and the militant outfits to reach any credible conclusion. It is necessary to protect journalists and restore Pakistanis' faith in the media.
Here's a video discussion on the subject:


GeoTV's Hamid Mir Survives Murder Attempt, Blames ISI & Triggers Media Wars from WBT TV on Vimeo.

Here are the tapes of Hamid Mir's alleged conversation with Usman Punjabi:

Hamid Mir Geo. TV (Exposed Call with Asian Tigers) by xeest-us



Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Pak Taliban Target Right-Wing Media, Politicians in Pakistan

Vindictive Media and Judges Pursue Musharraf

Lal Masjid Case

TTP Terror Threat Looms Large

Taliban vs. Pakistan

Musharraf's Treason Trial

General Kayani's Speech on Terror War Ownership

Impact of Youth Vote and Taliban Violence on Elections 2013

Imran Khan's Social Media Campaign

Pakistan Elections 2013 Predictions

Why is Democracy Failing in Pakistan?

Viewpoint From Overseas-Vimeo

Viewpoint From Overseas-Youtube

Commission Must Investigate Hamid Mir's Ties to Spies & Militants

News, analysis and opinions about India, Pakistan, US, Canada, Europe, Mid East, South Asia, Silicon Valley, High Technology, Economy, Politics, World

www.riazhaq.com

This Asian Tigers claimed responsibility for martyring Colonel Imam.But interestingly a video of Imam's execution showed Hakim Ullah Mehsud killing the former.So probably this vid is along with the mentioned group might be a sham.

 

[Asian.Century]

Uff Hamid Mir is all blazing against Generals, ISI Army: Bad Abuses to Pakistan Army:

Uff Hamid Mir is all blazing against Generals, ISI Army: Bad Abuses to Pakistan Army:

 

[doorstar]

Bye bye Mr.Mir Jaffer. Time for you to retire permanently.

he's been fired from his news job

 

[SQ8]

Funny thing is that Journalists who will sit on the laps of American embassy staff and go dance in their late-night parties are threatening others of exposing their personal life affairs
Only if one day Americans decide to reveal the level of compromises our Journalists would do to get grants and American citizenships, they won't be able to see their face in the mirror.

They can also reveal the military and bureaucratic officers who are compromised but Pakistanis are unethical enough to still see their face in the mirror and claim that many a western white woman fell at their feet due to it.