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Seema Sirohi attacks Pakistan: Do her words hold meaning?
Global Village Space |
Jamal Hussain |
“Pakistan continues playing the victim card to reap maximum benefit from the US,” was the title of an article by Seema Sirohi in the Economic Times. The Economic Times is India’s leading business newspaper and Seema Sirohi is a senior Indian journalist based in Washington D.C. who writes on foreign policy. The background of the journal and the journalist makes it nothing more than an anti-Pakistani slant of the paper.
Only a handful of one-star Pakistani officers attend the NDU (USA) courses every year and for Seema to suggest that Pakistan can dictate to them about whom to invite or disinvite is absurd.
The justification of the title is built upon Pakistan denying visas to academics who do not toe the national line and by pressurizing the US institutions to deny space to the critics of Pakistan. According to Ms. Sirohi, “the Pakistan military even tries to coerce US military institutions, such as the prestigious National Defence University (NDU), to support this mendacity by blacklisting American and Pakistani scholars who drill holes in that narrative.” To support her premise the case of two eminent scholars, Ms. Christine Fair and the ex-Pakistani ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani who were dropped from certain NDU events or disinvited at the behest of Pakistan, is cited. The dropping of the two luminaries by NDU occupies the essence of the paper.
But for the sinister design of the author, Ms. Sirohi’s logic is almost laughable. If aliens unfamiliar with the current power equation prevalent in the globe were to read the synopsis, they would very likely place Pakistan as the superpower toying with the USA, the weakling. Only a handful of one-star Pakistani officers attend the NDU (USA) courses every year and for Seema to suggest that Pakistan can dictate to them about whom to invite or disinvite is absurd. Many Pakistanis would so hope the assertions by Seema Sirohi were actually true because it would suggest their nation has the necessary leverage to influence the foreign policies of even superpowers to modify them in their favor.
Read more: General McMaster creates a new worry for Pakistan
The real reason behind dropping Fair
A background of the two eminent scholars who were victims of Pakistan’s alleged interference would reveal the real reason why the two were dropped by NDU. Christine Fair, who was considered the darling of the Pakistan Army once, is now known for her anti-Pakistan/anti-Pakistan Army sentiments. Her earlier work on drones and her pro-drone stance and viewpoints has been denounced as “surprisingly weak” by Brooking Institution and journalist Glenn Greenwald dismissed it as “rank propaganda.” In 2011 and 2012 she received funding from the US embassy in Islamabad to conduct a survey on public opinion concerning militancy. Her journalistic sources have been questioned for their credibility and she has been accused of having a conflict of interest due to her past work with the US government think tanks, as well as the CIA. In the Pakistani media, she has been accused of double standards, partisanship towards India, and has been criticized for her contacts with dissident leaders from Balochistan, a link which raises serious questions “if her interest in Pakistan is merely academic.” (Hussain Jamal 2017)
Christine Fair’s temperament can be judged by the manner she treats even her academic colleagues who dare to hold an opinion contrary to her beliefs.
Elias Davidsson, a German with Icelandic nationality, in his article titled “Christine Fair – A True or Junk Scholar?” for the MWC News (21 May 2017) writes:
Christine Fair is widely quoted as an expert on South Asian political and military affairs. She is often requested by mainstream media to comment on terrorist acts occurring in India and Pakistan and invited to educate members of the US administration on issues in her field of expertise.
Read full article:
Seema Sirohi attacks Pakistan: Do her words hold meaning?
Global Village Space |
Jamal Hussain |
“Pakistan continues playing the victim card to reap maximum benefit from the US,” was the title of an article by Seema Sirohi in the Economic Times. The Economic Times is India’s leading business newspaper and Seema Sirohi is a senior Indian journalist based in Washington D.C. who writes on foreign policy. The background of the journal and the journalist makes it nothing more than an anti-Pakistani slant of the paper.
Only a handful of one-star Pakistani officers attend the NDU (USA) courses every year and for Seema to suggest that Pakistan can dictate to them about whom to invite or disinvite is absurd.
The justification of the title is built upon Pakistan denying visas to academics who do not toe the national line and by pressurizing the US institutions to deny space to the critics of Pakistan. According to Ms. Sirohi, “the Pakistan military even tries to coerce US military institutions, such as the prestigious National Defence University (NDU), to support this mendacity by blacklisting American and Pakistani scholars who drill holes in that narrative.” To support her premise the case of two eminent scholars, Ms. Christine Fair and the ex-Pakistani ambassador to the US Hussain Haqqani who were dropped from certain NDU events or disinvited at the behest of Pakistan, is cited. The dropping of the two luminaries by NDU occupies the essence of the paper.
But for the sinister design of the author, Ms. Sirohi’s logic is almost laughable. If aliens unfamiliar with the current power equation prevalent in the globe were to read the synopsis, they would very likely place Pakistan as the superpower toying with the USA, the weakling. Only a handful of one-star Pakistani officers attend the NDU (USA) courses every year and for Seema to suggest that Pakistan can dictate to them about whom to invite or disinvite is absurd. Many Pakistanis would so hope the assertions by Seema Sirohi were actually true because it would suggest their nation has the necessary leverage to influence the foreign policies of even superpowers to modify them in their favor.
Read more: General McMaster creates a new worry for Pakistan
The real reason behind dropping Fair
A background of the two eminent scholars who were victims of Pakistan’s alleged interference would reveal the real reason why the two were dropped by NDU. Christine Fair, who was considered the darling of the Pakistan Army once, is now known for her anti-Pakistan/anti-Pakistan Army sentiments. Her earlier work on drones and her pro-drone stance and viewpoints has been denounced as “surprisingly weak” by Brooking Institution and journalist Glenn Greenwald dismissed it as “rank propaganda.” In 2011 and 2012 she received funding from the US embassy in Islamabad to conduct a survey on public opinion concerning militancy. Her journalistic sources have been questioned for their credibility and she has been accused of having a conflict of interest due to her past work with the US government think tanks, as well as the CIA. In the Pakistani media, she has been accused of double standards, partisanship towards India, and has been criticized for her contacts with dissident leaders from Balochistan, a link which raises serious questions “if her interest in Pakistan is merely academic.” (Hussain Jamal 2017)
Christine Fair’s temperament can be judged by the manner she treats even her academic colleagues who dare to hold an opinion contrary to her beliefs.
Elias Davidsson, a German with Icelandic nationality, in his article titled “Christine Fair – A True or Junk Scholar?” for the MWC News (21 May 2017) writes:
Christine Fair is widely quoted as an expert on South Asian political and military affairs. She is often requested by mainstream media to comment on terrorist acts occurring in India and Pakistan and invited to educate members of the US administration on issues in her field of expertise.
Read full article:
Seema Sirohi attacks Pakistan: Do her words hold meaning?
Waisted my good 2 minutes 
