Plots in Pakistan's press
By Manzoor Ali, July 15, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010 - 10:50 AM
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Wearing army fatigues and a red cap, Zaid Hamid is perhaps Pakistan's best-known television personality. The strategic affairs expert, who coined the term 'Hindu Zionist' to describe the hypothetical Indian and Israeli nexus against Pakistan, has become a household name across the country for his conspiracy theories on economic terrorism and Indian-U.S.-Israeli plotting. His Facebook page currently has a following of 66,000, among them students of expensive schools and even pop singers and fashion designers. Whether it is explaining Taliban militancy, Pakistan's ever-present electricity crisis, Blackwater's involvement in planning terrorist attacks, or plans for the U.S. to take over Pakistan's nuclear weapons, conspiracy theorists call the shots in Pakistan.
Pakistan's booming television industry, allowed to operate by ex-dictator Gen. Pervez Musharraf, helped lead to his downfall. The country's vibrant Urdu press, which outsells its English-language counterparts in most areas of the country, also helps shape public opinion, with its small army of retired military officers and civilian officials dominate the opinion pages to air their misgivings and concerns. It seems that anti-Americanism on the op-ed pages sells to Pakistanis, who are among the most anti-American people in the world.
Nowhere is Pakistan's conspiracy-prone media as virulent as when describing the U.S.'s role in Afghanistan. Pakistani outlets have painted the United States as an ‘American grand design' aimed at controlling Central Asia's energy resources, depriving Pakistan of its nuclear weapons, and threatening China's emergence as a competitive superpower. India's interests in Afghanistan are also the subject of much speculation, as the threat from Pakistan's eastern border coupled with a growing Indian presence in Afghanistan is enough to give heartburn to many Pakistani commentators. Militancy in Pakistan's northwest is also seen as a conscious effort by the purported American-Israeli-Indian alliance to undermine Pakistan's stability.
Late last year, a former Army chief Mirza Azam Beg startled many by alleging that U.S. forces airlifted Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan chief Hakimullah Mehsud to Bagram Air Base, north of Kabul, following a military offensive in South Waziristan. Many also believe that suicide bombers are trained by the U.S. and Indians, as the TTP does not have the capacity to generate these attackers. In April, a senior leader of mainstream religious party Jamaat Islami (JI) blamed Blackwater for a suicide attack on its rally in Peshawar and asked the Pakistani government to stop cooperating with U.S. Many Pakistanis -- and the Taliban, incidentally -- attribute the worst suicide bombings in Pakistan to Blackwater. None of these allegations have ever been proven true.
With the wash of conspiracy theories floating around in the Pakistani media, it is little surprise that 59 percent of Pakistanis view the U.S. as the greatest threat for Pakistan, followed up by 18 percent for India and a mere 11 percent for the Taliban. It is impossible to escape the irony of the Taliban enjoying more trust from the Pakistani public, after claiming deadly suicide attacks across the country, than the United States, which reimburses Pakistan more than $1 billion a year for military operations and has promised $7.5 billion over the next five years in nonmilitary aid.
To help counter this flood of conspiracy, the U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty launched a Pashtu-language radio station called Radio Mashaal in January of this year, to supplement the reach of Voice of America's Dewaa Radio in 24/7 coverage of the region. (VOA's partnership with the Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation, incidentally, was described by The Nation as the Pakistani government "allow[ing] the United States to expand its Afghanistan-based media propaganda network...in a clandestinely signed deal that is bound to generate more anger when the Pakistani government that is yet to fully recover from accusations of a sellout to intrusive American aid conditions.") VOA also airs an Urdu-language news program five days a week on Geo News, Pakistan's biggest television network. VOA's Urdu radio broadcasts 12 hours a day of news to millions on Radio Aap ki Dunyaa, and claims almost 12 percent of the population listens or watches its Urdu programs. And the U.S. embassy in Islamabad has for nearly nine months issued "Corrections for the Record" a few times a month to combat the persistent mythology in Pakistan's press. But further U.S. efforts to counter misconceptions in the Pakistani press could easy fall prey to a single conspiracy theory.
Manzoor Ali is a reporter with Pakistan's Express Tribune.
RIZWAN TABASSUM/AFP/Getty Images
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The article made the following claims
Nowhere is Pakistan's conspiracy-prone media as virulent as when describing the U.S.'s role in Afghanistan. Pakistani outlets have painted the United States as an ‘American grand design' aimed at controlling Central Asia's energy resources, depriving Pakistan of its nuclear weapons, and threatening China's emergence as a competitive superpower
With the wash of conspiracy theories floating around in the Pakistani media, it is little surprise that 59 percent of Pakistanis view the U.S. as the greatest threat for Pakistan, followed up by 18 percent for India and a mere 11 percent for the Taliban. It is impossible to escape the irony of the Taliban enjoying more trust from the Pakistani public, after claiming deadly suicide attacks across the country, than the United States, which reimburses Pakistan more than $1 billion a year for military operations and has promised $7.5 billion over the next five years in nonmilitary aid
Can you see us winning hearts and minds in this environment
I thought khan was being original.
He was just vomiting this Zaid's teachings
Why do Pakistanis have such exaggerated self importance ?
What could Israel gain from conspiring against Pakistan ?
Pakistan is a third class country just like India. I mean in per capita terms we are same in most things.
In per capita terms, the US is weaker than Belgium.
GDP per capita
Belgium = $36,600
US = $46,400 (26% higher)
The net value of publicly traded American entities is over $11 trillion dollars. Belgium by contrast has.. 2-3 hundred billion. And, what, the EU's local budget? InBev(largely owned/run by Brazilians anyway)? Some good cheeses?
They certainly probably have less national debt as a percentage of GDP, but that doesnt mean that much when you consider the whopping amount of capital still on the sidelines. A small handful of US companies *this quarter* made more profit than the entirety of Belgium's national budget.
So, what criteria are you using, exactly? Tell me they have a gigantic, nuclear powered Naval fleet I never noticed, or something.
Read Ashoks original post, then my response. Think hard about what Im really saying.
Ignore me then... not adding anything anyway
I wish there was a grand design
Because Pakistan is an overwhelmingly bad thing for the world. Not that the US doesnt do bad things, but Pakistan seems to do only bad things. If it sank into the ocean, or just disappeared in some way that didnt cause anarchy and refugees, I think the world wouldnt be any worse off.
First-hand witness to Pakistani Conspiry Theorists
As someone who talks often to Pakistani immigrants, I can attest to the prominence of conspiracy theories within the community. However, I don't feel that such theories are unexpected. After all, the CIA does operate in Pakistan. Drone strikes are frequent. Credible reports of Blackwater conducting missions within Pakistan have been reported. US media figures have suggested invading Pakistan. Media figures constantly overplay the possibility of Pakistan's nuclear weapons falling into the hands of terrorists, which only fuels suspicions. And coupled with this is the very simple fact that Muslims are more inclined to believe the reports of fellow Muslims than they are to believe Western sources, especially Western sources such as the US government's official propaganda outlet.
This is one of the most dangerous threats to our relations with Pakistan, and Pakistan's overall stability in general. I've always been shocked by the amount of Pakistanis that buy into and support these types of stories. A free media is definitely a positive thing (even though, from time to time, we all have thoughts that it's not). But it would be nice if some wealthy and responsible Pakistanis formed a media group to counter all the BS out there and pledge to stick to the facts. As long as the countering media sources come from the US, these other programs will always have the cop-out of claiming conspiracy, which I'm sure is what most Pakistanis would already expect. And we think Beck, Olbermann, Hannity, and Maddow are bad....
Has anyone seen IPPON or LALQILA recently? This article might rub them the wrong way. We need their "expert" opinions!
I was just thinking the same thing. It's been a while since we've heard from Lalqila aka Aurangazeb (or Baghdad Bob, as I like to think of him). Maybe his account has been revoked. One can only hope.
Dude, remember the cliche: Speak of the Devil and he will appear. We should thank our good fortune he (they) is/are on sabbatical.
That said, to keep things entertaining,
"your comments are typical of a blackhindoo bania, and the glorious nation of Pakistan will eventually end the menace being perpetrated by the US and India in aid of the joos, who are the real terrorists of the world."
Pakistanis have made it a habit to always find someone to blame for its problems, yet it never looks at its many many internal problems. it has refused to protect its many religious minorities (shias, ahmedis, sufis, christians, hindus, etc). its differences between its wealthy elite and its dirt poor and the way the poor are treated are equal to the hindu caste hierachy in india. every single one of its politicians is corrupt, illiterate, and a mobster. its military has been infliltrated with jihadis. Pakistan was founded by the secular, western educated, forward looking and progressive Muhammed ali Jinnah, his vision of pakistan was what a modern day turkey is today. a democratic, secular, developed muslim nation that was at peace with all its neighbors including India. yet today it has become the largest exporter of jihadi and wahabbi trash.
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Pakistanis have a stunning--and dangerous-- inability to grasp what is in their own interest. They acknowledge that they face a major domestic terrorist threat; crippling energy shortages, and virtually no foreign investment (to say nothing of a hopelessly corrupt and ineffectual government). Yet they condemn the one country which is actually helping them solve these problems, the US. What other country is providing Pakistan massive aid and (mostly ignored or rejected) assistance on the terrorist front? Its great pal China? The Saudis? their other Muslim "brethren" ? Not one of them. When Pakistanis seek a bolt-hole, do they want a visa to Russia? Egypt? No, they line up at the US Embassy. In some adolescent way, the Paks lash out at the one country they need. It's time they grew up.
Most Pakistanis are illiterate morons whose views are shaped by their Islamic puppet-masters.
I wish there was Hindu-Zionist conspiracy
Anyone who has slightest idea of how Indian govt. deliver poor quality service and ruin anything that they manage, (just visit any govt office to get an idea) would expect no miracles from its intelligence agencies.
Having said that, I wish Zaid Hamid was true. I wish Israel would break up Pakistan or at least remove its Nukes. Counting India out as at the last Israeli attempt of working with India in bombing Paki nuke installations in 1984, India developed cold feet at the last moment.
As for Pakistani media and blogs, I also have same experience of getting kicked out for voicing truth - from "liberal" Dawn and Pakistaniat to Rupeenews. Perhaps they just do not want to see the truth!
Where are you Khan of LalQila? This forum seems sensible without your comments! How could you allow that?
As a Pakistani Agree but ask why
There is some of the usual anti-Pakistan rehtoric in some comments I won't bother to refute but teh article is quite well written. The phenomena of conspiracy theories however is actually driven by a couple of factors (1) Historically Pakistan has been 'bred' as a security state with deep military and CIA involvement ie. The Zia Afghan-Jihad era. Its easier to accept the conspiracies vs. accepting that the historical US nexus, poor education focus, tight control of media and military orientation of the state are to blame. (2) The TV channels are all for profit - just like Fox puts facts behind populist analysis that gets ratings so does the bulk of Pakistani media. In a way its very similar to the US situation where teh bulk of the population has an extremely poor understanding of international relations and prefers to hear how they are the good guys and teh world shits on them via Fox/WP. Imagine that same situation multiplied by every channel so MNSBC counter-balance or BBC partiality. (3) The US/West hasn't exactly done much to win hearts and minds either - they supported whole heartedly military dictatorships against the popular will of the people time and time again and unlike Americans most Pakistani's have a sense fo history and dont forget or forgive so easily. So the mistrust isn't exactly unfounded even though in may manifest itself now in very irrational ways. A peaceful Pakistan will be a major contributor to South Asian prosperity, a Muslim democracy with a vibrant free press, peace and trade with India, a safe haven for S. Asian muslims that at least as an idea acts against any future fears of balkanization ala Gujrat, a conduit for Afghan/Iran/Indian/C. Asian trade - its all possible BUT theres a lot fo work to be done.
Aehsan seems to be the only one who cares about Pakistan and Pakistanis.
America is a country that uses others-albeit they sometimes compensate them. They are not just self-interested, but they take on the interest of others when it suits them. This results in a country which has really very little credibility in a place like Pakistan where, despite all the problems, they are seen as insincere warmongers. The special relationship America is trying to make with India certainly doesnt help.
To me, there just is no justification for the US to expect anything of Pakistan. in fact, US aid to the country should be thought of as it really is, a fee for all the military supplies going through it.
I think there is an unspoken anger towards America in may places in the world, that it can do what it wants while denying others the ability to do so. While they hide their actions behind a veil of "its for free trade and civilization and the greater good," they continue to lord over all other people in a most imperial and insulting manner. This perception is grounded in its military bases, overstated role in other people's affairs, and its citizens' infuriating ignorance of the world that they rule and feast upon. It is hardly surprising that America has a bad reputation in Pakistan.
I hope that Pakistan can get its act together.
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