Pak-US relations: The lies of the allies
US Ambassador to Pakistan, Cameron Munter recently gave a major policy speech – or so we expected before it happened. Coinciding with DG ISI Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha’s visit to Washington, the talk given at the Institute of Strategic Studies Islamabad covered a lot of ground. From renewal of relations to perception building, from drone attacks to economic aid, a host of issues was addressed in the speech and question/answer session that followed. But as someone present on the spot, I failed to find anything new in Munter’s words. Granted that after the Raymond Davis episode, the ambassador needs a fresh start in his efforts to ...
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Is hacking always immoral?
Recently, two teenagers were tried for hacking the Pakistan Supreme Court’s website. Geo News reported that the hackers demanded the immediate release of detained Pakistani neuroscientist Dr Aafia Siddiqui. This raises the question: is hacking morally wrong? Hacking then The old-school concept of hacking was taking something and making it do something it was not intended for. A perfect example of this is how a group of hackers managed to unlock Apple’s iPhone which, even after four years of its launch in the US, is still not officially meant to work outside a handful of countries, but hackers have bypassed this official clause. To ...
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PakLeaks: Did I miss the humour?
I used to believe that blogs were a great way for people to express themselves. Old school bloggers have a way with words and express themselves in an interesting manner. Unfortunately, a new generation of bloggers seems to think that the medium gives writers a license to go around making personal attacks just because it seems fun. I heard about a new blog called PakLeaks which seemed to be Pakistan’s equivalent of WikiLeaks. The blog claimed to have 35,000 leaked direct messages or “DMs” from members of Pakistan’s Twitterati. It claimed that it is being hacked because of the nature of its ...
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Partying in Jeddah: The elite immunity syndrome
A recent US consulate cable released by WikiLeaks describes a Halloween party at an elite residence in Jeddah; the funds of a prince, alcohol, ‘working women’ and a scene resembling ‘ a nightclub anywhere outside the Kingdom’ was highlighted. The news caused a burst of outrage. I came across more than one online forum where comments ranged from: ‘I wonder what kind of Islam Pakistan has imported from Saudi Arabia’ to ‘If anyone still blindly have faith in these low lives gutter mentality people’. It disturbs me that there is such outrage over a nation that is run by a monarchy-the very concept of ...
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Selective coverage: What the stories we never hear about mean
Keeping an eye on how the media has been working in Pakistan, I have been confused about whether it is actually performing its role - its real role as an unbiased observer to events – and providing masses with untampered facts and information. Aside from its highly anti-government policies and the Zardari obsession, there are other reasons that makes its role suspect. With reference to the Pakistan army, the media’s role remains ambiguous. For reasons that are obvious, there has been a serious lack of reporting on exactly how the army has been conducting activities in Balochistan and Fata. But recent events are alarming. Last week ...
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WikiLeaks: Democracy undressed
WikiLeaks has now been added to our burgeoning dictionary of new labels of social media but undoubtedly, it is one of the most controversial. The proliferation of different types of social media from Facebook to YouTube is raising deep questions about public discussion, and the workings of democracy itself. It is not so much the content that is released by WikiLeaks that is of concern or indeed of any great surprise, since they merely confirmed what many suspected. Democracy looks like a sham The great concern is how foreign policy is being conducted behind closed doors, in secret corridors of power where only an elite ...
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WikiLeaks: Is the truth unpatriotic?
Julian Assange’s WikiLeaks indomitably dominated the headlines of late. The content of the leaked US diplomatic cables is definitively headline worthy. The repercussions of the unveiling of dangerous government secrets are colossal. As the US Justice Department considers the Espionage Act of 1917 to charge Assange with, I wonder if speaking out the truth is unpatriotic or if it’s just the only right thing to do? According to the Espionage Act, “unauthorised possession and dissemination of information related to national defence is illegal”. But then what about the First Amendment to the US Constitution? It guarantees freedom of press. Robert Wright ...
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WikiLeaks: A missing cable and a dinner for Prince Charles
Here are some interesting nuggets that much of the world press hasn’t reported upon, and isn’t likely to either, because they don’t make for ‘sexy’ reading/content. The case of the missing cable The News – and Jang – of December 9 had a lead story which, quite unbelievably I must say, quoted a cable from the US embassy in Islamabad saying all the things that the establishment in Pakistan would want the world to think about: a) India b) India’s army c) India’s chauvinist Hindu parties and d) Hamid Karzai. The Express Tribune of December 9 also carried a similar story – by Online news agency ...
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WikiLeaks: Redefining diplomatic history
The continuing WikiLeaks saga has many important implications for the state of international relations which have been much debated over the print and electronic media. We’ve heard diplomats, kings, generals and politicians from all over the world having candid and unguarded conversations about each other. However, we have failed to see how the leaks have threatened the idea of history, and notions of the process of discovering it. History is not what has happened in the past but an account of what is said to have happened. The historical process can range from a sage telling a story to a ...
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Before we turn into WikiFreaks…
Excuse me, while I jump on the bandwagon and hail the unprecedented revelation of global espionage. The revelation of a quarter of a million classified diplomatic cables of the United States is no mean feat. Ordinarily, a quarter of a million journalists would have made their careers if they were fortunate enough to gain access to each of those documents individually. But must we be blinded by the incredulity of such an event to the point that we forget to question what the revelations really are? For all their juicy and gripping disclosures, the leaked ...
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