Pak Tea House » Army, Media » Meet the new apologists on Pakistan TV channels
Meet the new apologists on Pakistan TV channels
By Zia Ahmad
We are already familiar with the rants and tirades of Taliban apologists on TV screens and Op-ed pieces. Enter the Pak Army apologizers. Since the May 2 Abbottabad incident, this lot has come to fore defending, justifying and making excuses for the khakis.
Hasb-e-Haal has been a well received TV show which has enjoyed more than two years of popularity with the masses, owing more to Sohail Ahmed’s alter ego Azizi than the trite and self righteous antics of the respective host. Sure the show’s funny and offers a searing indictment of the social ills and the frustrating corruption and ineptitude of our public institutions and politicians, though it retains a mindset that is borderline reductive and xenophobic.
Sohail Ahmed playing the role of "Azizi" in Hasb e Haal
Of late, since the May 2 Abbottabad incident to be specific, the host Junaid Saleem has been unusually touchy with the fingers pointing at the efficiency of our armed forces. Consider the opening clip from last night’s show where he broached the accusations hurled at khakis after the PNS Mehran attack:
Observe how the host coyly starts offering his opinion on the Mehran attack. A certain convention of the show is to have Azizi refer Junaid Saleem as a Danishwer (scholar) whereas Mr Saleem is expected to play the straight foil to Azizi’s jester. Being the writer of the show himself, the self serving antic may seem rather bloated but since “public” enjoys it so why should I be a spoil sport.
So Azizi cajoles the host to offer his take on the debacle. Mr Saleem prances around for a good two minutes (doing his weakest best to appear neutral) before really saying what he wants to say or what his phantom handlers want him to say demonstrating all the requisite shrieks and bouts of hysteria.
Filed under: Army, Media · Tags: Hasb-e-Haal, Junaid Saleem, Pak Army
13 Responses to "Meet the new apologists on Pakistan TV channels"
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These were exactly my feelings that Azizi is being used as a propaganda tool by this right (wrong) wing GHQ propagandist and I have practically stopped watching this programme.
Media is becoming an anaconda these days who want to swallow everything.
i quite agree with what u are saying….but i would rather take out the positive notes from it. i saw the programme on tv and at that point what i felt was that the host after mentioning that he deliberately avoided bringing into discussion the topic but went on further to giving a point, taking some side in a subtle way and actually briefly discussing what he could have in a whole programme. Although he passed a couple of good statements about supporting i dont know who and what the situation demands and the whole wiki leaks statements, the problem i see in our current media is that only a very few people realize that our media is not acting responsibly and only in certain social groups this is under debate. The masses on the other hand do not realize what responsibilities media has to fulfill and they keep on taking what they see. My question is whose gonna decide which channel is being responsible and which is not when today our population is trained to see harshness and violence along with a lot of not to be shown on tv elements. One channel cant bring the change and will always end up loosing viewer ship. It has to be a combined effort and responsibility is ours too. The host there tried to talk about this a little by saying that he didnt do what the other channels were doing even though it was a hot topic and people wanted that, but in the end could not resist talking about it. I see an effort there and a step towards a responsible media. He may be considered as wrong by many but i see a positive move there by a tv host and we rarely hear such statements from our anti-govt. anchors. i appreciate
Dear Hassam,
The show of impartiality displayed by the said host would have been convincing and, as you said, appreciable had he exercised some measure of restraint. The responsibility he carries is compromised by the lack of calm and requisite objectivity. This manner is no different than of those odd excitable uncles most of us know of. Junaid Saleem carries his argument on the basis of broad, populist generalizations. He’s just wise enough to offer disclaimers before he offers his opinions that seem likely to be endorsed by what we endearingly know as the establishment. And this has been a recurring pattern of late.
A cynical perspective would see no room for responsibility on part of TV channels that are clamoring for ratings and adverts. A prime example being Aaj. Earlier today, a young rookie host was trying to convince (with the aid of not so eye catching animation) how the destruction of two surveillance planes by the marauders was beneficial for India, hence it could only be an Indian design.
Then again all is not glum for there are a few saner voices on the airwaves.
i do agree with you.
and i there presented no argument. what i wanted to comment on was a different adapted by this host which was different from the other talk shows, etc. The fact bothering me was not hosting a program on the hottest topic of that day when its viewers wanted to hear about it. Thats something different. Supporting whose agenda is a totally different debate. Critiquing takes place everywhere, but i understood it as a relatively different interaction of a Pakistani tv channel host with us, the audience.
I still don’t know whats a responsible media. We dont want it government controlled and we dont want them so free. Whats that which falls in the middle of it and we label it as responsible media.
I hope I am not falling too far from your topic, which I think is very important. I am an independent film maker living in NYC, who just finished a feature length documentary called Keep Eye on Ball: The Hashim Khan Story, about the first Pakistani world champion sports figure (1951 Champion squash player). I filmed in Islamabad, Peshawar, and traveled through the Khyber Pass filming where Hashim Khan grew up. He now lives in Denver and has been living in America for almost 50 years, but goes back to Pakistan every year or so. During our trip there in 2005 I was overwhelmed by the hospitality of everyone we met. I also was disappointed by the lack of knowledge of basic history. People remembered Jansher Khan and Jahangir Khan (squash champions from the 80’s and 90’s), but only the older generation knew of the first great Khan who dominated the sport of squash…. Hashim from the 1950s and who taught his brother , nephew and cousin (Jahangir’s father) through the 1960s. I think this documentary is important and I want it to be seen by as many Pakistani, Pakistani/American, and South Asian communities as possibly. If you have any advice or comments please feel free to check out http://www.SquashFilms.com to see photos, trailers, and read more about this project that has taken me over 7 years to make.
We surely are in a sad state. The media has enjoyed freedom for the last 10 years, now it is time to get civilized and responsible. The media must not act as money making or corporate entities.
Many important pakistani journalists/anchors are cowards. And cowards never question the fascist ideology or religion or army that rules the country. Many important pakistani journalists/anchors are opportunists. And opportunists never question the fascist ideology or religion or army that rules the country.
This is a serious problem and banning such programs won’t be against Media’s freedom or independence. Media doesn’t have to work so hard to change public opinion, because their only duty is to present facts and analysis.
Sher Zaman,
Why ‘ban’ ?
@ topic
That was one irritating episode.
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