Best course forward

Published October 3, 2015
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.
The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

SIMULTANEOUS with the deployment of troops and weaponry, psy-ops (psychological operations) are an integral part of the arsenal in modern warfare as a means of forcing an enemy into submission or surrender.

I am not very clear about the origins of the idiom ‘Give the dog a bad name and hang him’, but it wouldn’t be implausible to assume that it was evolved in a similar context. Once the reputation of an adversary is tarnished beyond repair you can probably fell it with one stroke like a dead dog. In our present situation, when the military has decided to wage war against religious extremists and terrorism/terrorists of various shades, is this important tool being deployed widely? Well, the answer is clear and can be gauged from just one simple indicator.

Look at the size and consequently the significance of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Directorate for one. Where once it was headed by a brigadier (or in American parlance one star) its boss now is a lieutenant-general or a three-star. Where it issued simple press releases once, it is now using social media such as Twitter/Facebook to disseminate information in real time.

The ISPR is producing/funding ambitious feature films, documentaries, TV drama, national songs and even choreographing live audience shows on key dates in the forces’ calendar and doing, by and large, a sophisticated job. (ISPR’s evolution, success and wide range of activities have been so well-chronicled by Herald’s Umer Farooq in the magazine’s latest issue. It is a must read if you are interested in that sort of thing. I really enjoyed it.)


With a political party such as the MQM, the psy-war element has proved far more complicated.


This isn’t to say whatever information the military decides to release is always sane, sophisticated and sharp, particularly when what is released is in the form of ‘leaks’ to its pet journalists. Such leaks can easily be traced to the owner but obviously an element of deniability is built in.

Let’s take a specific example of such leaks in recent weeks mainly to do with the operation in Karachi. In the case of the banned Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan and its allied groups and also the Lyari gangsters, their own outrageous and indiscriminatingly brutal conduct isolated them as they never enjoyed popular support and the public started to see them for what they were.

However, with a political party such as the MQM, which continued to enjoy considerable support among urban Sindh’s Urdu-speaking segments the same time it deployed terror tactics against opponents, dissidents and to raise funds, the psy-war element has proved far more complicated.

The MQM is an urban-based group, with many educated, technically astute men and women in its ranks. Tactics against it should have reflected this capacity and the response fine-tuned to cater to this angle. Sadly, it didn’t.

PPP leader Dr Asim Hussain, who is seen as very close to the MQM’s leadership, was arrested and being held in the Rangers’ custody under anti-terrorism laws. His detention order was issued on the grounds that he was being investigated for funding terrorism, and broad hints were given that this was related to the MQM. If there is evidence of either his involvement in funding the MQM’s or anyone else’s terrorist activities or in widespread corruption he should definitely be charged and prosecuted with the aim of securing a conviction.

However, what wasn’t clever was the leak to the media of a supposed transcript of his interrogation where he ostensibly made startling disclosures about PPP leader Bilawal Bhutto-Zardari’s mental health. When astonishment and even disgust started to emerge in reaction, the Rangers quickly distanced themselves from this ‘report’.

Equally disingenuous were the leaks that injured MQM militants were quietly treated at Dr Asim Hussain’s hospitals in Karachi and his ambulances used to cart around gunmen and their arms across the city. Again, if there is substance to these allegations, he should be prosecuted and punished but for now all of it appears no more than propaganda.

Then a ‘source report’ based on the Rangers’ investigation into Dr Hussain’s alleged corruption at Sui Southern Gas Company in transactions with KESC, which was also shared with the National Accountability Bureau, found its way to the media.

Frankly, I have no means to say whether this was true or false but some of the monetary figures mentioned seemed a bit too astronomical to have been plausible. Then investigative journalist Ansar Abbasi took apart elements of that ‘report’ in his story in The News last Thursday.

So far there has been no official response to this critique of the Rangers ‘source report’ so it isn’t clear whether the Rangers will again distance itself from it or stay committed to its content. Whatever the case, it won’t reflect positively on an institution which has done a good job, alongside the police, of curbing serious crime in the city.

Ever since the Lahore High Court restrained the electronic media from carrying live MQM’s leader Altaf Hussain’s speeches via telephone from London, his supporters and party workers have been quite active on social media and have tried to take the fight to the Rangers.

One recent example was the footage posted on social media of a Rangers picket and raids where they are seen roughing up some young men in a city suburb. This was presented as evidence of the paramilitary force’s disregard for human rights and their propensity to ‘brutalise and torture’ Muhajir youth.

The content of the video was alarming, even if not revealing as the law-enforcement officials are widely known to rough up suspects as a matter of routine. Even if the footage dated back to 2005, as some experts suggested, it captured an unacceptable element of ‘law-enforcement’. The authorities would be well advised to curb this tendency. They’ll also need to make sure whatever information is placed in the public domain is credible. At least in terms of Karachi their safest bet would be to continue to let the improved law and order situation speak for itself.

The writer is a former editor of Dawn.

abbas.nasir@hotmail.com

Published in Dawn October 3rd, 2015

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