THIS is with reference to ‘Firdous humiliates Sialkot AC during Ramazan Bazaar visit’ (May 3). By now her abusive comment has been rightly condemned by vox populi and regretted by the higher-ups. But that is not enough; the leadership on both sides of the political divide must rethink the practice of appointing people to public posts. Those who are appointed should not be unfamiliar with the basics of mass communication. Mass communication is a science and any message conveyed in violation of its basics tends to be not only meaningless, but sometimes counterproductive.

Dr Awan’s behaviour with the Assistant Commissioner (AC) in a Ramazan bazaar was not only indecent, but also in contrast to her responsibility of portraying a positive image of her government.

It was none of her business to visit the Ramazan bazaar and to be received by the AC. More importantly, she should have controlled her misplaced anger. She and her fellow professional spokespersons must be aware of the fact that blurting out rude words against their political opponents is not enough, they must also know if what they say was accepted by their target.

Mass communication has three basic components – target, message and feedback. Only feedback indicates if the target accepted the logic of assertions or not. In this case the feedback clearly suggests that Dr Awan’s abusive words against the lady official earned her and her bosses nothing but condemnation.

In functioning democracies, while the opposition speaks, the government acts. In case of Pakistan, the media-savvy public is too well informed of ground realities to be hoodwinked by party spokespersons. It is in the interest of political parties that they shun the practice of hiring these expensive entities.

Sikander Hayat
Islamabad

Published in Dawn, May 5th, 2021