Hamid
Mir, ISI and ?? A list of Conspiracy theories
by
Syed Haider Raza Mehdi – 25th April 2104
So
all hell has broken loose in the Pakistani media and the country.
Now
the facts as gleaned from public media. Hamid Mir, gets shot, at about 5:15 pm
in Karachi, en route to GEO office in Karachi by unknown assailants, while
travelling in a white Toyota Corolla Car which belongs to Hertz Rent a Car, its
Pakistani franchise owned by Jehangir Siddiqui, related to Mir Shakeel ur
Rehman by marriage, as it was turning off from the airport road to Shariah -e
-Faisal.
Along
with Hamid are the driver (don’t know if he is employed by HERTZ or Hamid Mir
or GEO or ?). Also an armed body guard, also don’t know if employed by Hamid
Mir, GEO or HERTZ or temporarily hired for the journey, or lent by somebody to
provide protection or ?. No information whether guard fired back or made any
attempt to do anything to stop the assailants
Assailant
who is waiting on the right side of the road, fires on Hamid Mir, sitting in
car (don’t know how many bullets). Assailant then jumps onto waiting
motorcyclist on the back seat, driven by his partner and chases the car. Driver
speeds to get away. Assailants chases car for some distance (don’t know how far
?) fires some more bullets. Later reports indicate 6 bullets.
Driver
rushes Hamid Mir to Agha Khan Hospital, where he undergoes emergency surgery
and from all latest reports is Masha Allah, recovering well and has also given
a statement, implicating state ( ISI) and non-state actors (beats me who they
are ??).
The
Media Debate
Geo’s
position of directly and indirectly implicating ISI in this tragic event is
aggressively supported by Amir Mir, Umar Cheema, Absar Alam and the ever green,
Ansar Abbasi, and less, but by innuendo, Kashif Abbasi, Meher Abbasi and some
others.
In
the Government the key players who have supported GEO’s position, either
through their silence or actions and words are Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif,
Defense Minister Khawaja Asif (despite the reference) his resounding silence is
deafening, the “poet” Information Minister Perez Rashid and the normally active
jack in the box, Khawaja Saad Rafique, who never lets an opportunity go by, to
put his foot in his mouth. While I do not know anyone personally, I have an
opinion for their support which comes a little later.
The
Rest of the media’s position is clearly against GEO’s highly irresponsible,
inappropriate and, to many observers, very obvious, anti-state like and
subversive attempt to drag the ISI and its DG as the guilty party in a manner
reminiscent of a witch hunt or a Klu Klux Klan raid.
The
only Government person of substance supporting this position is Interior
Minister, Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan. Also this group and their supporters are in
agreement on the freedom of opinion to present one’s viewpoint, even if against
state institutions like the army or the ISI, given their past actions of
military rule and high handedness, but all are clear that this should be done
without defaming or bringing them into disrepute or deliberately weaken them.
What
they are really saying is the proverbial. Don’t throw the baby with the
bathwater
So
here is my list of conspiracy theories and assumptions on who wants the Army /
ISI
1.
Under civilian control, and confined to its specified role.
2.
Weakened and hence unable to exert its influence on civilian rule or “misrule”.
3.
Made completely ineffective, denuked, weaken the country’s military prowess,
and or resultantly, God Forbid, result in the end of what we know of Pakistan
today.
Please
read these carefully as the subsequent commentary refers to the above reasons
as 1, 2 and 3
Pakistan
Army and ISI
– Yes to 1 above, Could they have planned and executed this? Highly unlikely,
even though they have the capability. Doesn’t make sense especially given
today’s situation in Pakistan.
Nawaz
Sharif
– Yes to 1 and 2 above. Firstly because of past treatment, secondly his
political view that it should be firmly under a civilian Prime Minister and
thirdly his autocratic persona which wants complete and total authority. Today,
legally, this authority vests with the civilian PM, but the past is still fresh
and the wounds still raw. I think this clouds his judgment and he wants it
quickly and uses dubious street type Machiavellian tactics, good cop bad cop
tactics, to try and achieve his goal.
All
these are attempts to reduce the army’s image, which despite its Martial Law
past, is still the most revered, loved and respected institution in the
country, and also the most effective, most disciplined, most powerful and
relatively meritocracy based organisation.
Nawaz
Sharif succeeded in his moves to exercise control over the army, under Gen.
Karamat and unsuccessfully under Gen Musharraf. So anybody and everybody,
inside or outside the country, who either overtly or covertly, wants 1 and 2 ,
also helps him get his piece of cake. Hence his terrible and some say cowardly
or “foxy” silence and lack of a firm position in defense of the Army / ISI,
against GEO’s highly irresponsible arraignment of ISI and its DG.
Hamid
Mir, Amir Mir, Absar Alam, Umar Cheema, Minister Khawaja Asif, Minister Khawaja
Saad Rafique, Minister Pervez Rasheed, and their supporters, all clearly
want 1 and 2. So are all indirect NS allies in helping him achieve his
objectives, whether consciously or sub consciously.
I
personally think they want this because they believe that the Army and ISI etc
have been the cause of Pakistan’s current state and ills and hence must be
reined in and kept in its place. I do not believe that they are traitors or
enemies of the state. But I do also believe that they go and have gone
significantly overboard, in their anti Army / ISI rants, and say and do things
which are detrimental to the state, causing much harm.
Many
have suffered such as Umar Cheema, Khawaja Saad Rafique and Khawaja Safdar and
they think the ISI was behind what happened to them. So their anger is also
personal.
Hamid
Mir amongst the whole lot, was especially vocal and took on the role of the
media’s anti army anti-establishment leader and cried “Fire”, many times, in my
opinion, over extending his zeal, exceeding his mandate of a responsible
journalist, perhaps fuelled by his fame and ego and ability to influence events
through his show. This he has done at the cost of things which should have been
kept under wraps, given the extraordinary internal /external threats facing
Pakistan today. It is alleged that he has been in direct and clandestine
communication with the TTP. And some terrible rumours about this
nexus with the TTP and the deaths of Col Imam and Squadron leader Khalid,
both killed in cold blood by the TTP
GEO. This
organisation is an enigma. Why would Pakistan’s largest, most powerful, most
successful, most profitable media group, take on the military establishment so
openly, so brazenly, so obviously and so consistently. Is it because they also
want 1 and 2? Or should we add 3 to it. And this is where rumor mills go into
overdrive.
Their
owner lives in Dubai, who can only be contacted through a Pakistani UAN number,
unless one is part of his very inner and close circle, because no one gives out
his phone or contact details. He is a mysterious furtive Howard Hughes type
figure.
What
is this person’s and his media empire’s agenda and objective?. Serious
question. More importantly why? No clear answers here, just some very
deeply disturbing whispers. Some say they have concrete proof that 42% shares
of International Media Group, owners of GEO and The News, are owned by the
richest “Reliable” person in our neighboring country. Whatever they be, they do
help NS achieve his objectives of supreme civilian rule and despite this huge
overreach by GEO, the PM remains smugly and tragically silent.
Could
someone in GEO have orchestrated this and made poor Hamid Mir, the innocent and
brutal victim of a really evil design? Possible.
TTP
and Ansar Abbasi.
Yes I have very consciously put Ansar Abbasi in this lot, because he is not the
saint that he appears, and does not have the same reason for their anti army
and ISI stance as Hamid Mir and company have. He clearly wants an end to the
current state and fully subscribes to the TTP end game. He is the TTP’s Trojan
horse, infiltrated into main stream media, as are some others. This group
wants 3. So they can take over the state and impose their mayhem, slaughter and
their terrible version of a Very Pure Faith. Before they achieve 3, they will
help NS get his 1 and 2. So could they have planned and executed this?
Perfectly possible.
Baluchistan
Insurgents.
Want 3. Could have planned and executed?. Yes.
Afghanistan. Clearly 1
and 2 because of their belief how these institutions have influenced
Afghanistan’s internal politics and in their opinion the cause of much of their
present day problems. 3 is an unlikely option. Possibly planned and executed?
Yes.
USA. 1 and 2
when its suits them. For a denuked Pakistan perhaps even 3. Possibly planned
and executed? Possible but improbable. While they have the capability, but, in
my opinion with their hands full in Afghanistan at the moment, the timing is
not right. But then again not improbable.
India. As above.
If I were India, I would have the same view. Possibly planned & executed?
Yes
Conclusion
So
here’s the simple conclusion. Many players wanted this action on Hamid Mir to
bring the Army and ISI into disrepute, bring about open confrontation between
the Army and the PM and amongst ordinary Pakistani and sow seeds of doubt and
achieve their objectives as listed above.
All
those who have the good of Pakistan at heart, and are sincere patriots, and
want the rule of law, a thriving prosperous country with equal and fair access
to education, health care, job opportunities, safety of life and property for
all its citizens, and system which dispenses justice and a state in which all
institutions play their rightful role, should be very vary, especially at this
extremely serious time in our history, that in their desire for civilian
supremacy and military influence containment, they should not unwittingly, play
into the hands of those enemies of Pakistan, using their “soft spots” to goad
them into this confrontation.
The
enemies of Pakistan have a single agenda, of a weak on its knees Pakistan, or a
Pakistan with a different geography as we know today, Ponder on this please