More than a hundred bouquets line the lobby of the private ward ofKarachi’s posh, private Aga Khan Hospital. Outside, dozens of policemenwith bulletproof vests and automatic weapons look at every visitorsuspiciously, officers speaking urgently into their walkie-talkies. TheKarachi police force is really good at strutting about after a high-profilecrime has happened. One of the largest bouquets in the lobby is from theforce. “Get well Hamid Mir,” it says. “We may not be able to protect you,”it implies, “but we know where to order the best flowers.”
Mir link is upstairs recuperating. He took sixbullets – in the ribs, thigh, stomach and across his hand – in anassassination attempt on Saturday as he came out of the airport to presenta special broadcast on Geo link, Pakistan’s largest newschannel. Mir had warned about a possible assassination. He had also namedhis would-be killers.
That’s what his brother claims, that’s what his colleagues and managers atthe channel say. Geo, just after the attack, broadcast the allegation and,in an unprecedented move, also flashed the picture of the accused: the headof Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence chief, Lieutenant General Zaheerul-Islam. In that picture he comes across as a big man.
We are not supposed to know much about him except the fact that he is avery professional general. According to an internet myth very popular inPakistan, the ISIlink hasbeen rated as the world’s No 1 intelligence agency: Mossad is No 5 and MI6languishes at No 9. According to television ratings, the man with threebullets still in his body is Pakistan’s top-rated TV journalist and one ofthe most vocal critics of Pakistan’s military and intelligence agencies.
One of the modest bouquets wishing Mir a full and speedy recovery is fromthe prime minister of Pakistan, Nawaz Shariflink,who visited him in the hospital earlier this week after announcing ajudicial inquiry.
Going by the history of judicial inquiries in Pakistan, Sharif seemed to besaying: “Look Hamid, we want you to get well but don’t really expect us tofind out who tried to kill you. Who is going to go and ask a workinggeneral? Meanwhile, here are three senior judges who will help you get overthe whole thing.”
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The day after the assassination attempt, Pakistan’s army chief GeneralRaheel Sharif visited the ISI headquarters to show that he stands with hisintelligence boss.
And the very next day, the Defence Ministry recommended that the channelfor which Mir works should be shut downlinkforbringing a national institution into disrepute. Geo’s competitors havejoined the chorus.
For years, Pakistan has been one of the world’s most dangerous countriesfor journalistslink.From feudal landlords to Taliban fighters, sectarian groups to separatistslink,all have killed journalists. The question one needs to ask is: does theISI, a national body often referred to as “a sensitive institution”,occasionally kill journalists? As any trained journalist would tell you, weneed two sources before we can tell you a story. Here are two stories, withmultiple sources and two different endings.