The advent of the Digital Age has brought an explosion in journalism with hundreds of news sites, online newspapers and magazines, vlogs and blogs, etc. It has also given rise to a new kind of journalist, many of them with no training at all. Platforms like YouTube have created new benchmarks of success for “journalists” i.e. number of views or clicks.
Sensationalism pays off. One sees titles on the cover which are not even part of the content. The expanded reach without any restrictions available to the journalists today gives them enormous power, which if not used judiciously, can cause damage to people, organizations, etc. Where commercialization is supreme, morals and ethics become secondary. In Pakistan, the problem is more acute especially due to very weak Defamation Laws.
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Journalistic ethics has thus become a critical issue
In the wake of an assassination attempt on Khawaja Izharul Hassan, a senior member of MQM and Sind Assembly Opposition Leader on September 2, 2017, Tanzeem-e-Islami became a victim of such unethical journalism tarnishing its image without reason.
The News on Sunday (TNS) published a story on 10th September 2017 about the attack and the ensuing investigations which implicated Tanzeem-e-Islami saying “terrorist comes from Tanzeem-e-Islami” and that “the terrorists of Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), commonly known as Daesh and Al-Qaeda Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) also come from Tanzeem-e-Islami”.
These statements were all fabricated with no proof at all. None of the terrorists ever came from Tanzeem. The fact was that one or two of the suspects had been members of Tanzeem but had left long before any alleged crime took place. Clearly, they differed with Tanzeem’s ideology and approach to warrant exit from it.
This article was followed by a similar article in the Herald magazine of October 2017. The article made several false claims i.e. that one of the terrorists used to visit Tanzeem-e-Islami mosque at Nipa Chowrangi, that Investigators claim militant organization Ansarul Sharia has some association with Tanzeem-e-Islami and that one of the accused terrorists ran Tanzeem-e-Islami-linked madrasas in Karachi.
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Tanzeem-e-Islami is not associated with any mosque in Nipa Chowrangi
It arranges Quranic Lectures all over Pakistan, especially in Taraweeh prayers. An alleged terrorist having visited Tanzeem lecture in a mosque, which is an open place of worship, could not be blamed on Tanzeem. Exactly the same way as, one of the terrorists who attended IBA or Fordham, cannot make them responsible for his actions.
What were the names of the investigators making these claims? What was the basis for saying it had links with Ansarul Sharia? What were those links? All unknowns.
Tanzeem-e-Islami has never run any Madrasas. It has “Qur’an Academies” and “Qur’an College” run directly by Tanzeem. No mosque or institution affiliated with Tanzeem-e-Islami was ever banned or placed on any watch list by any security or law enforcement agency.
The Jamestown Foundation, a think tank in the US, picked up this story and published an article in its magazine Terrorism Monitor Volume: 15 Issue:21 on November 10, 2017 titled “Pakistan’s Tanzeem-e-Islami and Its Troublesome Extremist Links” authored by Farhan Zahid. The article borrowed heavily from the Herald and TNS articles.
The article bracketed Tanzeem-e-Islami, which is a registered Islamic Party with Jamaat ul Momineen, Hizb-ut-Tahrir and other militant organizations. To bracket Tanzeem with such organizations without valid reason was clearly malicious. Dr. Israr and Tanzeem were accused of hate-speech, anti-Semitism, radicalism, instigating violence, anti-democratic and sharing ideology with militant Islamic groups. Dr. Israr is a popular scholar and his followers know well that these accusations are absolutely wrong.
Tanzeem is openly and clearly against the persecution of the Palestinians, the grabbing of their land by the occupying Zionists, the illegal settlements in the occupied lands and denial of Palestinians their due rights. If support of the just Palestinian cause is anti-Semitism, then all those countries who voted for the UN resolution against Israel’s settlements (United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334) will have to be labeled anti-Semitic as well.
Dr. Israr always advocated using constitutional means to press for the implementation of Islam in Pakistan, to remain peaceful and work within the Democratic System.
While it is possible that Tanzeem’s dream of establishing Khilafat-e-Rashida is shared by other militant organizations, Tanzeem is in favor of working within the constitution in contrast to militant groups.
Read more: Assault on (foreign funded) Journalism in Pakistan.
It is almost five years since those terrorist events and the investigations must be concluded by now. An iota of evidence against Tanzeem would have resulted in action against it. The fact is that no member of Tanzeem-e-Islami has ever been arrested in connection with terrorism. Intelligence agencies frequently conduct investigations of religious parties and Tanzeem is no exception. They never found any cause for concern.
The accusations leveled against Tanzeem were all without evidence and fizzled away with time
The story raises several questions, however. Why was no effort made by the reporters or publications to ascertain facts and check the accuracy of the claims before publishing them? Why was evidence not sought from those accusing a peaceful organization? Most of the time, the sources were anonymous. Good journalistic practice requires the naming of sources unless there are strong reasons to the contrary. Finally, Tanzeem-e-Islami’s viewpoint was never sought or presented. The other side’s view is important for a fair and balanced story.
“Terrorism” is a hot topic in the media today. With the western world bent upon linking Islam and Pakistan to terrorism (conveniently forgetting its own mass killings all over the world), an article implicating a religious entity in terrorism is serious stuff and thus requires extra care. It will be picked up by the western media in no time. But for some journalists, ethics take a back seat which results in truth becoming a casualty. No need for proof, don’t ask for it. Don’t worry if it causes undue damages to the reputation of the accused.
This problem in journalism continues unabated, more so in Pakistan, because there are no consequences for lies, false accusations and for damaging others’ reputations. It should be understood that this irresponsible journalism hurts Pakistan as well. This is not to say that the truth should not be reported. But please investigate first and make sure that what you are saying is absolutely correct. Please stick to journalistic ethics and morals. Don’t use the power of media like a knife in the hands of a child.
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Clearly, there is no easy solution to the problem in today’s world of free internet. One thing that must be done is to at least strengthen Defamation Laws and implement them strongly. And secondly, for the journalist community to try to enforce some sort of ‘ethical standards to address the problem.