“Speak no evil …”
Pakistan seems to be governed by that ancient mantra of the Three Monkeys, “Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil”. Two instances of this all-pervading self-censorship were on show recently. In the first instance, a garrulous talk show host was going on and on about the Supreme Adjudicators when in the break he got a phone call from an august office. The discussion must have been dampening for the TV anchor for he was a different man in the second half of the show – subdued and muted.
The second instance took place in the Senate before their Human Rights committee when the chief nabber was asked, on the question of missing persons, if anyone had been prosecuted for the disappearances. Apparently the answer was in the affirmative and a substantial number was also given. But there was no reporting of the same in the next day’s newspapers, despite the presence of many journos from many journals.
Inquisition
The Fed Investigators received two distinguished guests the other day, a brother-sister duo. The late lamented Big Ben’s Hubby and his sister were asked in for questioning, upon receipt of a notice. The duo arrived on the dot, giving no time to the Feds to line up an audio and video recording system. Apparently, they simply didn’t have one. The duo were also asked to step into the Inquisition Room one by one, separately. This Hubby refused to do. He said he would accompany his sister. No one could resist him. The Feds played for some time, wanting to record the interview. And since nobody was willing to record the interaction on their phones, the Intel Bureau guys were persuaded to lend them their equipment. But by the time it arrived at the Feds’ place, Hubby and his Sis had made short shrift of their inquisitors and ended the session. Apparently, they were asked about the possession of some offshore companies, to which the duo replied that they were there to answer questions only pertaining to the notice they’d received and nothing else. When pressed, they asked to be sent a questionnaire which they said they would duly fill out and return.