LETTER OF CLARIFICATION

The Editor

The Nation, Lahore

Dear Sir

Assalamu Alaikum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuhu

I write with reference to the an article published in your daily on 14th April, 2012 entitled ‘19 Hizb-ut-Tahrir men booked under sedition law, jailed’ written by a reporter, Ashraf Javed. I seek to bring to your attention a highly irresponsible and ill researched news item which has brought disrepute to an otherwise respected paper. Not to mention the damage it has attempted to cause to Hizb ut-Tahrir’s political history of sixty years throughout the world. The article is full of factual mistakes and is clearly fed by the Pakistani secret agencies as Hizb is mounting pressure on General Kayani and his henchmen for their treachery in the War on Terror against the Muslims of Pakistan.

Here are some factual and journalistic mistakes to mention a few:

1.         The report claims that “All 19 accused have been sent to a local jail after the Lahore High Court (LHC) rejected the petition, seeking their post-arrest bail.” It is clear that the reporter simply filed what he got from the secret agencies without even bothering to corroborate simple facts. Whilst the fact is that the court is still hearing arguments and it has fixed 18th April as the next hearing date. This is the worst kind of tabloid sensationalism where the reporter doesn’t even have a clue as to what happened on the field. No wonder no other English newspaper of any repute reported this lie. This journalistic blunder should be enough to warrant an institutional inquiry leading to termination of the contract of the irresponsible reporter, Ashraf Javed, and accountability of the Chief Reporter, Ashraf Mumtaz.

2.         The one sided view on the story reveals the bias and unethical stance of the reporter. The news item is littered with statements from unknown secret services employees without any substantiation, which defies all journalistic norms and practices. The report quotes a police investigator as saying, “By God, they even don’t know the basics of Islam”. Did the reporter exert any effort to find the correctness of this statement? Did he try to find out how many books Hizb has issued on the Economic system, Ruling System, Social System, Judicial System and Education Policy? Does he know that Hizb is the only party who has presented a whole constitution, derived from Islam, and its details for the upcoming Khilafah? How does this indicate in any way that Hizb does not know Islam? He could have easily known that if he had contacted our members who frequent the Nation office constantly. Moreover, all these books are available on the click of a mouse had he cared to find out. But obviously the purpose of the report was not to arrive at the truth or to uphold objectivity, rather to malign the Hizb in exchange for gaining respect within the secret agencies.

3.         The report alleges that “Sources in the joint investigations team disclosed that some of the arrested leaders of HT have alleged that they were receiving funding from the MI-6” and gives the impression that this is the prime reason why the government is cracking down on Hizb. The reporter failed to ask a basic counter question that if having links with MI-6 is so bad then why is Gen. Kayani and Zardari meeting night and day with the CIA and MI-6 over war on terror and any other agency that would come forward?! Why they are killing Muslims in FATA and Afghanistan with complete coordination with these foreign agencies? If the government had any issues with foreign agencies they should have ejected their agents and private contractors, rather than providing security and protection to them. Hence if Hizb was actually backed by the MI6, we would have been the blue eyed boys of the secret agencies including their boss Gen. Kayani, extended red carpet treatment like the killer Raymond Davis, rather than being harassed, chased and tortured since 2001. Why didn’t the reporter ask the basic question as to why the British Council and various other UK backed NGOs, who are covertly involved in espionage and spying, are allowed to work, openly whilst a global political party originated from the Arab world in 1953 is being treated as a terrorist organization? The journalist failed to ask the basic question as to why in all those countries where the UK has been in control of the political setup for decades, such as Libya, Jordan and Yemen, Hizb was banned and its members hounded, imprisoned and even executed?

4.         Its well known that Hizb ut-Tahrir is the largest political party in the world who is known for its political and intellectual struggle for the establishment of the Khilafah. Its steadfastness on Haqq and non-compromising attitude with the authorities puts it apart from the rest of the political parties. The recent arrests are in the backdrop of resumption of NATO supply line and the growing and spreading unrest in the Muslim World as the Ummah increases its demand for the Khilafah and Islam. The authorities knew that we are going to be vocal against this treachery and so they arrested members of Hizb in Islamabad and Lahore and abducted a member in Karachi. Hence this is nothing to do with any foreign agency with whom Gen. Kayani and his entourage feel privileged to have a cup of tea and slice of cake with!

5.         We would also like to point out here that since Mr. Ashraf Mumtaz has taken over as the Chief Reporter there has been a consistency in baseless and agency prompted reports against Hizb. This is not the first time that Nation has falsely and solely reported that Hizb is backed by MI-6. On accounting the reporting team ascribed it to ISPR, where as there were no Press Releases or Press Conferences from ISPR claiming that. They are more loyal to the King than the King himself! When we verbally accounted the Chief Reporter, Mr. Ashraf Mumtaz, he was unable to produce any proof and ducked the matter. We demand an in house inquiry as to why lies are being concocted against the Hizb at the behest of the secret agencies under the new reporting head.

To redress the matter we request that you print an apology as well as publish this letter for the benefit of your readership.

Yours sincerely,