News on Sunday, March 25, 2012
It is ironical that people
in Pakistan
have more trust in and loyalty towards foreign state broadcasters than
their own state radio. And
responding with double irony, the
government wishes to change public perceptions, not by changing the way
the PBC aka Radio Pakistan operates, but by slapping
additional tax on the public.
Public
service broadcasting is a noble pursuit because it aims at informing,
educating and entertaining the public at the expense of the tax payer and
without being encumbered by the demands of commercialism. It’s not unusual
for state broadcasters to disseminate propaganda in times of war or strife
– BBC did it during WW II and during Falklands war and
Voice of America does it routinely as a matter of stated policy –
but by and large it is an institution of value to the common people and needs
to be preserved, kept modernised, and taken pride in.
Born
as Radio Pakistan and renamed Pakistan Broadcasting Corporation
in 1973, the broadcaster has
always been owned and operated by the government.
Its management board is headed by secretary information and broadcasting, and
consists of members drawn from ministries of foreign affairs, finance, and
interior, as well as heads of PTV and ISPR, the military’s mouthpiece. The
chief executive is the director general who along with four ‘eminent
persons’ as board members, is appointed
at the discretion of federal government.
The
very constitution of the board makes it a tool in the hands of governments,
both the military and civilian variety. And
given its penetration – it’s the largest network of AM and FM radio in
the country – and a subservient philosophy towards treating facts, history
and music to please the rulers, it is a very powerful tool. The tradition and legacy of Radio Pakistan
(as indeed it is of PTV)is unashamedly towing the line of whatever
government happens to be in power, and
packaging it as patriotism. In fact everything it does, it does for the love
of Pakistan
and its people, and yet it serves only the
rulers.
Along
the way, it does some humanitarian information project, keeps alive some
regional languages, and occasionally nurtures musical talent. But overall it
only does disservice to public by misinforming and miseducating it. It has always done so, has always been thrown
scraps at
by the government, and has thrived. What has changed now that it is
reaching into our pockets to survive?
The
case was built at a recent public
concert in Islamabad, hosted by the DG.
The evening’s host, Shuja’at Hashmi – one
of those aging actors who sound
senile whatever they say just because of their full head of jet black hair,
in this case a wig – listed a number of grievances Radio Pakistan has, which all added up to an
admission that the organisation needs help. What’s outrageous is
what he proclaims next:that it’s you and me who are going to provide the
help. Excuse me? What have I done?
You
and me were represented at that pre-concert campaign-to-save-Radio
Pakistan, by Senator Afrasiab
Khattak and Babar Awan, two politicians
cum lawyers who have no business with
broadcasting, or if they have they didn’t mention it. What Mr. Awan
confidently promised was that he’ll personally
take it up with the finance minister. Excuse
me? In what capacity? And if you
lobby in favour of the so-called Radio Tax, who are you representing? You are not even a
senator.
It’s
just ‘two rupees’ Hashmi kept reminding the audience, alternately
employing comic and emotional tones – both of which sound equally tragic. I
wish I lived in a society where someone would stand up and politely tell Mr.
Hashmi that it’s not about two rupees. It’s a negation of the social
contract we Pakistanis have with the state: you don’t work for us, we
don’t pay you taxes. And here, an organization
running on my money, working for the state, wants to tax
me?
‘The
average daily wage of a contract employee is, and get this … three …
hundred … rupees,’ Mr. Hashmi goes dramatic. Yes, it’s sadly true. And
it’s also true that when crunch comes, this employee’s salary is delayed
for months, but never with the executives drawing six digit salaries.
What’s also true is a majority of them will always remain contract
employees because there are already three people hired on regular terms to do
the job that eventually gets done by a contract employee.
