Last few weeks in Pakistan were weeks of rumors through the ‘respected’ profession called Journalism. It was a week of spicy news for the rest of the country while the voters and supporters of MQM had a stressful time. The reason was a false report published by an electronic paper called “The London Post.” The shadowy newspaper posted false news mentioning that MQM’s Chief Mr. Altaf Hussain was trying to escape from London in connection of Imran Farooq’s murder and he was arrested by airport authorities in London. The news proved false and was later denied by the British High Commissioner.
Another newspaper, Pakistan Today, published a story mentioning that two men were arrested from Karachi Airport in Dr. Imran Farooq’s murder, and further stating that the mastermind of the murder was also a member of MQM. The newspapers also mentioned that senior members of MQM were involved in these conspiracies as well.
The Contact Us page of The London Post shows Contact Washington Post Editors!
Those who are unaware, Dr. Imran Farooq was the right hand of Mr. Altaf Hussain and serving the party as convener for many years. In London, he was living with his family on the same street “Edgeware road,” only one block away from MQM’s head office in London.
The above mentioned news started circulating on the very powerful social media sites “Facebook” and “Twitter” and MQM’s senior leadership, which was already under stress due to the situation in Karachi and was not appearing on media in protest against the killings of people, couldn’t come up with the reaction on this news in due time. Although, Scotland Yard, who are investigating the murder of Imran Farooq issued a statement saying that it was a false report and they had not arrested anyone. The Scotland Yard sought further help from public to solve the murder case of Imran Farooq.
The so-called newspaper “The London Post” is owned, operated and managed by Dr. Shahid Quraishi, an analyst currently based in London. I believe he was an active member of the religious party “Jamat-e-Islami” and calls himself “an Earth-man and International Professor.” Here are extracts from some of his speeches, which reflect how he is spreading dangerous rumors among the Pakistani community.
At one point he wrote, “PPP was formed in the house of a Shia, Dr. Mubshar Hassan, Bhutto’s finance minister. MQM also formed and overly represented in leadership by the mostly leftist Shias like, Shanshah Hussain, Haider Abbas Rizivi and many others. Both the parties were in complete patronage of India and United States! Senator Mushahid Husain, the brain of former ruling party PML-Q, Faisal Salah Hayat, former interior minister, Law Minister S.M. Zafar, Dr Shireen Mazari, spokesperson of Imran Khan’s PTI, Prof Mehdi Hassan, Naseem Zehra, and Hasan Askri Rizvi also come from Shia background.”
At another moment, he wrote against the minority group “Qadiyanis,” living in Pakistan. “The war of Afghanistan’s liberation has decisively shifted to Pakistan and India. It is being encouraged to implement its goals that had been long pursued discreetly. The Qadiyanis are facilitating India, while the armed forces stand demoralized and the political class is too inept to understand, let alone stem the India tide. The alertness of the people alone can thwart Zardari and his cohorts from a ‘sell out’ on Kashmir and Mohajir Mafia (MQM) becoming the rulers of Pakistan in perpetuity like the Brahmins in India and the Jews In America.”
The credibility of his paper, The London Post, and hate speech by Dr. Shahid Qureshi is beyond doubts, as seen in his speeches and false news. The website of The London Post did not have any contact information until few months ago. The website’s IP address indicates that the servers are hosted in Lahore, Pakistan. The website itself has a stolen design that can be seen by clicking on the “Contact Us” button, where you’ll find “Click here to contact the Washington Post.” Amazing, isn’t it?.
Pakistan is getting into internet era and with the same pace cyber crime is also hiking. To counter this, Federal Investigation Authority (FIA) had come up with the ordinances for cyber crimes. Many websites were banned due to their illicit materials and videos against Judiciary, Pakistan Army and government officials. But due to current situation of terrorism and unstable economy in Pakistan, a strong political will is required to streamline these issues arising due to ‘free’ social media. The false propaganda against political parties and government is harmful for democracy and will serve the interest of internal and external enemies of Pakistan. FIA Cyber Crime Wing should formulate and implement laws against these false news websites and e-papers who are catalyzing stress and agitation in the society, instead of educating and informing people with true reflection of the society.
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