Glorifying terrorists

The TTP spokesperson was clearly taunting the government and peace-loving people with an attitude of bravado and boast. The media in this case must be faulted. In my Op-Ed titled Conflict reporting, which was presented on the same space in the aftermath of the "Lal Masjid fiasco", the same aspect had been highlighted that: "The role of the media becomes critical, because allegiance, emotions and even loyalties were divided. This is where the media was tested and found wanting, perhaps because of lack of experience.

By permitting media space to the TTP spokesperson, two reactions emerge. Viewers like me are seething with anger, while some are being forced to change their opinion. The leader of Jamât-e-Islami, Qazi Hussain Ahmad, has asked the government to "pull out troops" from the tribal areas, while a number of print media personnel and some news analysts on the electronic media, instead of commenting on the tackling of miscreants by resorting to use of force, echo TTP's version that "the suicide attacks are a result of the Bajaur attack by security forces." A society already divided on sectarian and ethnic lines, is now being further segregated along fundamentalism vs moderate splits; with a section of media acting as catalysts. People with a religious bent of mind already perceive the war against terror as a conspiracy against Islam by the west. Blustering messages by the terrorist leaders tends to create sympathy for them, converting sympathy into support and at times transformation into suicide bombers since it is construed as a war between good and evil with the villains being portrayed as heroes.