Appendix D-5 DAWN CEOs reply to the letter
December 02, 2004
Mr. Salahuddin Haider
Advisor to the Chief Minister Sindh
for Information & Archives
KARACHI
My dear Salahuddin,
Reference your note dated 29.11.2004. It would have been more
appropriate if this letter had been addressed directly to the Editor.
However, the Editor is currently out of the county till December 7.
In principle, I have no problems with DAWN publishing any articles
written by Mr. Altaf Hussain, Mr. Nawaz Sharif, Ms. Benazir Bhutto or even
President Musharraf. The fact that this is an exclusive article for DAWN
certainly helps the matter, since you are aware that DAWN does not carry
articles printed in other publications.
Perhaps we have had a misunderstanding in that I have made no promises
to publish either Mr. Altaf Hussain's articles in DAWN, or for that matter
any other leaders articles. The publishers of DAWN do not make such
promises because such a prerogative rests only with the Editor. Even the
Editor, I suspect, would make such a promise relative only to the quality of
the article or with respect to the information contained therein.
I hope you are well.
Yours sincerely,
HAMEED HAROON
Appendix D-6 Letter from Information Adviser, Sindh Government complaining
about editorial coverage about the MQM
Phones : Off : 9203659
9203660
Fax : 9203658
NO. PS/ADV-TO CM/INF/1 (2003)
ADVISOR TO CHIEF MINISTER SINDH
FOR INFORMATION AND ARCHIVES
Karachi, dated the 3/12/2004
Mr. Hameed Haroon,
Chief Executive, Daily Dawn,
KARACHI
My dear Mr. Haroon,
Please refer to your letter dated 2nd December, 2004 which is in
response to my request of 29th November for publication of an article of
Mr. Altaf Hussain. I must remind you that during our meeting in your
office
I had made a request for publication of articles on party's policies and
perceptions in Dawn. In response you did promise to me that Mr. Altaf
Hussain's exclusive article will be carried by Dawn. It was in response to
this, that I had referred the article to you. However, since the matter has
now been referred to the Editor, I will wait for his return but do let me its
fate after he comes back.
2. Much that I dislike to comment on others, placing of facts some time
become unavoidable for the sake of record. Now that you have disowned
your promise, I think I should bring some facts before you. We in MQM
have often been forced to feel a definite bias in Dawn about MQM
particularly in relation to other political parties. Instances can be cited, on
demand, of more than one picture published in Dawn of Jamaat-e-Islami
and PPP events. Some of these pictures related to audience, including
those indulging in jubilation or holding proposed meetings whereas seldom
has Dawn carried photos of jam-packed stadium meetings and rallies,
addressed by Mr. Altaf Hussain or by Rabita Committee. The typical
answer given to us on approaching that picture of mere audience is not
printable that since Altaf Hussain was not present in Pakistan, it is silly to
highlight audience or inset of telephone showing his address to audience
was not possible. This is not a very sound logic and Dawn's own action is in
contradiction to the argument given to us. Most of the time MQM chief's
address on national and international issues are either ignored or played
down.
3. Just for instance an unimportant report on Water Committee of
Mr. Nisar Memon was splashed on Dawn's front page with a four-column
headline. Dr. Farooq Sattar's press conference about President of
Pakistan's directive to protect 25,000 families from being displaced on the
route of Lyari Expressway was downplayed on page-3 of Metropolitan
section where as in the same issue of Metropolitan, an unimportant report
about Chief Secretary presiding a meeting of Lyari Expressway to review
its progress was highlighted on page-I of the Metropolitan section in threecolumn
headline. There are number of other instances to prove my
argument which may cut a sorry figure on Dawn's editorial judgment. I do
not wish to involve myself in argument, but if need be I will place on
record a comparative chart of how MQM was on purpose downplayed or
ignored.
4. Please let me have the final reply about publication of Mr. Altaf
Hussain's articles in Dawn newspapers, which in case of being negative, we
will not seek any further cooperation from you. As for quality and content
of articles published in Dawn, I would like to have the rationale behind
publication of the article from a non-entity like Nafeesa Shah, District
Nazim, Khairpur, again of PPP, in today's issue of December 3. Is she
bigger in stature than Mr. Altaf Hussain?
Yours,
(SALAHUDDIN HAIDER)
