Selig Harrison and Pakistan Media
A column in the New York Times newspaper by American commentator Selig Harrison has raised quite a bit of media attention around a conspiracy theory that the government is giving Gilgit Baltistan to China, a claim publicly denied by the Foreign Office. As with most conspiracy theories of this magnitude, a little basic research demonstrates that Mr Harrison and his claim of Pakistan ceding territory to China are unreliable.
While it took me all of 15 minutes to discover that Mr Harrisons reputation precedes his remarks in the US, our own media seems to be more than willing to repeat the wildest conspiracies without the least effort in fact-checking. More troubling is that the Mr Harrisons conspiracy seems to have been fed to him in part by Pakistani media.
The first suspicion I had about Mr Harrisons claim was that it was simply too outrageous to be believed without some proof. Of course, Mr Harrison provides none in his column.
Most troubling, as I said, is that Mr Harrisons claim appears to be based at least in part on rumours by unnamed journalists. He says that his sources for this conspiracy theory are:
First, what foreign intelligence sources? While it would certainly be in keeping with journalistic practice to hold confidential the name of an informant, it is not unusual to at least report what agency the informant is associated with. Without playing into alternate conspiracy theories, it is well documented that intelligence agencies partake in disinformation campaigns designed to sow discord in targeted nations. Considering the location in question, is it not important to know which foreign intelligence agency is making these claims?
Second, it is quite troubling that some representatives of Pakistani media have been feeding such stories to foreign reporters. Considering Mr Harrisons background (as we will explain below), it is worrisome that these Pakistani journalists went to Mr Harrison to promote their story. Certainly Mr Harrison will refuse to expose who these Pakistani journalists are, which is too bad. While there is reason to protect the identities of whistle blowers against official corruption for fear of their safety, there is little public good gained by allowing journalists to spread unsubstantiated rumours.
But lets look at Mr Harrisons claims directly. Many of Mr Harrisons claims are nothing more than hysterical conjecture.
I could not help but think of the famous American claims about Iraqs aluminum tubes. The idea that China, which shares a border with China, would need to store missiles under Gilgit-Balochistan makes no sense. Unfortunately for Mr Harrisons conspiracy theory, though, building tunnels for a gas pipeline would be a perfectly reasonable explanation for an increased presence of Chinese workers in the region. Its just not quite as scary.
Of course, this is not the first claim that Mr Harrison has made about the break up of Pakistan. The Pakistan Policy Blog noticed this trend of Mr Harrisons back in 2008, noting that Selig Harrison has made a career of predicting the imminent break-up of South Asian states. In 2006, Mr Harrison reported for the French newspaper Le Monde Diplomatique that Baluchistan and Sindh were preparing to quit the nation.
While there is no denying that we have seen groups of separatists and ethnic strife in the country (what country has not experienced such?), Mr Harrisons reports consistently take on a tone of imminent national dissolution that is simply not supported by the facts. Four years after Mr Harrisons prediction in the French media and no such calamity has occurred, of course. Yet Mr Harrison continues to predict the breakup of Pakistan. Perhaps he believes that if he simply wishes hard enough, it will come true?
Joshua Foust, a respected American journalist and intelligence consultant on South Asia, wrote a scathing profile of Mr Selig Harrison in 2008 in which he calls Mr Harrisons writings on Pashtunistan, silly, over-hyped nonsense and says,
Today, of course, Mr Harrison is not talking only about a separatist rebellion, but he has added a twist by claiming the government is handing over de facto control of the strategic Gilgit-Baltistan region in the northwest corner of disputed Kashmir to China. His evidence? Chinese PLA workers building roads and bridges.
Mr Harrisons column, it is important to note, appears on the Opinion page of the New York Times. It does not even pretend to be an objective or investigative report, nor should it. Mr Harrison makes clear his position when he writes,
This is a position in direct conflict with the official positions of the US and Pakistan. It is simply Mr Harrisons opinion, and possibly an attempt to change the direction of Pakistan-US relations. Something, it seems, he has been trying to do for years.
An opinion column with no evidence, a discredited author, and sources from unnamed foreign intelligence agencies. One has to ask why the Pakistani media has been so ready to republish such rubbish. In fact, The News republished the piece in full today. The Nation makes note of the authors obsessive anti-Pakistan posture, but then reproduces most of the authors claims.
Worse still, who are the members of the Pakistani media who are feeding such conspiracy theories to foreign journalists? This blog has been criticized in the past for suggesting that there is a cycle in which Pakistani conspiracy theorists posing as journalists feed outrageous stories to the international press, who then repeat them, giving them the credibility needed to be repeated yet again in mainstream Pakistani media. But we see here an example of exactly this.
Actions of the media have consequences. Those consequences can be good as when the media uncovers evidence of corruption or brings attention to pressing issues. Or they can be bad as when the media causes confusion and distraction by placing more importance on sales than on research and facts. While we cannot control what discredited commentators like Selig Harrison write in the international media, we should not be fueling a cycle of misinformation and conspiracy theories. We should be setting an example of journalistic excellence that provides honest and accurate information at home and abroad.
Selig Harrison and Pakistan Media | Pakistan Media Watch