Sidrah Zaheer

Kamran Shahid proved his lack of hosting skills on his show Front Line which airs through Express News and showed that he has no journalism ethics whatsoever when he allowed Barrister Saif Ali Khan (of All Pakistan Muslim League) and Talal Akbar Bugti (of Jamhoori Wattan Party) to go on bickering and did nothing to stop them. It seemed as though he did not care about the topic he had asked these people to comment on and sat back while the two diametrically opposed groups of politicians shamelessly insulted each other on live TV.

It is no surprise though that Pakistani politicians keep their values aside when they talk to each other. This is why what Barrister Saif and Talal Bugti did was not out of their own behavior, which could be easily expected of them. As an anchor of the show, it was Kamran’s duty to have mediated between these two and stopped them from going on with their verbal abuses. As a host of a show, he is there to provide a platform for guests to talk, not to fight. As a host of the show, his job is to moderate anything which is insulting to anyone who is making an appearance on the show, not to let it go on and watch the scene being created.

If he claims that the purpose of inviting these two politicians was not to have generated a confrontation between them but to have asked them answers to the questions which are arising on the issue of Balochistan, then his skills were put to test and he failed terribly. Because, he did not provide any platform to discuss and exchange views in a gentlemanly manner, but rather gave them a chance of cutting each other’s throats. What kind of an anchor does this? Who can do this and call himself a truth-seeking journalist? When both Barrister Saif and Talal Bugti were going on against each other, they looked cheap. But it did not make Kamran appear any different than them. If they acted cheap then so was Kamran’s silence. It was a total deprivation of any responsibility from Kamran’s side and utter negligence about handling the situation.

But then again, this is not the first time Kamran Shahid had behaved such disgracefully. He has been known to start more fights on his show and get the ratings higher. What a pathetic way of earning a living. Kamran is amongst the corrupt of this society. Seeing the situation that had brewed up, Nawabzada Lashkari Raisani (of Pakistan Peoples Party) backed out of the conversation when Talal Bugti dropped the phone upon receiving death threats from Barrister Saif on top of being tremendously insulted.

Raisani said that his values are intact and does not allow him to carry on discussing the topic of the programme with what just had happened. But it seems like Kamran’s debilitated conscience still could not get a nudge and he just shrugged the whole matter off saying that Raisani should have answered his questions. What a lack of sensitivity? Any respectable person would naturally feel hesitant to remain present in such an environment, but Kamran rather blamed him immediately for leaving by saying that Raisani is part of the government and should answer his questions. Answer his questions in such an insulting manner? Another guest present on the show was Sardar Akhtar Mengal (of Balochistan National Party). What is worse is that Kamran added to the distance that already exists between the Balochs and the non-Balochs. Get a life Kamran Shahid. If you are low that does not mean that others will steep down to your degraded state of mentality.

His insincerity to the profession of journalism has gotten yet another evidence that he is not fit to be a host of a current affairs programme which is telecasted, not just nationally, but which is being viewed throughout the world. Kamran is portraying a negative image of Pakistani politicians and giving others another chance to say how demoralized Pakistani nation is. But in the blindness of his pride, Kamran has forgotten that he is part of the problem and not someone on the right side of the road himself. The only solution is to ban current affairs programmes’ hosts such as Kamran Shahid and the media authorities should start by firing off Kamran himself foremostly.

This blog is in reference to this thread.

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