Dear Sana,
I think it is disgraceful that supporters of PTI (and other parties) harass you on social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook.
I was nothing short of aghast to see some of these unsavoury comments on Twitter. However, I was directed to watch a recent episode of your show, "Lekin" dated August 04, 2012 in which you invited Salman Shehbaz to answer allegations against Nawaz Sharif. I found your show lacking the fundamentals of strong, investigative journalism, and some unsubstantiated assumptions made by Mr. Shehbaz went absolutely unchallenged. I would like you to answer some reservations, which would (once-and-for-all) silence your social media critics:
(1) Why did you invite Salman Shehbaz to answer personal allegations against Nawaz Sharif? Imran Khan levelled personal allegations, not allegations against the party, PML-N. (Not that Salman Shehbaz has much of a role in the PML-N itself either.)
(2) Some of the allegations date back to the early 1990's, such as bank defaults amounting to millions of dollars, when Salman Shehbaz would have been a teenager. Shouldn't an older (and more knowing) member of the Sharif family have taken the stand? Why didn't you raise this obvious concern?
(3) When Salman Shehbaz was ranting so fervently about the Sharif family investing in Pakistan as opposed to other political families that have taken their business elsewhere (please refer to the 11th minute of your show), why didn't you raise the question of Hassan Nawaz's real estate empire in the UK worth billions of pounds? Or for that matter, the millions invested by the Sharif family in Saudi Arabia?
(4) When Salman Shahbaz was accusing Imran Khan of evading tax while playing county cricket in England, shouldn't you (as a knowledgeable anchor) have made clear that the tax was payable in England, not Pakistan? Should Imran Khan pay double taxes, i.e. taxes in both England and Pakistan for an economic activity that occurred in England?
(5) While Salman Shehbaz was denying every accusation outright, shouldn't you have raised a question vis--vis the settlements that the Sharifs made with the banks? These repaid loans -- in some cases, after being outstanding for nearly 20 years -- were given without collateral (as the loan documents reveal). An astute, investigative journalist in a face-to-face interview would have raised two further questions:(a) Is settlement not an admission of guilt?(b) Is it ethical for powerful politicians to first, obtain loans without collateral, and then, to avoid repayment for two decades?
(6) When Salman Shehbaz alleged that IK does not work on policies or doesn't have any policies (please refer to the 30th minute of your show), why did you not clarify that PTI is the only party that is producing policy documents and holding conferences before the election? See the website,http://insafproforum.com for policy documents; http://insaf.pk/Wings/InsafResearchWing for research documents; andUpdated ... PTI Energy Policy Seminar (February 26, 2012) > Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf > Insaf Videos for seminar and conference videos. If anchors like you do not discuss and appreciate these policy initiatives, the POLITICS OF ALLEGATIONS will continue. And to that, anchors will only say, “Politics in Pakistan is a game of allegations; what can we do?”
Regards,
A concerned member of the public
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