Imtiaz Alam plays down the importance of civil awards

JournalismPakistan.com
March 11, 2019

ISLAMABAD - With Arshad Sharif of ARY News and newscaster Ishrat Fatima named to receive the President's Award for Pride of Performance on March 23, a veteran journalist has played down the importance of these honors.

In an Urdu tweet, analyst and journalist Imtiaz Alam tried to play down the importance of the awards. He said: “We know the reality of presidential and pride of performance awards. We also know the reality of why some get it, and some don’t.”

Ú¾Ù…ÛŒÚº ØµØ¯Ø§Ø±ØªÛŒ Ø§Ø¹Ø²Ø§Ø²Ø§Øª Ø§ÙˆØ± ØÙØ³Ù†Ù Ú©Ø§Ø±Ú©Ø±Ø¯Ú¯ÛŒ Ú©Û’ ØªÙ…ØºÙˆÚº Ú©ÛŒ ØÙ‚ÛŒÙ‚Øª Ú©Ø§ Ù¾ØªØ§ ÛÛ’Û” Ø¬Ø³Û’ Ù…Ù„ØªØ§ ÛÛ’ Ø§ÙØ³ Ú©ÛŒ Ø§ØµÙ„Ø¦ÛŒØª Ø¨Ú¾ÛŒ Ù¾ØªØ§ ÛÛ’ Ø§ÙˆØ± Ø¬Ø³Û’ Ù†ÛÛŒÚº Ù…Ù„ØªØ§ Ø§ÙØ³ Ú©ÛŒ ØÙ‚ÛŒÙ‚Øª Ø¨Ú¾ÛŒ Ù…Ø¹Ù„ÙˆÙ… ÛÛ’Û”
ØºØ§ Ù„Ø¨ Ø®ÙˆØ¨ Ú©Û Ú¯Ø¦Û’:
Ø¨Ø§Ø²ÛŒÚ†Û Ø§Ø·ÙØ§Ù„ ÛÛ’ Ø¯ÙÙ†ÛŒØ§ Ù…ÛŒØ±Û’ Ø¢Ú¯Û’
ÛÙˆØªØ§ ÛÛ’ Ø´Ø¨ Ùˆ Ø±ÙˆØ² ØªÙ…Ø§Ø´Û Ù…ÛŒØ±Û’ Ø¢Ú¯Û’
— Imtiaz Alam (@ImtiazAlamSAFMA) March 10, 2019

Matiullah Jan, formerly of Waqt News called for boycotting such awards in protest against the “economic murder” of journalists.

He pointed out that the journalists getting these awards should stand with the protesting journalists, otherwise history would not forgive them.

ØµØ¯Ø§Ø±ØªÛŒ Ùˆ Ø¯ÛŒÚ¯Ø± Ø§Ø¹Ø²Ø§Ø²Ø§Øª Ú©Û’ Ù„Ø¦ÛŒÛ’ Ù†Ø§Ù…Ø²Ø¯ ØµØØ§ÙÛŒÙˆÚº Ø³Û’ Ø§Ù¾ÛŒÙ„ ÛÛ’ Ú©Û ØÚ©ÙˆÙ…ØªÛŒ Ù…ÛŒÚˆÛŒØ§ Ù¾Ø§Ù„ÛŒØ³ÛŒ Ú©Û’ Ø¨Ø§Ø¹Ø« Ø³Ø§ØªÚ¾ÛŒ ØµØØ§ÙÛŒÙˆÚº Ú©Û’ Ù…Ø¹Ø§Ø´ÛŒ Ù‚ØªÙ„ Ø¹Ø§Ù… Ú©Û’ Ø®Ù„Ø§Ù Ø§ØØªØ¬Ø§Ø¬Ø§â€ ÛŒÛ Ø§ÛŒÙˆØ§Ø±ÚˆØ² Ù„ÛŒÙ†Û’ Ø³Û’ Ø§Ù†Ú©Ø§Ø± Ú©Ø±ÛŒÚº Ø§ÙˆØ± ÛØ²Ø§Ø±ÙˆÚº ØµØØ§ÙÛŒÙˆÚº Ø§ÙˆØ± Ù…ÛŒÚˆÛŒØ§ ÙˆØ±Ú©Ø±ÙˆÚº Ú©Û’ Ø³Ø§ØªÚ¾ ÛŒÚ©Ø¬ÛØªÛŒ Ú©Ø§ Ø§Ø¸ÛØ§Ø± Ú©Ø±ÛŒÚº ÙˆØ±Ù†Û ØªØ§Ø±ÛŒØ® Ù…Ø¹Ø§Ù Ù†Û Ú©Ø±ÛŒÚ¯ÛŒ-
— Matiullah Jan (@Matiullahjan919) March 10, 2019

As ISPR Director General Asif Ghafoor and Arshad Sharif shared complimentary tweets on getting the award, Hasan Zaidi termed the exchange: “A love story in two tweets.”