Ugh! What’s that?
Anjum Niaz
On the evening of August 25, a Pakistani couple happened to be at a wrong place at the wrong time! They were in New York’s famed Times Square. Looking up at NASDAQ’s jumbo screen, they froze. “Ugh, who’s that?” shouted the wife upon seeing a man in brown suit hog the limelight before a Pakistani flag. Passersby gazed momentarily, only to walk away after failure to understand what the man on the screen was trying to do, other than pose and smile copiously. “Does this guy fancy himself to be a show-stopper like Angelina Jolie?” said the husband. “Angelina is not only a pretty face, but is a friend of Pakistan.”
This newspaper broke the story once it found out that the ‘man’ usurping the primetime screening meant for eliciting funds for flood victims in Pakistan was Consul General Babar Hashmi. “The (NASDAQ) giant screen in Times Square was made available for one full hour,” said the report. This was the first time any country was offered the privilege. “Even Haiti was not given this favour after their earthquake.”
Had Angelina J been shown touring the flood ravaged Pakistan, Americans would have rushed to donate. But not for the face of Babar H, for Pete’s sake!
Lamenting that a “golden opportunity to collect valuable donations and to project the plight of the flood victims” was wasted at the “altar of some embassy minion’s sycophancy,” the newspaper report ended with this sentence: “NASDAQ withdrew this privilege shortly after, saying they were fools to let Pakistan have this opportunity.”
Phew! Pakistan was in the dock just because someone in the Consulate General in New York messed up matters.
Thrice I emailed questions for Hashmi after his office sent out a press release rubbishing such media reports. I never heard back from the CG or his staff. The honourable CG claims that he only accepted the NASDAQ invitation on “condition that he could launch a Pakistan-Help appeal for flood affectees” before participating in the ringing of the closing bell to which he had been “invited.”
In my email to the consulate, I had wondered why the CG was being shown as a hot-button item, much in demand by NASDAQ organisers ‘dying’ to have him ring their stock exchange closing-bell; when in truth, the only reason for NASDAQ inviting him was to help Pakistan! “He’s but one of the 100s CGs going around NYC, what special charisma does he possess to strong-arm the organisers into having his way.” We’re told “a special request to screen a 3-minute video showing the flood situation in Pakistan,” was “declined” by NASDAQ. My question: “If CG knew in advance about this, should he not have been more sophisticated in showcasing Pakistan instead of showcasing himself?”
The press release attempts to cover up facts; instead it invited more questions.
Either our foreign office/ embassy in Washington flubbed or they tried slipping in the flood documentary despite being told they couldn’t and fell flat on their faces after NASDAQ threw out the video last minute. Babar Hashmi got trapped into a situation that grew out of his control. He’s taking the flak for a deed he’d never dare to do (fixing his face on the NASDAQ screen) without getting the clearance from his bosses. Well, whatever, while we bungled up, UNHCR didn’t. Here’s their September 7 press release: “Shortly after the closing bell, huge screens in nearby Times Square carried a public service announcement by UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie, calling on the public to support millions of flood-displaced Pakistanis. The NASDAQ Group is the world’s largest exchange company. It delivers trading, exchange technology and public company services across six continents, with more than 3,600 listed companies.”
If UNHCR can do it, why not us? The consulate general in New York can’t forever hide behind press releases that are nothing but government gobbledygook!
The writer is a freelance journalist with over twenty years of experience in national and international reporting. Email: anjum
niaz@rocketmail.com
Ugh! What’s that?
Ugh! What’s that?
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