*"I normally never quote from my own articles, but here, I wish to rectify something I wrote in this newspaper seven months ago in an article called The Heart of Darkness, and to apologise for any distress I may have caused:
“… A few days later, we learned of Mohammed Saif-ur-Rehman Khan, a Pakistani interning at a hotel in Santiago, Chile, where he was arrested with traces of explosives on his hands and in his personal effects. While he has denied any attempt to blow up the US embassy where he had been invited to discuss the cancellation of his visa, one does not innocently acquire gunpowder traces under normal circumstances…”
When this article appeared, I received an email from somebody close to Saif to say I was wrong, and there was no evidence to link the young Pakistani to any crime. I promised the writer that if and when charges against Saif were dropped, I would be happy to apologise. So here I am, eating humble pie. Needless to say, I was delighted to learn that he had been released last week due to lack of any evidence by the Chilean authorities.While watching an interview with Saif on Chilean TV courtesy of YouTube, I thought how awful it must have been to be subjected to baseless accusations, and locked up for seven months while so far from home. Because of this wrongful arrest, his name will probably be on databases around the world as a terror suspect, and he’ll have a hard time getting a visa. It is not certain that he will receive any redress for his detention, or the slur on his reputation. The least the US government can do is restore his cancelled visa. For my part, I apologise without any reservations for having added to his family’s pain."*
Thank you Mr. Irfan… It requires a lot of courage to rectify a mistake. However, just hope media acts more responsibly when such unfortunate incidents happen.
Re: Irfan Hussain - Dawn News apologizes to Saif and his family
A lot of energies, that's what it takes to go back to your own words and send an apology. Indeed Mr. Irfan has kept the flag of honest journalism high and upright.
Adding to this, we as a Pakistani nation should always keep a pragmatic approach over such incidents. Instead of getting in to the groove of negative international media campaigns and start overcompensating by unnecessarily and prematurely identifying ourselves as extremists.
Re: Irfan Hussain - Dawn News apologizes to Saif and his family
I am not impressed with the apology.
And specially the words "if charges are dropped i will apologise". What about good judgemnt any journalist is supposed to exercise. It was obvious to anyone who had watched the followup of the initial reports and the press conference of whitehouse spokesman on the issue, that the charges were baseless.
Re: Irfan Hussain - Dawn News apologizes to Saif and his family
You're a wonderful and forgiving person, and it is YOU, not Mr. Hussain, who inspires hope for our community.
both people are really brave people , they should be congratulated for showing courage in the time of despair and showed how people should accept ones fault and another showed that it should be accepted gracefully.both of them have uplifted image of pakistan positively ,
Re: Irfan Hussain - Dawn News apologizes to Saif and his family
both people are really brave people , they should be congratulated for showing courage in the time of despair and showed how people should accept ones fault and another showed that it should be accepted gracefully.both of them have uplifted image of pakistan positively ,
There is no comparison to be made. Iconoclast has already aluded to what Irfan Hussain's mea culpa moment should have revolved around, but didn't.