Pictures of the Day: Spreading Lies

Posted on September 10, 2006
Filed Under >Adil Najam, Law & Justice, People, Photo of the Day
29 Comments
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Adil Najam

I do not like being taken for a fool. Especially, when the trick being pulled off is offensive as well as stupid. That is why I am feeling really angry at these emails people have been sending me.

Over the last many hours I have now received five different copies of (a much forwarded) email with the title “House of Akbar Bugti.” One of them from a Pakistani blogger who asks that we “MUST put these pictures on ATP to expose the lies of Bugti supporters” and that “these pictures prove he was only interested in his own comfort and not the Baluchi people.” Other versions of the email simply has long, very long, strings of email addresses of hundreds, possibly thousands, of people it has already been forwarded to (which is itself bad Internet etiquette) and then carries a string of photographs, including the ones below.

Did you really think we woudl fall for something as imbicile as this!

We have already had a long and open discussion on ATP on Nawab Akbar Bugti’s killing, how it was done, what it meant, and his political career. People are most welcome to hold whatever opinion they wish. But please do not try to make a fool out of other people.

Of course, the idea is to convey the image that Mr. Bugti was living in great luxury in the caves (which he may well have been) and, therefore, somehow (but I fail to see how) his killing was justified!

The problem is that a half-wit with only half of his wits handy would be able to tell that these pictures are not from Mr. Bugti’s caves. These are publicity pictures from a hotel. (A real picture of Mr. Bugti in the mountains is at the top of the post).

For Heaven’s sake, look at that dining room and bathroom; yes, these were in the same email! You really think we was the kind of guy who would serve meals to his tribesmen there in those crystal glasses. Just how stupid do you think we Pakistanis are!

Indeed, the stunt is so very lame that it took me less than 15 minutes to find out where they are from. These pictures are from a luxury hotel (although not 7-star!) the Cappadocia Cave Hotel in Turkey. My first thought had been that it might be a hotel in Petra, Jordon since I had stayed in something like this there.

I do not know who came up with this idea. If it was some zealot intelligence agency wallah, then it is particularly un-intelligent, even for our intelligence agencies. Or, maybe, it was just another super-patriot thinking that this will somehow help Pakistan; think again, you just made us all look not just needlessly violent, but abjectly dumb. Well done!

As you can see I am deeply angry and offended. Not just because this has wasted my time, gotten on my nerves, distracted me from better things, and is such a cheap trick to defame and misinform. Much more so, because whoever pulled this stunt believed that ordinary Pakistanis would fall for this; and – tragically – there are some out there who actually did!

29 responses to “Pictures of the Day: Spreading Lies”

  1. Adeel Siddiqui says:

    Chill out folks. So what! if some genious took liberty of utilizing internet fad and played on some popular public perception? How does it hurt any cause or creed other than ending up as another one of the zillionth spam? Why is Adil and piped up followers getting so emotional and needlessly edgy on this issue? Answer: “Typical Pakistaniat”.

    People who can make an impact on public perception and public policy have enough sense to see through the hoaxes. People who can’t, are discounted in their effects on society anyways. Their beliveing in this hoax would not change the face we see on the Rupee. So why be so much up in arms about this? Relax and focus on what best you intellectuals do. Build castles for future!
    Regards,
    Adeel

  2. Adil Najam says:

    According to the blog The Glasshouse, the hotel site mentioned above is not opening in Pakistan. The blog asks: “Not surely blocked I hope?”

    readers in Pakistan, could you please confirm if indeed that site is available or not.

    If not is not, then try here: Cappadocia Cave Hotel.

  3. Mast Qalandar says:

    Clearly, this disinformation was the work of some “unintelligent” people.

  4. Khadija Amjad says:

    When I see Pakistanis being defensive about what happened to Mr. Bugti, I have to wonder if they’re looking at the bigger picture…how do they really feel about a Pakistani being treated like this in his own country? What kind of precedent is this setting? Implications for the long run?

    Extremely distressing and plain disgusting. This is not about lavish lifestyles…if that were a metric, there’d be plenty of super-rich tax-evader types running for cover in the major cities.
    Thanks for the well-reasearched post.

  5. Great job I was also going to make a post stating its falsehood but was unable to track down the originating hotel pics.

    Thank you for clearing the air up GOOD JOB – great to have a professional journalist like you on the job

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