Blatant Lies by The New York Times as Salman’s article surfaces: Govt of Pakistan spokesman reacts

Islamabad (PR) Govt of Pakistan’s Spokesman reacts on the article by Mr. Salman Masood published in New York Time;

“The New York Times is considered to be one of the most well esteemed and highly respected newspapers in the world. With the reach they have, one would assume that the stories they publish, would have some sort of credibility. Before publishing a story and that too against the prime minister of a country, fact checking should always be done.

Recently a story done by Mr. Salman Masood shows the bias towards Imran Khan and how the story is not in contrast with the standards of The New York Times.

Here we dissect lies, misleading statements and untrustworthy reporting with proof that Salman Masood lacks professionalism:

1) His article has not one quote from anyone who supports the present government or the Prime Minister. Only quotes from the opposition and those allied with them. This is not balanced reporting. It is stenographic to the opposition. Yes, it is true the PM faces a no confidence vote, but this is a one-sided picture.

2) Masood writes of Imran Khan “he has at one time or another jailed most of the major opposition leaders.” This is apparently intentionally misleading. These politicians were jailed by the courts, not the Prime Minister, for gross, well-documented corruption. Public disgust with their corruption brought Khan to power. Meanwhile, Masood writes Khan ran “promising to fight corruption,” then says he didn’t deliver on this. So which is it?

3) Masood characterizes Pakistan as “A nuclear armed country that backs the Taliban government in Afghanistan.” Yet in making this unsupported assertion he fails to report that Pakistan has not recognized the Taliban government.

4) Masood writes of Khan “he has blamed the previous government for high foreign debt he inherited.” ?? Who does the reporter blame? He says Khan “has accused the opposition of being bought with looted money.” This is true. It is why the courts jailed them (see the Panama papers, etc). And they are paying for votes.
5) There are many assertions in this piece presented without a shred of evidence. It is hearsay journalism, I’m sorry to say. For example, he writes that the opposition claims General Hamid manipulated the Pakistani election. Trump says the same thing of his election. Where is the evidence please?

6) In a paragraph about relations with Russia and China, your reporter says Khan “has yet to speak with President Biden.” This appears to be an attempt to make it look like Khan doesn’t want to speak to the President. The truth is Biden reached out to many world leaders, including Modi in India, but has never called Khan.

7) The article completely ignores the many steps to alleviate suffering for the poor by the present government in the global inflation, food and oil price crisis brought on by Covid and the war in Ukraine. This includes lowering prices of gas and electricity and the most comprehensive targeted food subsidy program to 54% of the population. These efforts are at a scale far beyond what any previous Pakistani government has undertaken. The World Bank reports Pakistan outperformed all regional economies during COVID, with the lowest unemployment rate in South Asia at 4.3% compared to India’s 8%. The opposition is accustomed to the government bailing out the rich, not the poor.

8) The article ignores Imran Khan’s significant popularity, which has risen in the past few months. The March 2022 IRIS public survey shows Khan remains Pakistan’s most popular leader with approval ratings of 35% compared to opposition leaders Shahbaz Sharif (8%) and Asif Zardari (4%).

I so regret writing this to a paper and people I esteem. But I am sure you would want to hear this, and will look into the matter further. I have heard, but cannot personally substantiate, that Mr. Masood is known in Pakistan to be close to the opposition. I have noticed bias in his reporting before, but this is really over the top.