Hamid Mir-Arnab Goswami: The price of insulting India
🔏 Mohammad Zahid
In 2008, the 26/11 terrorist attack took place on India's financial capital Mumbai. In that attack, one terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab was caught alive and all the others were killed. Pakistan refused to accept all the terrorists killed including Kasab as its citizens.
After the attack, India provided all the evidences which proved that Pakistan was involved in the terrorist attack. Pakistan's then President Asif Ali Zardari and other Pakistani officials denied that Kasab was a Pakistani.
Then Pakistan's biggest journalist and editor of Pakistan's biggest news channel "Geo News" Hamid Mir found Ajmal Kasab's house in Faridkot village of Pakistan's Punjab province and showed the picture to Ajmal Kasab's father and made him identify that this was Ajmal Kasab and his son.
Hamid Mir telecast a full report on Geo News based on his conversation with Ajmal Kasab's father and other family members. The whole of Pakistan and the Pakistani government came on the back foot.
Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir has revealed that Indian news channels invite him to abuse their own country, in return he is paid money. Taking name of Arnab Goswami, he said; Pakistani jouros are invited to abuse India for 3 minutes, after that Indian guest abuse Pak for 10 min. pic.twitter.com/QMb8GLT9Jk
— VOiCE OF MEDIA (@voiceofmedia1) June 8, 2025
That report of Hamid Mir created a stir in India and Pakistan. When the Indian government used Hamid Mir's report as evidence, the Pakistani government challenged his report. Pakistani media and various forums accused Hamid Mir of working in favour of India and defaming the Pakistani army and ISI.
Hamid Mir was put under a lot of pressure by his country's government, a notice was issued to cancel the channel's license, the channel's office was attacked, but Hamid Mir stood by his report and finally in January 2009, Pakistan's National Security Advisor Mahmud Ali Durrani accepted that Kasab was a Pakistani citizen.
Hamid Mir's report was in favour of Indian claims, this was done not by any Indian media but by Pakistan's biggest media, which was against the government of its own country, Pakistan. That too, when the tension between these two countries was at its peak. At such a time, it is a matter of courage to stand against the claim of one's own country's government.
This is true journalism...!
Let me give you another fact. Hamid Mir has repeatedly shown issues of human rights violations in Balochistan on Geo TV. He openly reported on the cases of enforced disappearances of Baloch people, their killings and repression of the local Baloch population by Pakistani security forces and intelligence agencies in Balochistan and openly criticized his country's army and ISI.
And why only Balochistan, Hamid Mir has been the biggest critic of the Pakistani army and ISI in his country, and this is why he was attacked in Karachi on 19 April 2014. Unknown attackers fired bullets on his car, in which he was seriously injured.
The attackers fired six bullets on his car, which hit Hamid Mir's shoulder, stomach and thigh. Hamid Mir narrowly escaped in that attack. Hamid Mir accused his country's intelligence agency ISI of trying to kill him and despite being injured, he said that he will continue to do his work despite threats and the deadly attack on him.
#HamidMir has revealed that Arnab Goswami's news channels invite Pakistani journalist to abuse India, in return paid money. pic.twitter.com/ULQeNe63FX
— VOiCE OF MEDIA (@voiceofmedia1) June 9, 2025
Geo TV telecast a full report with evidence blaming the Pakistani intelligence agency ISI for the attack on Hamid Mir, which was rejected by the Pakistani government and army.
Due to this report, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) banned Hamid Mir's Geo TV on 7 June 2014 and suspended the channel's broadcasting license for 15 days and imposed a fine of one lakh dollars.
Hamid Mir is the only journalist in the world who interviewed Al Qaeda terrorist Osama bin Laden not once but twice and showed many reports on his hiding in Pakistan on his TV.
I am telling you all this so that you understand who Hamid Mir is and what is the level of his journalism?
The same Hamid Mir has revealed in one of his interviews that when Indian media channels invite him or any Pakistani journalist in their show or debate, then such Pakistani panelists are paid a hefty amount in exchange for "abusing India in filthy language".
He has made this claim by taking the name of Arnab Goswami and Republic TV and how he was told by this channel what to say to India.
Nothing will happen to them, I am just telling, how the money was given, through which medium it was given, how much was given, what was the price fixed for getting Pakistani panelists to abuse India and what is the punishment for it?
Nothing, this is the new India...!
