Our Viewpoint

Viewpoint is intended to serve as an independent, non-partisan journal, owing allegiance not to any political party or group, but to the basic concepts of a democratic, progressive polity. Its primary aim is to invite serious attention to Pakistan's many problems - economic, political and social - and to foster objective studies and impartial analyses, so that rational solutions can be evolved. Impartiality does not, however, connote neutrality or ambivalence. We have a fairly definite viewpoint in regard to major problems that confront Pakistan, and thus it will be our endeavor to make this journal a form for earnest debate on issues that matter to our people and country, so that a consensus may be encouraged on basis of a realistic understanding and appraisal of each issue.

Conscious of our limitations, we approach this responsibility, with a sense of humility. What makes the task more difficult is that, in the past, it has received insufficient attention. Many among those who presume to guide national opinion - public leaders or publicists - have too often fed our people on high-sounding slogans which, through repetitious use, cease to reflect any aim and become empty incantations. Some conjure up a new obstacle to meet every solution, and reject every sane answer without providing another - and without abolishing the question. Equally sterile is the role of those who consider it necessary to praise unthinkingly - and therefore, unhelpfully - every utterance or decision by Authority, and then commend with equal fervor in next step even when it leads in opposite direction. This mode of political argument tends to smother rather than incite thought. It breeds frustration and cynicism, corrodes credibility, and discourages genuine interest in healthy political activity.

With the help of scholars and citizens seriously concerned with the country's future, Viewpoint will seek to dispel this accumulated confusion, much of it deliberately generated in the pursuit of personal, factional or party ends. We will avoid and seek to expose the dangers inherent in the path followed by the habitual obstructionists and the professional panegyrists. This may be a difficult task, but it is an essential one; and we feel confident that our approach to it is correct and in accord with present-day national needs. We will be content if we succeed in making even a modest beginning towards creating a greater awareness of the nature of our national problems, and showing that the problems we face and the difficulties that exist are not insoluble or insuperable.

(This text was the very first editorial penned by the late Mazhar Ali Khan for Viewpoints inaugural issue published on 14 August 1975. This flashback is not driven by any nostalgic impulse. It shows that the late Mazhar Ali Khans Viewpoint on the state of Pakistani media holds true 35 years on. Alas!)