Rumour mongers may stop for a while & think

THE country witnessed all sort of rumours on Thursday that President Pervez Musharraf is on his way out which created uncertainty and virtually shattered nerves and confidence of the people in general and the business community in particular. However the President himself later at night refuted these stories which were spread through irresponsible statements and write ups without caring what their repercussions could be.

What is really intriguing is that that the rumour mongers even gave “eye witness accounts” of various behind the door happenings which is baffling. There were two categories of rumours which included deliberate character assassination of some individuals and institutions and creating uncertainty through speculations to put pressure and achieve the result one likes. All sorts of gossips linking one event with the other including the routine meeting between the President and the COAS and transfers in the army as well as reports of early return of Senate Chairman from a foreign visit were made the basis for exit of the President. These rumours adversely affected normal functioning in government departments and the worst sufferer was the stock market as investors rose in protest at midday on Thursday in Karachi against the incessant meltdown in stock prices. What is most worrisome is that the impact of these speculations is hitting hard our economy which is already under great strains. Even attention of the elected government is entirely devoted to political issues like restoration of the deposed judges and whether or not to impeach the President and no corrective steps in the economic sector are visible. No one realizes that the ship of the State would be in danger if it has no fuel left in its tank. Even those claiming to have love for the country in their hearts have joined the bandwagon without thinking that any uncertainty and confrontation could cause irreparable harm to the motherland and the nascent democracy. Instead of point scoring against any one or doing politics to outsmart the rivals through pressure tactics is no service to the nation. We would urge the rumour mongers to stop for a while and think over the dangerous consequences of this practice.