Asian (con)Fusion: Is it curtains for Musharraf's curtains?
Amid all the excitement surrounding Mr Musharraf's resignation, I have been asked to make an important clarification. It appears that some parts of the Pakistani media have been getting rather excited about a story myself and my colleague Omar Waraich wrote about Mr Musharraf's new retirement home.
Our story detailed how Mr Musharraf was building a luxurious and stately property on the edge of Islamabad for his retirement - a matter that was just a day away when we wrote the story and which is now upon him.
As part of our inquiries we interviewed the charming and talented architect who has designed the house, Hammad Hussain. Mr Hussain revealed that the former military dictator had quite a thing for house design and had been involved in the process of putting the plans together from the very start. He also told us that Mr Musharraf's wife had picked the curtains and fittings.
Anyway, Mr Husain called me today with a couple of updates. Firstly, and most remarkably, he said that just 90 minutes after we left the plot of the house on Sunday afternoon, who should show up but Mr Musharraf?
"I knew when I spoke to you that he was on his way but I could not tell you," he said. Yipes.
Thoughts rush through my head as to the sheer Alice-in-Wonderland nature of an encounter with Mr Musharraf on the driveway of his new retirement home on the very eve of his retirement. Sadly it was not to be.
But Mr Husain also points out that our story was perhaps clumsily written - I take the blame for that - and that it is possible to read it and think that the curtains and fittings for the house cost 1.25m pounds. As If Mr Musharraf does not have enough problems, he said that a Pakistani news channel had been running a feature about his extravagent taste in house fittings.
I am pleased to clarify that is not the case. The entire cost of the house, Mr Husain told me, was 1.25m pounds. I wonder whether this rules out an invitation to see the new place when it's completed?
Mr Buncombe's "clarification" about me above needs some clarifications:
I did indeed call Mr Buncombe today, to point out that he had structured a particular sentence in such a way that it gave a very wrong impression to the reader. ("Mr Husain, a family friend of the Musharrafs, said the President's wife, Sehba, had chosen the curtains and fittings for the house, estimated at £1.25m.") Most people, who called me to ask me how curtains could cost 1.25 million pounds, were not willing to accept that a native English speaker would make such a language mistake and that it seemed deliberate!
I must clarify that I did not call Mr Buncombe to update him or apprise him of Mr Musharraf's movements. The call was just to lodge my complaint.
Another clarification that I would like to make here is that I told Mr Buncombe and his colleague that the PREVAILING selling price of a 5-acre house in that locality was approximately 1.25 million pounds. There was no mention of the cost of Mr Musharraf's house, nor was I willing to comment on it.
The article could have offered much more. But I have a feeling that the author was seeking to add spice to his piece, which he couldn't find otherwise in his conversation with me or in the house, which is simple, understated and humble.
Lastly, Mr Buncombe promised to correct his factual errors and misquotes in the online edition, which, till now have not been done. This is not expected of a reputed newspaper like The Independent and casts a shadow on the paper's professional journalistic ethics.
Posted by: Hammad Husain (architect) | Tuesday, 19 August 2008 at 05:31 PM
I stand corrected.(Please see above.)
Posted by: Andrew Buncombe | Tuesday, 19 August 2008 at 06:22 PM
Its sad to see a paper like The Independent rely on sensationalism to sell itself. What is even more outrageous is to see the rather tongue-in-cheek "clarification" from a so-called reputed journalist Mr. Andrew Buncombe, a person who considers himself an "expert" on Pakistan. Perhaps Mr. Buncombe you should see "Through the Looking Glass" and recognise your own shortcomings as a professional writer, rather than create fantasies like poor Alice. Slander has serious repercussions in your country too I believe. As a Pakistani I am offended by your rather casual attitude towards a grave situation faced by my country and serious professional misconduct on your part. Today The Independant has lost one reader. I have no interest in reading biased reporting for the sake of yellow journalism.
Posted by: Amun Khan | Tuesday, 19 August 2008 at 06:25 PM
I would advise the prestigious daily to get rid of MR Andrew Buncombe as it can easily find such writers here in Pakistan,as a matter of fact, this whole episode of Musharaf's impeachment has shown us that such writers are surplus here and i'm willing to send a few to UK.
International sensationalism dept of your paper should be headed by Mr Andrew....!The statements of Andrew and Mr Hussain are poles apart and Mr A Buncombe accepts his careless attitude, as he puts it.
I join Amun khan in protest and would like to say that such shallow and meaningless reporting only make readers go away....like me
Posted by: najeeb a khan | Wednesday, 20 August 2008 at 09:38 PM
this is terrible; perhaps it explains why so many people doubt much of what they read prefering instead rumour and conspiracy analysis, why many prefer not to talk to journalists - and indeed hold them in as much contempt as smug and spotty estate agents.
Posted by: woz | Friday, 29 August 2008 at 02:15 PM