The cheap propaganda tactics of the Daily Trust Newspaper against IMN & Sheikh Zakzaky
“Those who commit the murders write the report.” -Idah B. Wells
“If you are not careful the newspapers will have you hating the people that are oppressed and loving those who are doing the oppressing.” -Malcom X
After the brutal and inhuman #ZariaMassacre by the Nigerian army that killed close to 1000 defenseless and unarmed Shia Muslims, there were outcry from within and outside Nigeria that an Independent, impartial and credible probe should be conducted to investigate the massacre.
The masterminds and perpetrators of the massacre quickly set up a kangaroo Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI) and populated it with die-hard Wahhabis and retired military officers to tele-guide the proceedings and influence the eventual report of the Commission.
The masterminds of the massacre also mobilized Wahhabi and neo-Wahhabi groups that have Shia Genocide as a Global agenda to dominate the proceedings of the Commission. The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) under the leadership of His Eminence Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky decided to completely boycott the Commission as it lacks all credibility, independence and impartiality.
One trend that I noticed in the proceedings of the Commission is that all Nigerian print and electronic media only report negative allegations against IMN by Wahhabi groups and government institutions such as the army, police, DSS etc.
When Prof Dahiru Yahya made a brilliant presentation in support of IMN and called for the punishment of the culprits that perpetrated the brutal massacre, there was no single print and electronic media in Nigeria that reported his presentation.
The most notorious of the print media in this smear campaigns of calumny and demonization is the Daily Trust Newspaper, today the Daily Trust is at the forefront of the government – sponsored smear campaigns of calumny and demonization against IMN, Shia Islam and Iran. To underlined their extreme hatred for Sheikh Zakzaky and Shia Islam, Daily Trust went as low as interviewing a Wahhabi half-brother of Sheikh Zakzaky who hate Shia Islam with passion. Sheikh Zakzaky has other brothers and sisters who are close to him, love him and are supporting him but the Daily Trust went so low as to interview the only one that hate him! Those conversant with polygamy will understand the “half-brother syndrome” & that is what this Sheikh Zakzaky half-brother is suffering from.
The Daily Trust did this to deceive the gullible and the unenlightened into believing that Sheikh Zakzaky is a threat to the Nigerian state. To rubbish this cheap tactics of the Daily Trust, let’s go to history and excavate one “Abu Lahab” who was the Uncle of Prophet Muhammad (sa). I will like Daily Trust to interview this Abu Lahab about the programs and activities of the Prophet (sa)! Abu Lahab will surely repeat what the Wahhabi half-brother of Sheikh Zakzaky said against Sheikh Zakzaky.
Responsible and balanced Journalism demands reporting from both sides of any crisis or conflict but the Daily Trust chose to abandon the ethics of Journalism and become the unofficial mouthpiece of the Nigerian regime. In its recent editorial on the Zaria massacre the Daily Trust maliciously insinuated that the women and children that the Nigerian army killed in the massacre were put up as human shield by “someone”.
In the past the Daily Trust was one of the most objective and balanced Newspapers in Nigeria that called for not only unity of Northern Nigeria but unity of all Nigerians irrespective of tribe, religion and region but sadly the opposite is the case today. Today Daily Trust represent the narrow sectarian agenda that is characterized by bigotry, division, intolerance and open support for injustice and oppressor.
On a last note, to the owners of the Daily Trust Newspaper, you might be doing what you are doing to demonize Sheikh Zakzaky because you were paid to do so by the bloodthirsty war criminals that killed close to 1000 Nigerians and wickedly buried them in mass Graves. It is also possible that you are launching this smear campaign because you are contaminated with the potent poison of Wahhabism that has #ShiaGenocide as a global agenda. And it is possible that the two above mentioned are your reasons for your anti-Zakzaky crusade.
Finally, the owners of the Daily Trust will fail just like Abu Lahab failed woefully in history because evil will never win. Innocent Nigerians were brutally slaughtered and Daily Trust want to wash away what is undoubtedly a war crime by protecting and defending the criminals and at the same time demonizing the victims. Daily Trust, how can you win?
Harun Elbinawi
[email protected]
Elbinawi.wordpress.com
