Since as an editor I started dealing with the Information Ministers in the mid 1960s, I interacted with some who were not lacking in competence and some who seldom deviated into sense.
It is my belief that in any cabinet the second most intelligent, knowledgeable, articulate, eloquent, sharp and pleasant person simply has to be its Information Minister, who apart from being the spokesperson and the image-builder of the government has also to keep the opposition on the defensive through a proactive approach in the field of propaganda.
Whey is Dr. Paul Joseph Goebbels a legendary name? Off course he is projected negatively as a MASTER LIAR and a great practitioner of disinformation as a tool of creating the desired perception.
It is conveniently forgotten by his critics that his job was to sell NAZISM not only to his own nation but also to the whole world. And no one can disagree with the fact that Nazism was not an easy MERCHANDISE to sell. Dr. Goebbels’ success in this respect was owed to his skill in creating even non-existent USPs.
The real greatness of Goebbels was that he believed heart, body and soul in the Nazi philosophy— and his loyalty to Hitler lasted till his last breath. He alongwith Eva Braun joined Hitler in self-immolation.
Off course Prime Minister Imran Khan doesn’t need Dr. Goebbels. In fact his choice of Fawad Chaudhry as Information Minister is quite commendable. But hasn’t he left Punjab at the mercy of Allah? Lahore more than Islamabad will decide whether a great success is in store for the PTI Chairman or an unaffordable plunge into the unknown….
In the beginning I said the Information Minister should be the second best member of a cabinet. Why not the first? In today’s world it is the Minister for Foreign Affairs whose performance decides the fate of a Nation.