On the World Press Freedom Day, how do you explain the over 90 cases of attacks and violations against the media that have taken place in just one year? The recently released report produced by the Freedom Network is a revealing document and sheds plenty of light on the darker side of curbs on media in Pakistan. According to this report, as many as seven journalists were killed and ten assaulted in the reporting period from May 2019 to April 2020 in the country. In addition, nine journalists were arrested, two abducted, and 23 threatened by non-state and state actors. In ten cases, censorship was imposed and eight were slapped with legal notices. This signifies a climate of harassment and intimidation for both electronic and print media practitioners across the country. This escalation of covert and overt exercise of power against the media in Pakistan is not only worrying but also outright condemnable. If this practice continues, it will adversely affect the freedom of expression in the long run and the environment for access to information will also become more hostile and intimidating in the country.

The situation for journalists has been fraught in Pakistan for many years. In March this year, the Committee to Protect Journalists had expressed concern over the suspension of advertising to two major media houses, apparently to penalize them for publishing material deemed to go against government stances on various issues. The arrest of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman, the editor-in-chief of the Jang/Geo group, the biggest media house in the country, was also condemned during the same month by the CPJ and leading journalists and analysts around the world. And recently the One Free Press Coalition has named Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman on its list of the top ten most urgent press freedom cases in the world. In a country where the state itself wields the biggest stick, a climate of silence is bound to emerge creating a deafening calm across the media which should be speaking truth to power. This growing silence is not good for society and neither is it going to serve any purpose.

It is alarming that Islamabad, which some people consider the safest city in the country, is found to be a dangerous place to practise journalism in Pakistan. This all paints a fairly grim picture for freedom of expression in Pakistan. Despite national and international condemnation of the victimization of journalists and media personnel in the country, the government appears to be in deep slumber and does not heed the call to action by reputed journalists and scholars. For a free country, a free people and a democratic and tolerant society, journalists must be able to work without fear. That is the Pakistan we urge the government to work towards.

 

Source : https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/653212-what-freedom