Abida Khaliq writes about the freedom of the press in Pakistan and the hazards being faced by journalists.
Pakistani journalists have always faced impediments while trying to fulfil their journalistic duties, but now this obstruction in the line of reporting truth has turned into an inescapable reality. Although the founder of Pakistan, Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah, always welcomed constructive criticism from the media, both as a lawyer and a politician. He expressed his sentiments regarding the freedom of the press on many occasions. On one of these occasions, while addressing the Imperial Legislative Council in 1913, he said:
“I believe in criticizing government freely and frankly, but at the same time that every educated man must support the government when the government is right”.
Since the creation of Pakistan, freedom of the press has been limited only to the constitution. It is a crude illusion to imagine this freedom in practical life. Among the many reasons for these obstacles, the main one is the undefined privilege and authority enjoyed by the state institutions, which any journalist quickly realizes once he crosses the red line. Another important reason is the media houses giving the utmost priority to ratings and TRP while neglecting the research aspect of this honourable calling, due to which Pakistani journalists find it rather pointless to try to get to the bottom of any event or news.
Despite the lack of support from news agencies, lack of job security, and countless other disruptions in the line of work, Pakistani journalists are still committed to fulfilling their pledge of allegiance to this profession. To the point that, unfortunately, many journalists have lost their lives to this cause. This threat does not only concern activists and journalists associated with news agencies; the boom in social media has also risked the lives of bloggers and YouTubers.
Much work has been done on media safety in Pakistan in the last ten to fifteen years. There is hardly any journalist in Pakistan who has not been briefed by one journalism organization or another on how to report political instability and conflict. Yet, seven journalists were killed in the country just last year despite all these precautions. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists, 96 journalists and media workers have been killed in Pakistan since 1992. The investigation file of Journalist Saleem Shahzad’s murder case is still waiting for its turn in the record room of some Sessions Court. Aziz Memon was threatened several times while working in Sindh, the same place whose love made him report the departmental irregularities by a few top officials in the Sindh government. A few months after that, he was found dead under mysterious circumstances.
Arshad Sharif was one of the very few trustworthy journalists in the country. He was an expert in investigative journalism and believed in constructive criticism. He started his journalism career as a columnist, reporter, and managing editor at the “Weekly Pulse” in 1999. I do not reckon that even in his wildest imaginations did he think he would be the victim of a gunshot on a deserted road in Kenya. It was not as difficult for Arshad Sharif to climb the professional ladder, from being a reporter to the director of news in many top journalism organizations like The News, Daily Dawn, Aaj News, Dunya TV, and ARY; as it turns out, it was for him to report the truth. He lost his life in Africa because of the cases registered against him in the span of a single day, treason being the main charge against him in all of them. It is nothing short of a tragedy that despite being the son of Muhammad Sharif TI (M) TK (Commander in the Pakistan Navy) and brother to Major Ashraf Sharif Shaheed, he was accused of treason.
The journalistic community of Pakistan had not yet healed from the grief of Arshad Sharif’s death, and the untimely death of anchorperson Sadaf Naeem shook the entire profession. Sadaf’s tragic death while reporting live from Imran Khan’s long march for a private TV network has again highlighted the challenges field journalists face here. The channel had not paid her in the last three months and did not even provide any conveyance to go to the long march, which built up the pressure to get in the good books of the higher management of her media agency. This forced her to run after Imran Khan’s container to capture a unique video or to get a chance to interview a prominent politician like Imran Khan. When a journalist leaves his nest in search of news but instead becomes news himself, the effects of such an incident are not only limited to the deceased’s family. Everyone associated with that news (reporters, editors, cameramen, and van drivers) is affected.
It is high time that we develop a plan to prevent such incidents. For that, government institutions and news agencies will have to work together. It is necessary to protect the lives of journalists and remove obstacles from their path, without which we would be stuck in this journey towards freedom of expression and the freedom of the press. This freedom helps bring many unique problems to light and public attention. We must protect it at all costs.
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