KARACHI: In the wake of growing attacks on media houses, Sindh police authorities have decided to prepare a comprehensive security plan to protect the organisations.

The decision to formulate a ‘standard operating procedure’ (measures to be taken) was taken at a meeting presided over by Additional Inspector General of Karachi Police Mushtaq Ahmed Mahar and attended by representatives of media houses at the Karachi Police Office, according to a police spokesperson.

The AIG directed SSPs and SPs concerned to visit media houses, assess security concerns and report to him about shortcomings.

SSP Security-II Imran Riaz briefed the participants on matters related to security of the institutions.

The meeting decided that divisional SSPs would meet security officers of media houses to assess issues faced by them and consequently comprehensive plans would be issued by the offices of divisional SPs.

The representatives were informed that outer perimeter walls of buildings of all media houses should be at least eight-foot high with two-foot diameter barbed wires. There should be minimum numbers of entry gates and an exist gate in all buildings. Walk-through gates must be at entrances and metal detectors should be used for physical search of visitors.

It was stated that all media houses should maintain computerised records along with numbers of national identity cards of visitors and all vehicles entering their premises must be scanned with bottom-view mirror.

CCTV cameras must be installed at important points covering entrances, adjoining areas and access roads and the cameras must have a storage capacity of at least 15 days of data. The camera system must be backed up by UPS and generators.

Administrations of all media houses should have complete bio-data of all private security guards and details of arms and ammunition held by them. The guards should be vetted by the Special Branch and Intelligence Bureau.

Media houses have been asked to hire private security guards only from registered companies.

It was suggested that there should be at least one armed guard in all vans/buses/DSNG vans of media houses. These vehicles should have cameras at the four corners and one dome camera at the top-centre of DSNGs. The windowpanes of vans/DSNGs must be bullet-proof.

It was proposed that the staff of media houses must get clearance from the Special Branch and Intelligence Bureau.

“Entrances of all media houses should have zigzag concrete barriers as well as jersey barriers along with the walls.”

There should be bunkers outside the buildings of media houses at vantage points and important telephone numbers must be displayed at important places.

It was also proposed that car parkings must be at a safe distance from the main building.

The meeting was of the view that there should be no encroachments and hawkers outside the premises of media houses.

The SHOs concerned have been directed to place a checking register inside the buildings of media houses and the checking officer should point out any lacuna. “The officer will try his level best to remove all shortcomings after discussion with the administration of the media house.”

Dawn

Two media personnel were killed, while six others were injured and many were manhandled during 2015. In addition 11 media personnel were booked in false cases and equipment of many media workers was damaged or destroyed during the year. Television channels remained the primary target of violent attacks during the year.

According to research by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), federal or provincial governments did not respond seriously to any of the fifteen incidents of violence against media personnel during the year. Not a single case relating to violence against media resulted in arrest and prosecution, despite repeated assurances by government ministers.

Two media personnel murdered

According to the details of the PPF’s “Pakistan Media Safety Report 2015”, Arshad Ali Jaffery, a technical engineer of Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) van of Geo News was killed and the driver Anis Chauhan injured on September 8, when unidentified armed men opened fire on their vehicle in Karachi. No one claimed the responsibility for this attack and no arrests for the murder have yet been made.

Zaman Mehsud reporter of daily Ummat and Sana news agency, based in Tank, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, was ambushed and shot dead on November 3; ironically one day after the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists was commemorated in Pakistan and rest of the world. Taliban commander, Qari Saifullah, claimed the responsibility for his murder and said: “We killed him because he was writing against us. We have some other journalists on our hit list in the region; soon we will target them.”

Six media personnel injured

All six cases of violence leading to injury of media personnel occurred in the last two months of the year.

On November 20, hand grenades were hurled on the Faisalabad bureau office of Dunya News television channel injuring two staff members, Saifur Rehman, a business executive, and Nazar Hussain, a security guard. The attackers left a note claiming the attack were by followers of Daulat Islamia Khurasan (Islamic State Khurasan) and warned of more attacks on media.

Another attack where the responsibility was claimed by activists of Daulat Islamia Khurasan (Islamic State Khurasan) was on December 1. The attackers threw a hand grenade at Lahore offices of Din News that injured the organization’s receptionist Masood Mukhtar as well as two police constables, Mohammed Ijaz and Nasir Abbas. In this incident also, the attackers left a t note threatening the media.

Another incident of attack on a DSNG was occurred November 27 in Karachi, when unidentified armed men opened fire on the DSNG van belonging to Dawn News and injured its engineer Hassan Mateen. No one claimed responsibility for the attack.

Another attack by a homemade explosive device was on Express News office in Sargodha on December 7. In this attack, Masood Mukhtar, a security guard of the television channel, received injuries. Nobody claimed the responsibility for the attack.

Journalists detained

Illegal detention and abduction of journalists is a common occurrence in conflict areas and tribal areas of the country. Law enforcement agencies, militants and civil administration routinely indulge in abductions and illegal detentions to threaten journalists who do not tow their line. In most cases, families and colleagues of the detained journalists prefer to plead for their release rather than publicize the illegal actions, for fear of harm to those detained.

The two cases given below are examples of such detentions in 2015.

On October 10, Frontier Constabulary (FC) personnel raided the house of Rahat Shinwari, a correspondent of an Urdu daily, Ausaf, in Landi Kotal, a town of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan. They blindfolded and handcuffed him and took to an unknown destination. He as released the next day without giving reason for his detention.

On 31 March, the security forces detained Nasrum Minallah, a correspondent of Express Tribune, along with Haji Pazir Gul, a correspondent of Dawn and Abidullah Amin of Roznama Pakistan and his brother Shafiqullah Amin. They were detained for 10 hours at Kajori check post in North Waziristan Agency (NWA) near Pak-Afghan border as they were going for the coverage of internally displaced persons (IDPs)

Manhandling of media personnel

The PPF report also recorded a number of cases of manhandling and harassment of media workers in the year 2015.

On 20th December, Muhammad Ansar, a reporter of Aaj News television channel was manhandled by police for covering the allegedly illegal closure of sugar mills in Tando Muhammad Khan, a district in the southern part of Sindh province in Pakistan.

On August 20, security guards of Liaquat National Hospital (LNH) Karachi manhandled eleven media persons who arrived there to cover the expected visit of Prime Minister Mian Muhammad Nawaz Sharif. Those manhandled included Danyal Sayyed, reporter of AbbTakk News; Tanveer Ahmed reporter of Dawn News; Talha, cameraman of Dawn News; Arif Khan, cameraman of Aaj News; Khawar Khan, reporter of Geo News; Rajab Ali, reporter of NEO TV; Taha Ubadi, reporter of Dunya TV; Kafeel Ahmed, reporter of AAJ TV; Muhammad Ashad, reporter of C 92; Waqas Lodhi, cameraman of Metro TV and Imran Yameen, cameraman of Dunya TV.

On May 23, the Special Security Unit (SSU) of the police beat up reporters, photographers and cameramen while they were covering the appearance of Dr. Zulfiqar Mirza outside the Sindh High Court (SHC) in Karachi. The police used wooden staffs to beat them and also damaged their equipment.

Journalists and media workers booked in false cases

On June 2, eleven journalists and media workers were booked in false cases. Three of them were charged under Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA). Those charged claim the real reason for registering criminal cases against journalists and media workers was because they covered the activities of Dr Zulfiqar Mirza, who had broken away from Pakistan People’s Party (PPP),

Those who had cases registered against them included Mumtaz Memon and Niaz Memon of the daily Sindh; Yousuf Jani and Dir Murad Mari of the daily Koshish; Shankar Kumar and Meharrudin Mari of the daily Hilal e Pakistan; Shafqat Pinyaro of the daily Sindh and Express News, Aachar Azeem of the daily Tameer e Sindh; Murtaza Memon of Neo TV, and Haji Khan Lashari of daily Koshish.

Pakistan Press Foundation

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemns the government’s failure to respond to a wave of attacks on media outlets throughout Pakistan in recent weeks and the absence of effective measures to protect news organizations and journalists.

In the latest attack, two individuals on a motorcycle threw a homemade bomb at the bureau of the TV news channel Express News in Sargodha, in the eastern province of Punjab, on 7 December, injuring a security guard and damaging one of its vehicles.

Express News is regarded as a liberal news organization and has been the target of previous attacks that were claimed by the Taliban.

The Sargodha attack came just six days after militants threw a grenade at the Din News channel’s bureau in the Punjabi capital of Lahore, injuring an employee and two policemen. They also scattered Islamic State leaflets threatening to continue attacking media outlets until they “revert to neutral journalism” and “side with truth that is Sharia and Islam.”

The attackers fled on a motorcycle and since then no arrests have been made.

An arson attack on Gawahi Television, a Christian Web TV station in the southern city of Karachi, on 24 November destroyed its studios and computer equipment. The station had been the target of threats, which were reported to the Karachi authorities. Surveillance cameras had been installed, but they were also destroyed by the fire.

Three Dunya News employees were injured when militants on a motorcycle threw a grenade at the TV station’s bureau in the northeastern city of Faisalabad on the evening of 20 November. After the attackers fled, pamphlets of Islamic State’s Khorasan branch were found at the scene.

“We deplore the lack of action by the authorities, who are displaying a complete absence of political will to protect the media,” said Benjamin Ismaïl, the head of RSF’s Asia-Pacific desk.

“Extremist groups had threatened all of these media outlets. The local authorities should have taken energetic measures to protect their staff. It is time that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government reacted and responded to the calls from media defence NGOs and Pakistani journalists’ unions.”

RSF urges the Pakistani authorities to:

Allocate more material and human resources to monitoring and protecting news media staff
Organize the reinforcement of the security of media premises (guards, surveillance cameras, entrance barriers and so on)
Establish an effective alert system that allows the police to intervene quickly in the event of an attack.

According to some Pakistani journalists, the extremist groups are stepping up their attacks on media outlets with the aim of getting them to resume covering the activities of these groups. After an attack on a Peshawar school in December 2014 that killed more than 100 children, the authorities banned the Pakistani media from covering the activities of militant and terrorist groups.

Ranked 159th out of 180 countries in the 2015 Reporters Without Borders press freedom index, Pakistan is one of the pilot countries of the UN Plan of Action on the Safety of Journalists and the Issue of Impunity.

Reporters Without Borders

He said that the sit-ins of the PTI and PAT had inflicted huge losses on the country.He said that the government would not allow anyone to crush Geo and the Jang Group as the illegal closure of Geo and the continuation of attacks on the offices of Geo TV echoed in the joint sitting of both the houses of parliament.

Senator Mushahidullah Khan said that Mehmood Ghaznavi had not attacked the temple of Somnath as many times as the Geo offices had been attacked in recent days.“What Imran Khan is today it is just because of Geo, which painted him as a hero,” he said.

Senator Mushahidullah said Geo would rise again and the powers that be would also see its rise.He said, “Geo and the Jang group are the biggest media group of the country and have been rendering services for Pakistan for the last 70 years. All the institutions have committed mistakes but this did not mean that mistakes should never be pardoned. If anyone commits mistakes, they could be challenged through legal and constitutional means not through the use of force.”

Senator Mushahidullah Khan said that parliament had to play its role in support of Geo as it was not only an issue of Geo but also a national issue. ‘The offices of Geo are being stoned on a daily basis, the vehicles and newspapers of the Jang group are being burnt. We will not allow anyone to use force if anyone has made a mistake,” he added.

He said institutions should resolve those issues that were tasked to them. He said he was critical of Geo, as what Imran Khan was today was due to Geo which gave him wide coverage in the past.He said that the government would not allow anyone to crush Geo and the Jang Group.

He said issues could be resolved if every institution performed its duty. Senator Mushahidullah said that the sit-ins had inflicted $1 billion loss to the country. He said that the PAT chief had come to Pakistan as part of a great game. He said that Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri were following a secret agenda. After becoming part of a great game being followed in the world, they had succeeded in getting the Chinese president’s visit to Pakistan postponed.

He paid rich tributes to the people of Pakistan as they did not become part of the civil disobedience movement launched by Imran Khan.The PML-N Senator said that the abusive language used during the 34-day sit-ins had not been used in the 68-year history of the country.

He also paid homage to the opposition parties for siding with the government in saving democracy and the Constitution.He said that rigging and Model Town tragedy were not part of their agenda. He said Dr Qadri came to the federal capital in 2012 but he returned after minting a lot of money.

Senator Mushahidullah expressed his belief that conspiracies against democracy and parliament will die down and the so-called champions of revolution and independence will have to bite the dust.“Imran Khan and Dr Tahirul Qadri are carrying forward the hidden agenda of their foreign masters to ruin the country’s economy and are misguiding innocent people in the name of a ‘new Pakistan’ and a revolution,” he said.

Senator Mushahidullah Khan said the entire parliament is united for its supremacy and democracy despite all of political differences and it is a clear message for all those conspiring against parliament and democracy.He said despite the fact that dictators hanged or killed political leaders, they remained alive in the form of their followers and parties. “But dictators have been forgotten long ago,” he said.

He said today once again conspiracies are being hatched against parliament and democracy openly or secretly. “But the conspirators must know that they will fail. No one will be allowed to cast an evil eye on parliament and it will stay intact and continue to function,” he added.

He said, “Sit-ins and protests are an eyewash as there is a hidden agenda of these two leaders who have mistaken parliament for a cricket ground.”

The senator said if every institution of the country starts working within their constitutional jurisdiction, there will be no problem in the country. If columnists start politicking and politicians start writing articles and if other institutions start conspiring against democracy, it will worsen the situation, he said.

He said these so-called leaders should learn a lesson from history and understand that whenever any force conspired against democracy, parliament and politicians survived.

He alleged that Dr Qadri is inciting innocent people in the name of Model Town killing. “But I say that whenever a genuine investigation of that incident is held, Qadri himself will be found involved in the incident because it was part of the plan to derail democracy.”

He said, “People have rejected the demands of Imran Khan regarding non-payment of bills, civil disobedience and submission of remittances through Hundi and for this we salute Pakistanis living within the country and abroad.”

Mushahid said both Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri have received money for all this drama from their foreign masters and its plan was chalked out at secret meetings within the country and abroad.

He also objected to the language used at the sit-in and asked what message they are sending to the youth of this country. They are victims of their ambitions and are least bothered that they have caused billions of losses to the national economy.

He said their focus was to ruin the economy and hamper the visit of Chinese president wherein the agreements of billions of dollars were to be signed, he added.He said the political leadership deserves appreciation for showing unity for the sanctity and dignity of the parliament.

While expressing resentment over lingering and result-less negotiations among Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and the government, Senator Saleh Shah said a tribal jirga could resolve the issue within a week.

Senator Shah said the issue of sit-ins should be resolved as soon as possible as country’s leadership and democracy were being disgraced by Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri.

Lauding patience and political acumen of Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif and opposition to deal with sit-ins, he said all parties were unanimous to protect democracy and constitution.

Criticising PTI chairman Imran Khan for using derogatory language against political leaderships of the country, he said dirty talk must be avoided. “Government must take care of internally displaced persons (IDPs),” he said.

Abdul Rahim Mandokhel of Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP) said the nation and political parties were united for protecting the constitution of the country. He said the parliament being the supreme body will protect the constitution as well as the rights of the people.

He rejected allegations of rigging in 2013 general elections and said the demands of those staging sit-ins for resignation of prime minister are not democratic and constitutional.

He said the army should not be dragged into politics as it has no links with the current political turmoil.

Rashid Godail of the MQM called for early resolution of current crisis saying it is adversely affecting the economy.He said Pakistan Army is engaged in war against terrorism and we should all stand behind it. He said more provinces should be created and local bodies system enforced for bringing prosperity in the lives of the people.

Ayaz Soomro of the PPP said attacks on the national institutions amount to attack on the whole nation.He said those having contradiction in the words and deeds cannot be the leaders of the poor people.

He said the conspiracies of protesting leaders against the constitution and the system stand exposed before the nation. He said PTI and PAT will get nothing from the sit-ins except failure and disappointment. He said negotiations should be continued with the two parties for amicable solution of the matter.

Disgruntled legislator of the PTI Nasir Khan Khattak said the House should pass a resolution to condemn those elements whose acts led to the postponement of the Chinese president’s visit. He said today China and India are writing a new chapter in their relations while Pakistan appears to be standing alone in the world.

He said the parliament should send a message through resolution that Pakistan values its relations with its old and time tested friend China and looks forward for the visit of the Chinese President.

During the debate, the parliamentarians continued expressing their support to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and dubbed Imran Khan and Dr Qadri conspirators against democracy.

Senator Saleh Shah criticised Imran for using derogatory language against the political leaderships of the country.He said “dirty talk” must be avoided. “Perhaps Imran wants to introduce a new leadership in his new Pakistan by discrediting the existing leadership,” he added.

Ayaz Soomro of the PPP said parliament stands with Prime Minister Nawaz and will not allow anyone to seek the resignations of the prime minister.Rasheed Godil of the MQM asked MPs to listen to what the dharna stagers were saying and to resolve the issue.

The News

The PCP told the authorities that the freedom of press, free flow of information and right to know is the fundamental right of every citizen of Pakistan guaranteed under Article 19 & 19-A of the Constitution of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan. It said no one has right to force or put pressure in any way on the media to toe his line and to get news of his choice. It said the freedom of press is to be ensured at every cost.

Under sub-section 1(i) of Section 8 of the PCP Ordinance, the freedom of press is to be preserved. Similarly, under sub-section 2 of Section 8 of the PCP Ordinance, 2002, it is statutory obligation of the PCP “to act as a shield to freedom of press or against any sort of interference in the proper functioning of the press, by any person, party or organisation etc”. Attacks on the media are not only condemnable but are also tantamount to causing interference in the dissemination of information to the general public. Such action is not a good sign and cannot be justified in democratic norms and culture.The PCP requested the concerned authorities to take appropriate action in the matter and provide proper security to media houses.

The News

On Sunday, protesters pelted stones at and damaged the offices of the privately owned Geo TV and struck a Geo News satellite van with batons, the channel reported. Early Monday, protesters armed with sticks stormed the headquarters of the state-run Pakistan Television (PTV) and harassed staff, damaged broadcast equipment, and cut cables, leading to a temporary block in transmission, according to news reports. Although the army eventually brought the situation under control, the ability of anti-government protesters to get inside a building the military was apparently guarding prompted some to question the army’s role, the BBC reported.

For nearly two weeks thousands of protesters, led by the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) leader Imran Khan and anti-government cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri, have been camped out in Islamabad, after a march to the capital to call for the resignation of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over allegations of electoral fraud, a charge he denies. Government officials believe the protests are backed by the country’s powerful military establishment, according to reports. The military, which has been at odds with the Sharif administration on a range of issues since his election last year, has led several coups in the past, one of which removed Sharif from power in 1999. Already, the military has pressured Sharif to relieve control of foreign policy and security issues according to government aides, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Several journalists covering the anti-government protests for outlets including ARY News, Aaj TV, Samaa TV, and Geo have come under attack, as we noted earlier.

Against this backdrop of unrest, last week we documented death threats against freelance columnist and retired army officer Kamran Shafi, who had been critical of the anti-government movement and military. Ansar Abbasi, investigative editor at the privately owned The News International also received a death threat from the same email account, using the name “Khaki Power”, around the same time. The News is part of the Geo/Jang group–which has been labeled anti-establishment and traitorous by many Pakistanis loyal to the military since the attack on Hamid Mir, an anchor and columnist for the group.

The threats in Shafi’s case did not end there. Today, he received another threat from a different email address, albeit the same and seldom-used domain name, telling him: “And make no mistake, you can be bumped off with 1 phone call giving it a ‘go’. Traitor. You dont deserve to breathe air in this country nor walk it’s [sic] soil.”

To read the full threat sent to Shafi click here.

Similar threats have been sent to several other journalists. Omar Quraishi, the editorial pages editor for the privately owned Express Tribune, received the following disturbing message from the same email account that sent the latest threat to Shafi:

From: “SSG” <ssg@safe-mail.net>
Date: 29 Aug 2014 11:20am
Subject: Notice
To: <omarrquraishi@gmail.com>
Cc:

Quraishi – consider this your ONE and ONLY notice. Watch your mouth. If you utter rubbish again, I will personally see to it that you leave this world covered in your own urine.. begging for forgiveness. How does that sound? Shut your mouth or I will gladly shut it for you for ever.

Quraishi told CPJ he believes the threat is in connection with recent tweets, in which he has been critical of the military and of supporters of the campaigns led by Khan and Qadri.

On Sunday, Ahmad Noorani, an investigative journalist at The News, also received a death threat from the same e-mail address.

Threats against journalists in Pakistan are never to be taken lightly. CPJ research shows that at least half of all journalists murdered in the country were threatened before they were killed.

Pakistan’s advanced surveillance capabilities, recently highlighted by Sohail Abid, from local internet rights group Digital Rights Foundation, should be capable of tracing the source of these threats. Commentators including Shafi, have questioned how threats such as the ones made against him can go untraced by the country’s powerful intelligence agencies.

Even before the current political crisis, Pakistan is one of the deadliest places for journalists. On Friday, 28-year-old Ihsan Ali, an assistant to the bureau chief of the Urdu-language Mashriq, a privately owned daily, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in Mardan district–a case we are currently investigating. Last week, three employees, including journalist Irshad Mastoi, were shot dead at the Quetta offices of the independent news agency Online International News Network.

Sadly, amid this political crisis, views in the media have become polarized, and rivalries and infighting have reached new levels. Independent and critical voices are suffering at a time when the public needs them more than ever in Pakistan. Until the Pakistani media can achieve some level of solidarity they have little hope of combating the risks of being a journalist, CPJ research shows.

Sumit Galhotra is the research associate for CPJ’s Asia program. He served as CPJ’s inaugural Steiger Fellow and has worked for CNN International, Amnesty International USA, and Human Rights Watch. He has reported from London, India, and Israel and the Occupied Territories, and specializes in human rights and South Asia.

Committee to Protect Journalists

The media persons came under attack while they were covering heavy police teargas shelling on PTI and PAT activists who are continuing their protests police beat up the media persons ruthlessly and also damaged vehicles of seven media houses. The attack on media persons has widely been condemned across the country.

The injured media persons were Khuram Fayaz, Samma TV cameraman; Ajab Khan, Samma TV cameraman; Awais Qazi, Samma TV cameraman; Atif Yousuf, Waqt TV cameraman; Imran Iqbal, Waqt TV cameraman; Mohammad Zahid, Waqt TV DSNG operator; Jameel Kiyani, Waqt TV driver; Essa Naqvi, Dunya TV reporter; Asad Ayub, Dunya TV reporter; Adnan Dunya TV DSNG Engineer; Anjum Fatemi, Dunya TV cameraman; Asif Abdullah, ARY News cameraman; Iqbal Zaib, ARY News cameraman; Kashif Abbasi, DawnNews cameraman; Naushad Abbasi, DawnNews cameraman; Yasir Malik, DawnNews reporter; Samar Abbas, DawnNews reporter; Ashfaq Hussain, DawnNews cameraman; Imran Chaudhry, DawnNews cameraman; Mansoor Ahmed, DawnNews cameraman; Amir Alam, Express News cameraman, Majid Shah, Express News cameraman, Usman Afzal, Express News Cameraman; Rana Tariq, Aaj TV reporters; Haroon Khursheed, Aaj TV cameraman; and Ghulam Ali, Aaj TV cameraman.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Pakistan Broadcasters Association, Hyderabad Union of Journalists, Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists, National Press Club and various other journalist organizations have strongly condemned the incident and demanded action against the police.

On September 1, hundreds of activists of PTI and PAT barged into headquarters of state owned Pakistan Television (PTV). All entrances to PTV headquarters were occupied by protesters as they began to damage the property, working their way through the first, second and third floors. Wires were cut off as protesters entered the panel room.

They took over the programming control room after which transmission was taken off air temporarily. However, the transmission was later restored after the army intervened and expelled the protesters from the PTV building.

The attacks on Sunday and Monday followed attacks on 12 media workers and on media houses in since the start of the protests by PIT and PAT on August 14.

Pakistan Press Foundation

The message is headlined, “The Global war of ideologies and the behavior of media: To the heads and members of the organizations working for the rights of media members around the world” and lays out the TTP’s anger with Pakistani media coverage of the military’s anti-insurgency campaign in Waziristan, ongoing since early June.

The campaign is known as Zarb-e-Azb, which translates into “strike of the Prophet’s sword,” and the army calls it a “comprehensive operation.” The offensive is bloody, as will be the case when military forces go into civilian areas to root out insurgents. There has been a fairly high death count, lots of destruction of homes, and a large number of displaced civilians. The proverb “When elephants fight, it is the grass that gets trampled,” is especially true in this conflict.

Not for the first time, Pakistan’s military has made independent media coverage of the fighting extremely difficult, though not impossible. Because of the restricted coverage, the TTP is accusing the Pakistani media of betraying its journalistic mission by behaving “towards us in this battle in such a way that is even against its own principles. To spread false and baseless news, make propaganda against us on behalf of our enemies and playing the role of war propagandists,” the Taliban considers to be “irresponsible, thoughtless and criminal behavior.”

My interpretation is that the TTP is losing the media battle to present its side of the conflict, and is not pleased with the situation. Given that the fighting doesn’t look to end any time soon, and the government is dominating the news flow from the battlefield, the TTP is threatening to take its frustrations out on Pakistani journalists in an attempt to reverse the information war it is losing.

The threat to us, and Reporters Without Borders and our other sister groups, is not as menacing as the threat directed toward journalists in the TTP’s message. It seems to signal that there will be more attacks on the media, most likely in the near future: “This message is aimed at making you aware that if we get engaged in attacking them [the media] then no crying and sobbing will be heard and we think accomplishing our legitimate and decent mission without attending to criticism of any criticizer is our appropriate right.” In other words, media support groups like CPJ shouldn’t start complaining when the TTP starts attacking journalists. The apparent threat to us and our international colleagues seems clearest with the statement, “We want to remind you that we always remember our enemies.” We should not criticize the TTP by “crying and sobbing,” that is to say, by doing our job of supporting Pakistani journalists.

The TTP has always been media savvy, if not always media friendly. Their spokesmen are readily available and return calls quickly, and the groups maintain websites and social media accounts for both publicizing their victory claims and recruiting. This sort of message is not unlike them.

For their part, Pakistani journalists have long been under pressure from every group with a political or criminal agenda in the country–the military and intelligence agencies, the many militant groups (including the TTP), political parties, local strongmen, and criminal thugs. We have written about how journalists are under constant threat no matter what their political slant, and how they can be harassed, abducted, beaten, and killed with near-perfect impunity.

So as a service to our Pakistani colleagues in the media we will pass along this latest threat, one in a steady never-ending stream of threats, from a group with the power to wreak real mayhem and murder. For almost all of colleagues, it’s not the first time they will be threatened. And just as journalists in Pakistan will keep doing their jobs, CPJ will keep on publicizing the attacks on them from any quarter, drawing attention to the increasingly unstable situation in which they find themselves.

Committee to Protect Journalists

According to a press release issued here on Friday, central leaders of both the unions in a meeting led by PFUJ President Afzal Butt reviewed in detail the situation of Geo after April 19’s life attempt on Geo News anchorperson Hamid Mir, attacks on the Jang Group journalists and burning of The News, Jang newspaper vans.

The PFUJ and APNEC leaders also strongly condemned the illegal decision of closing the Geo News by cable operators. They also demanded of the concerned quarters that after completing the 15-day ban on Geo News, the same should not be extended in any plea and no hurdles be made for Geo in performing its professional and journalistic activities.

They also decided that PFUJ, APNEC and all press club bodies would visit the Geo offices throughout the country to express solidarity with them on June 7 (today). Meanwhile, civil society and media leaders, in a meeting held at the Safma Secretariat, condemned the suspension of Geo News for 15 days by Pemra and termed it an assault on the freedom of expression and democratic values according to a press release.

Attacks on journalists and media houses with impunity and strangulation of a media house is a stark reflection of authoritarian tendencies that may be fatal for the overall democratic dispensation, observed I.A Rehman, Director of Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Senior journalist Hussain Naqi lamented the disunity among the media ranks and called for unity among the media persons for the freedom of press and safety of journalists while criticising those forces who are using strong-arm tactics to muzzle the press.

While opposing the suspension of Geo, Tehreek-i-Insaf MNA Shafqat Mehmood expressed concerns about the way the media had been flouting its freedom by running vicious and slanderous campaigns against politicians. He emphasised that he was for more freedom and against restrictions with a greater sense of professional responsibility.

Commenting on the current state of the media, senior journalist Anjum Rashid said that never in the history, the media have so amateurishly undermined its own freedom to settle business scores. Educationist Abbas Rashid emphasised the need to view the press freedom and safety of journalists in the broader perspective of freedom of expression and right to life that cannot be compromised.

Columnist Kamran Shafi warned that attacks on the press will lead to attack on democracy and the Nawaz Sharif government should not have abdicated its writ in the face of unlawful conduct of certain forces.

Director South Asian Partnership Tehseen proposed that all the democratic forces must unite in defence of the freedom of press and democratic values. Editor Farah Zia said that the state institutions must follow tyhe due process of law and justice rather than clamping down on a media house and its workers.

Journalists from various media organisations lamented the current environment in which they are being forced to work against their conscience and called on media houses to allow professional editors to perform their role in keeping high professional standards and media ethics. They appealed to working journalists to unite against the attacks on their colleagues and protect their freedom and economic rights.

Summing up the consultative process, Secretary General of Safma Imtiaz Alam said that there cannot be any compromise on the freedom of expression and safety of citizens and journalists. We demand, he said, more freedoms and will stand up against the violation of fundamental human and civil rights, including a free media. Condemning the attacks on journalists and forcible shutdown of the Geo News, he said infighting between various media houses had undermined the very premise of press freedom and a divided media community cannot fight for a cause they have themselves demolished.

Alam said freedoms and rights are indivisible and can be fought and defended by all the democratic forces together as a part of strengthening the democratic values and democratic system. He warned against those adventurous elements that are resorting to unconstitutional and illegal means to impose their will or trying to pitch the media against the national security institutions. He said the media was bound by the Constitution not to bring armed forces and the judiciary in disrepute. He underlined the necessity to expand the horizon of freedoms while accepting the greater responsibility to use their freedom with care and professional caution. He cautioned against further aggravating the current tussle between the Jang Group and the military establishment. The time is for fire-fighting and not for adding fuel to the fire as some elements are desperately trying, he observed. He emphasised the need to adopt a legal course of action and called upon parliament, political parties and civil society organisations to play their due role in resolving the current tussle between a section of the media and the armed forces that deserve the support of the whole nation in its struggle to eliminate the scourge of terrorism.

The participants resolved to convene a national conference in defence of the freedom of expression, tolerance, democratic values, observing due process of law, a responsible and free media and strengthening the constitutional role of all state organs within their respective spheres.

Our correspondent adds from Lahore: The governing body of Lahore Press Club (LPC) on Friday condemned the Pemra’s decision to suspend the Geo News for 15 days as a punishment for running an alleged campaign against the ISI and its chief in April.

In a statement, the LPC Governing Body members, while terming the move as an economic murder of journalists, demanded immediate withdrawal of the decision.

LPC President Arshad Ansari, Vice-President Afzal Talib, Secretary Shahbaz Mian, Joint Secretary Farzana Chaudhry, Treasurer Asif Chaudhry and others made it clear that the journalist community would resist suspension of any channel and not accept dictatorial acts in the country.

They said no compromise would be made at the cost of media freedom and economic murder of journalists.They appealed to the civil society, lawyers, human rights organisations and the people of Pakistan to support the journalist community during the current crucial period.

They said Pemra had punished Geo today and other channels or media outlets could face the same fate if they did not stop their internal fight. They urged all media houses to get united at a single platform to defend the media and its freedom.They announced that a protest would be held outside the LPC on Saturday (today) at 5pm against the suspension of Geo News.

The News

According to a press release, most participants apprehended that the threat to press freedom may culminate into a greater threat to overall democratic values and constitutional framework.

Despite serious reservations expressed by some of the participants about the conduct of the media, the participants resolved to defend press freedom and oppose a ban on any media organisation.

The overall view was that with great freedom comer greater responsibility. Media requires a code of conduct without allowing the executive to undermine freedom of expression. The participants emphasised that all state institutions must follow a lawful course instead of resorting to strong arm tactics.

They condemned the attack on Hamid Mir and other journalists and called upon the government to provide security to working journalists. They called upon the media houses not to undermine the media freedom because of their business rivalries.

The participants called for ensuring economic rights and freedom of working journalists. On the current ongoing tussle between Geo and certain state institutions, the participants appealed to the parliament and the government to play their due role in ensuring due process of law. Representatives of PPP, PML-N, ANP, National Party and various media organisations participated in the meeting.

Express Tribune