2020 presents a grim picture for press freedom in Pakistan with multiple attempts to silence the voices of the media in the print, broadcast and online spheres.

The media in Pakistan continues to work under an environment of fear and significant constraints to press freedom. The year 2020, so far, has seen numerous attempts to silence journalists and media personnel. The use of criminal complaints, abductions and online harassment have created an environment where the media is operating under high pressure with little to no security, protection or accountability for the perpetrators of these attacks.

According to the report by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) to commemorate the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalist 2020 there have been a number of brazen attempts to intimidate and in turn silence journalists by picking them up and orchestrating their disappearances. The year saw two high profile abductions of journalists — Matiullah Jan from the capital, Islamabad and Ali Imran Syed in Karachi. Both cases were strongly condemned and the federal and provincial governments had ‘taken notice’ of the incidents. In both instances, the journalists were found safe hours after they went missing.

In Jan’s case, CCTV footage of the moments before he was abducted were circulated on social media. The Supreme Court of Pakistan took up the case of the senior journalist’s abduction and has recently rejected the report by the Islamabad Inspector General of Police.

In at least one instance during 2020, a journalist was murdered in what appeared to be an act in connection to his work. On February 16, the body of KTN news channel and Sindh-language daily Kawish, Aziz Memon, was found in a water channel in the  Naushahro Firoze district of the Sindh province.

These acts of picking up journalists show a worrying trend that appears to have been used to restrict press freedom in the country. In both cases, officials are yet to determine who was behind the acts. Such attempts of intimidation create an environment of fear for both the media and their loved ones. The lack of accountability or conclusive rulings to determine who was behind these abductions or disappearances, allows the perpetrators to get away scot free.

Journalists have also faced other forms of physical attacks such as being beaten, verbally threatened and arrested.

After being arrested in March,  almost eight months later, the Jang and Geo Media Group Editor in Chief Mir Shakilur Rehman is still imprisoned on the basis of an old property case. In at least five other instances, journalists have been arrested during 2020.

When they are not physically attacked, journalists are often threatened, a tool that can lead to self censorship by creating an environment of fear.

In August, investigative journalist Ahmad Noorani received life threats following the publication of his investigative piece regarding the business fortunes of former director general of the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) Retired Lt Gen Asim Saleem Bajwa.

Another common trend observed during this year was the registration of First Information Reports (criminal complaints) against media personnel. These criminal complaints use similar sections of laws such as the Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act, 2016 and the Pakistan Penal Code. The cases registered against journalists show a growing policing of their content shared on social media platforms and accuse them of anti-state content. This raises questions about the misuse or rather overuse of laws that regulate content. It also represents a growing intolerance against free expression online. Within the span of a week, three cases registered against media workers — The Express Tribune Editor Bilal Farooqi, former Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) Chairman Absar Alam and journalist Asad Ali Toor — were reported.

In 2020, journalists have faced threats not just physically but also online. Women journalists in particular have been subject to abuse and threats online. This shows that social media platforms, considered to be an open space for communication, have increasingly become areas for threats and abuse to be launched against media professionals. It also highlights the particular circumstances that women journalists in Pakistan have to work within.

During the year, the media regulatory authorities  — PEMRA and the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) — have appeared to be overactive with multiple directives to restrict, control and limit the sharing of certain content.

While these bodies are essential to ensure media content follows certain guidelines, during this year, they have restricted content that is vital for the public to form opinions, remain aware of key developments in the country and to be able to freely access information. Advice and directives issued by PEMRA have played the role of controlling the information that the public has access to rather than just creating guidelines for the media to follow.

There has also been a rise in the policing of content on social media platforms. Perhaps the most drastic of steps was the short term ban on popular social media app, Tik Tok, due to complaints of “immoral/indecent content” and the platform’s failure to comply with instructions to develop a mechanism for moderation.

In 2020, the spread of the COVID-19 has also created a new set of challenges for the media to work with including remote working, ensuring protocols are in place in newsrooms and most importantly ensuring the safety and health of media workers from the virus. Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) focused on the impact of the pandemic on the media in Pakistan in its annual report published on World Press Freedom Day. This report focuses on press freedom and covers the specific restrictions to press freedom that journalists have faced in light of their coverage of the coronavirus.

At the same time, the rhetoric of the ruling party and Prime Minister Imran Khan has been dismissive towards the threats to free expression faced in the country. In an interview in September, the premier said that it was the government and ministers that felt “unprotected” not the media. He said that in Pakistan’s history, no government had received the criticism that they are.

While the media faces attacks from all fronts — whether in the physical or online sphere– and operates within a shrinking space for free expression, perpetrators of these attacks continue to enjoy impunity for their crimes. Both provincial and federal governments officials issue statements and take notice of incidents but there are very few instances of conclusive results of investigations of such incidents. Those who employ tactics to silence the voices of the media and to create an environment where journalists resort to self censorship are further emboldened by the lack of action against those who attack the media.

Gohar Wazir, a reporter of Khyber News television channel who arrested for interviewing Mohsin Dawar, leader of Pashtun Tahafuz Movement (PTM) a ethnic movement for Pashtun human rights was released on May 29.

On May 26, ten PTM activists were killed while 15 others, including five soldiers sustained injuries in the crossfire in the Boyya area at the Kharqamar during a protest led by PTM leaders Dawar and Ali Wazir.

The journalist was arrested along with 22 other activists in Bannu, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK) on May 27, 2019. However, he was later released on May 29, after confirming that he was a journalist working covering the protest and was not himself a protester.  On May 29, Shaukat Yousufzai, Information Minister of KPK announced during a press conference that Wazir has been released and added that he was also chanting slogans during the rally of PTM.

According to the Deputy Commissioner, Bannu Atta ur Rehman,  the journalist and other protesters were charged under the Maintenance of Public Order Ordinance and sent to jail in Haripur

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt and Secretary-General Ayub Jan Sarhandi, in a joint statement condemned the arrest of Wazir and warned the government that they would not tolerate the restrictions on the press at any cost.

The Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) President Fida Khattak and General-Secretary Muhammad Naeem also condemned the arrest of a reporter and called for the immediate release of Wazir else they would stage protest.

Pakhtun Journalists Association (PJA) President Tahir Khan and General Secretary Gohar Mehsud in their joint statement, “termed the arrest of Wazir an attack on journalism and asked the Information Minister Mr. Yousafzai to intervene into the matter and must assure the earliest release of Wazir.”

Talking to Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) Secretary General of Bannu Press Club, Abdus Salam Baitab and Bureau Chief of Khyber News, Zahid Wazir also condemned the arrest of Wazir.

KARACHI : Patron-in-chief of Pakistan Hindu Council Dr Ramesh Kumar Vankwani has said that Pakistan is a free country where Hindu community enjoys religious freedom.

He made these remarks while addressing the Geeta Samelan ceremony, which was attended by thousands of Hindu people across the country.

Dr Ramesh Vankwani said that objective of dedicating Holi festival to Pakistan Day was to promote interfaith harmony and national unity. He regretted that few elements are targeting innocent minorities to fulfil their vested interests.

Dr Ramesh Kumar, who is also prominent Hindu lawmaker in National Assembly, also participated in the meetings of various commissioners and deputy commissioners.

During the meeting, implementation of Supreme Court ‘s orders regarding protection of minorities’ properties and law & order situation also came under discussion.

The meetings were attended by Commissioner Larkana, Nawab Shah and DCs of Shahdadkot, Kashmore, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, Nausheroferoz and Sanghar.

On the occasion, Dr Ramesh stated that patriotic Hindu community considers Pakistan beloved homeland (dharti mata), urging to take solid steps for protection of minorities’ rights.

The Nation

Fundamental rights are rights due to community by the state. They are imperative to the development of the individual, the society. They are enshrined in the constitution of a country. Fundamental rights also imply the preservation of property, optimum quality of life, and freedom of speech and of religious practice.

These views were expressed by Dr Sanaullah Abbasi, inspector-general of Police (IGP) of Gilgit-Baltistan, on Wednesday while addressing the students of the Shaheed Zulfikar Ali Bhutto Institute of Science and Technology (SZABIST) on the subject titled, “Fundamental Rights and Peace”.

Fundamental rights are enforceable by the judiciary and recognised by the state, he said. “There has to be justice in society and only the provision of fundamental rights can ensure justice.”

“Justice will make fault lines die out,” he said. By fault lines, he said he meant irritants like the ethnic divide, the urban-rural divide, the religious divide and so on so forth. He spoke of the Peace Index which, he said, had three main components: absence of violence, economic viability, and social justice

He said that the peace index in the far-flung, rural parts of Pakistan was very high. “Give the people their rights and there will be peace,” he said.

Noted women’s rights activist and social society figure Anis Haroon began her discourse by talking about religious freedom and cooperation and said, “We should facilitate the worship of the minority communities and cooperate with them.”

She said, “It is we the masses who have to struggle for the attainment of our rights. If we don’t, the consciousness of the society will die out.”

After this, her talk took a significantly gender-based turn and she talked of the formation of WAF (Women’s Action Forum) in 1981. She narrated in detail the opposition to the struggle for women’s rights by the obscurantists and misogynists and noted how at every step the women had resisted their moves. As a result, she said, so many anti-women laws had been repealed.

As for capital punishment, Abbasi said that nothing could be said very definitely. In certain societies, he said, capital punishment would be practical while in others it would be certainly an excess.

As for the missing persons in Pakistan, an issue which has been the cause of extreme turmoil for so many families, he said that the issue had brought Pakistan a really bad name internationally but said that efforts were afoot to deal with it.

Anis Haroon disapproved of capital punishment on the grounds that there was too much of miscarriage of justice and very often innocent people went to the gallows. As for the minorities, Abbasi said that he was against the term ‘minorities’ as they were absolutely equal members of society and the country. They were absolute full citizens, he said.

The talks were followed by an animated question-answer session.

The News

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF), in a letter to Mahmoud Abbas, President of State of Palestine and Palestinian National Authority has expressed concern over the attacks and detention of journalists, human rights activists and citizens for taking part in peaceful rallies on the current situation in the Strip.

PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali has strongly denounced the attacks on journalists and media workers and called on the authorities to immediately release the journalists without any charges.

According to the Palestinian Center for Development and Media Freedoms (MADA), at least 24 journalists and media workers were attacked by the security forces in Gaza Strip, since March 14, 2019.

The attacks included the arrest of 19 journalists and media workers, the journalists were physically assaulted during their arrest.

In addition Sami Yousef Issa, editing manager of the Bawabit Al-Hadaf news agency and Mahmoud Al-Louh, reporter of Sawt Alsha’b radio station as well as journalists Hassib al-Wazir, Mohammad al-Jaysh and Joma’aa Dalool were physically assaulted during these attacks.

The journalists arrested included, Nour al-Najjar, Osama al-Kahlout, Mohammed Abdul Salam al-Ashqar, Matar al-Zaq, Mustafa al-Dahdouh, Moin Mohsen, Fahad al-Khalidi, Moin Farajullah, Raafat al-Qudra, Majid Diab Qudeih, Ehab Fasfoos, Ahmad nasir Sahmood, Amer Ba’aloucheh, Bashar Taleb, Asim Shehadeh, Ahmed Al Shanabari, Hani Al-Agha and media students Amjad Halas and Osama Abu Sakran.

Though number of journalists were later released, but five journalists are still in detention, including the director-general of the Palestinian Broadcasting Corporation Raafat al-Qudra, the journalists Osama al-Kahlout, Amer Baalusha, and the journalism students Amjad Hailes and Osama Abu Sukran.

During the attacks, the journalists were also stopped from coverage, their equipment’s including the camera and mobile phones were also seized.

The wife of Osama al-Kahlout stated that on March 15, while Osama was broadcasting a live video on his Facebook page about the protests, some masked armed men from Hamas entered their house and started beating Osama with sticks, pushed his mother, damaged his equipment’s including the computer and then they took the journalist to the Deir al-Balah police station.

The armed men also assaulted the director of the Independent Commission for Human Rights Jamil Sarhan and the lawyer of the Commission Bakir Turkmani who were present at the house of Osama.

On March 14, Sami Yusuf Ibrahim Issa was also harassed by five plain clothed men, stopped him from coverage.

LAHORE: Zarrar Said, the author of latest international fictional thrill ‘Pureland’ and a master story–teller, emphasises that freedom of expression and speech are fundamental human rights and must be protected. No one can be hated because of his or her religion, sect and race, he viewed.

He expressed these views while talking to The News in an exclusive talk during the Lahore Literary Festival (LLF) at Alhamra Arts Council here on Sunday.

Zarrar Said, a Pakistani national, living in the USA, revealed that when he went abroad for study, he got familiar with the story of Dr Abdul Salam, who has great influence on the world, but unfortunately, he was not given deserving respect and worth in Pakistan. “By writing this novel I tried to tell the young generation to recognise their hero and his services. Such incident should not happen with another Abdul Salam, and that’s what I have conveyed through this book titled “Pureland”, he said.

History is witness to this hard fact that nations and countries progressed because of science. And, Salam was a world recognised, top of the line great scientist, unfortunately, he was not recognised in his own motherland where he was born and brought up. USA progressed because of science. Salam would have inspired a lot of people if he had been living in Pakistan, his own country. No society can flourish with hatred, Zarrar vehemently added. He said others are getting benefits from the achievements of this great man. However, Zarrar accepted the fact that hatred which has no boundaries and limitations is everywhere and in every country in one form or another. He added that hatred is prevailing in India and it is being spread even in USA too. About his novel ‘Pureland’ and Abdul Salam’s connection with it, Zarrar explained that Salam is the main character of his novel and it is purely fiction only. According to Zarrar, theme of the book is that a child is born in a village of Pakistan. He went abroad and got Nobel Prize. Because of patriotism he wants to come back home. Unfortunately, he could not come back to his motherland to serve it just because environment was not favorable for him.

Zarrar has already been nominated for the Prestigious Literary Award in Pakistan for this highly appreciated literary debut titled “Pureland”. According to many reviews, published in the internationally acknowledged newspapers and literary magazines in the West and USA, “Pureland” is already making a lot of waves in the international circles of the writers .Some of the reviews have stated that “Pureland” is dedicated to the late Dr Abdus Salam — “who loved a nation that never loved him back” — and the storyline as well as the blurb try to highlight this connection. It is Said’s attempt to grapple with the politics of Pakistan that makes this novel noticeable, apart from the fact that it signifies a promising first attempt. Zarrar Said is a New York-based finance professional who has just released his first book, “Pureland.”

Zarrar Said’s Pureland presents logical conclusion to that great act of collective and individual delusion. When Said’s novel begins, Pureland, obviously based on Pakistan, has been taken over by Caliphate. The narrator of the novel is (supposedly) a dreaded terrorist working for Caliphate, now under arrest for killing the scientific genius, Salim Agha. It is this terrorist/ assassin’s confession that provides us with the text of the novel.

“Pureland” is described as “a tour-de-force novel about a nation that has lost its way.” Task has been difficult for Said but he did not write this book for himself, it was a story that was waiting to be told. The magical realism in the story is visible throughout from the levitating saint to the witch-like mother. Said has even incorporated a love story amid the political aspects of the story between Agha and Laila Khan.

With “Pureland,” Said wanted to make sure his writing was relevant and easy to comprehend for the average reader because it has an important message for humanity. Moreover, ‘Pureland’ is a product of Zarrar’s profound desires to bring back the people to book reading.

“Cultures will suffer from prejudices that they keep. One example is Germany losing Einstein to anti-Semitism. MF Hussain spent the last years of his life in exile because of Hindu fundamentalists who wanted to slay him. In the same way, Pakistan lost out on Abdus Salam’s achievements,” Zarrar said and told a unique incident in which a European Professor, who is in Pakistan to teach Engineering at a local University, told me:“I am here from Abdus Slam Foundation, and I appreciate your dedicated feelings for the great man.” He added: “Salam is still giving back to his motherland even after death”.

At the end of the interview, Zarrar concluded the discussion with these words: “We cannot afford to be culturally monogamous, meaning we need multiple voices in our discourse in order to move forward”.

The News

Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) in a letter to Sheikh Jaber Al-Mubarak Al-Hamad Al-Sabah, Prime Minister of Kuwait has expressed concern over the decision of Electronic and Cyber Crime Combatting Department (ECCCD) to summon two human rights activists Abdul Hakim Al-Fadhli and Hamed Jameel for their social media activities.

PPF Secretary General Owais Aslam Ali in his letter, has condemned the attack on these two activists for promoting free expression on internet and urged the authorities to stop targeting the social media activists for their work.

According to Gulf Centre for Human Rights (GCHR), the interrogation started when Al-Fadhli reached at the ECCCD, affiliated to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) and focused on using his Twitter account to gather public in front of the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs.

Jameel was interrogated separately and was asked about making a fake Twitter account, which was used to attack two members of the Group of 80 supporting Saleh Al-Fadala, head of the Central Apparatus for Illegal Residents’ Affairs.

Al-Fadhli and Jameel both were transferred the same day to the Public Prosecution for Media and Cybercrimes and were later released on bail of 200 dinars each.

Rights activist Gulalai Ismail was released by Islamabad police late Wednesday, Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Hamza Shafqaat told DawnNewsTV.

However, according to the senior official, 17 of the 25 Pashtun Tahaffuz Movement (PTM) workers arrested a day earlier along with Gulalai for holding a protest demonstration outside the National Press Club were sent to Adiala jail after the completion of a verification process by police.

The official said that the workers were sent to jail under Section 3 (1) of the West Pakistan Maintenance of Public Order (MPO) of 1960.

Under the order, the 17 will remain jailed for a period of 15 days.

Gulalai, meanwhile, was released by Islamabad police, DC Shafqaat confirmed.

Earlier in the day, Gulalai’s father, Professor Muhammad Ismail, told Dawn.com that his daughter had been arrested on Tuesday.

According to Professor Ismail, the activist was picked up from outside the National Press Club in Islamabad while she took part in a protest against the controversial death of PTM leader Arman Loni in Balochistan on Saturday.

Police had initially shifted Gulalai to the G9 Women’s Police Station, Ismail told Dawn.com.

According to Gulalai’s father, she was shifted to an unknown location a few hours after the arrest.

“We are trying to trace her whereabouts but the police is not ready to share Gulalai’s location,” he had said, adding that so far no First Information Report (FIR) of the arrest had been registered at the time.

In October last year, Gulalai had been detained by airport officials in Islamabad following her return from London. She was later released on bail but her passport was withheld by airport officials.

The detention had been in connection with an FIR that Swabi police had registered on Aug 13, 2018 against 19 PTM leaders, including Gulalai, for their involvement in a public gathering in Swabi where PTM’s Manzoor Pashteen and Gulalai both addressed the crowd.

PTM is a rights-based alliance that, besides calling for the de-mining of the former tribal areas and greater freedom of movement in the latter, has insisted on an end to the practices of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances and unlawful detentions, and for their practitioners to be held to account within a truth and reconciliation framework.

Gulalai, a Pashtun and women’s rights activist, was in 2017 awarded the ‘Reach all Women in War’ Anna Politovskaya Award.

She co-founded a non-governmental organisation, Aware Girls, with sister Saba Ismail in 2002. The organisation aims to strengthen the leadership skills of young people, especially women and girls, enabling them to act as agents of change for women empowerment and peace building.

‘Immediate and unconditional’ release

In a statement shared on Twitter, Amnesty International South Asia called on Pakistani authorities to “immediately and unconditionally” release PTM protesters.

The rights group called on Pakistani authorities to “disclose the whereabouts” of Ismail who they said, “may have been subjected to an enforced disappearance”.

Dawn

Related Stories

The Express Tribune: PTM activist Gulalai Ismail released from detention

Business Recorder: Gulalai Ismail released from police custody

When Pakistan Television anchorperson Tanzeela Mazhar filed a case against the head of her department, an Inquiry Committee was set up to look into the matter. But, instead of properly investigating the issue, and questioning the accused, the committee asked Tanzeela ‘why she had not left the job if she was being harassed.’

Tanzeela was not the only one who had lodged a formal complaint with the PTV management. Another news anchor, Yashfeen Jamal, had also complained about the current affairs director making sexual advances and harassing the two women.

“In fact, once before someone else had complained about him too but nothing came out of it except that he became even bolder. When it came to us, he probably thought he could get away with anything — and he did,” says Tanzeela. She complained that he sexually harassed his subordinates and often forced them to sit in his office — the only seating place available in the department — and to spend unnecessary hours with him. “He would only advocate for those who did all these things with him and tolerated his vulgar sense of humour, while those who tried to stay away or remain at a professional distance would be discounted,” she explains.

“I went to three different managing directors at PTV, and all of them assured me that things would change, but they did not. He was so influential, they did not dare touch him, and he carried on with his ways.”

Eventually, both Tanzeela and Yashfeen were ‘punished.’ They were both taken off air by PTV through a notification issued on Jan 23, 2017. The reason given was that they had ‘defamed’ the organisation. Women who strive to bring light to injustices through the voice of the media are themselves often vulnerable against sexual harassment at the workplace

Tanzeela stayed on in PTV for about a decade trying to fight against the sexual harassment she had faced but eventually resigned in 2017. The man was still there though, with all his power.

Under Section 4(4) of the Protection Against Harassment of Women at the Workplace Act 2010: “The inquiry committee shall submit its findings and recommendations to the competent authority within 30 days of the initiation of inquiry.” A report is yet to be released, says Tanzeela, who along with Yashfeen, is still fighting the defamation case.

Ironically, this occurred in the state-run television channel. And it was not the only case of sexual harassment there.

At a private news channel, Mehwish* was subject to grievous sexual harassment by her own news director over a period of a few months.

“He would stare at me, call me and blatantly tell me to move to a private space so that I could talk ‘openly’, and worst of all told me he would give me monetary favours,” she said. The ‘favours’ were demands the employees had been making, such as pay raises, fuel cards and mobile phone allowances.

“He was around 60, old enough to be my grandfather,” she says. I was so upset by his behaviour, and by the attitude of those around me, that it took me a long time to develop a thick skin.”

At the time, Mehwish says that there was no inquiry committee. She complained to her own reporting manager who pretended not to understand what she was saying.

“Everyone — including all the women there — kept telling me the director was a ‘nice man’ and if he had asked for me to sit near him or to give him attention in some way, there was nothing wrong with that.

“The man actually told me to come to an out-of-city trip with him, and someone told me he often took women outside for trysts,” she said. “But the women kept telling me it was alright to go.”

With the absence of an inquiry committee, Mehwish went to the Pakistan Federal Union for Journalists (PFUJ) to lodge a complaint but was severely disappointed with their attitude. The only female on the committee was absent even though she knew about the case. The men were lax and uncompromising. “No report has come out even today,” she says.

Mehwish received a legal notice from the company for defamation, but it was never really taken to court. “My lawyer said they do this to irritate women,” she said. Before she left the organisation, Mehwish’s programmes were often spontaneously changed, or she found that the studio was booked, or her programme cut to live reporting.

The women who strive to bring light to injustices through the voice of the media are themselves employed by broadcasting and publishing companies who often fall silent, suppress the matter, or actively favour the accused, when it comes to protecting their own women workers against sexual harassment at the workplace.

“The feeling you get is that you are unsafe,” says S.K.*, a reporter who says she has faced harassment in the form of phone messages, verbal innuendos and attempts at physical contact from some of her own staff members. “And it hits you that no one will protect you in your vulnerability. You are very alone, and very helpless and there are people around you trying to isolate you further,” she says.

When Maimoona* joined a TV channel, the news controller called her to his office and told her that she could easily become an anchorperson with her ‘beautiful face and smile.’ “He said he would help me only if I smiled at him every day,” she says. He would offer to take care of logistical issues and do other favours. “When I rejected the offer, I was immediately shifted to a monitoring desk.”

Old-timers say these are age-old stories.

Former reporter, Shahnaz*, who is now in her 60s, believes that what “men will do to women — especially those entering the field — is known to everyone, but people prefer silence.”

In some places, women have a personal support network that allows them some kind of comfort but many of the complainants have said that it was hard to find support from other women in such situations. “The saddest part is that women do not support you, when you speak up about an incident,” says Tanzeela. “Because the slice of pie is so thin, women too resort to fight over it, and so usually blame victims of sexual harassment about the clothes they wear or, if they are confident, they perceive this as ‘asking for it’.”

This was the harsh lesson Mehwish learnt from her experience as well.

Right after she resigned from her job, Mehwish discovered that a petition was given to everyone to sign and declare she had defamed the organisation. “Ironically it was a handful of men who refused to sign it, while all the women readily signed it, with some of them making me out to be someone with a ‘loose character’,” she says. Mehwish was under severe duress for a long time after that.

An International Center For Journalists (ICFJ) survey from 2018, finds that two thirds of women journalists suffered gender-based online attacks. Around 58 per cent said they received insults about their character, 48 per cent received sexist insults, 22 per cent got sent obscene images, while 14 per cent received threats of rape. 46 per cent of the women said their work was devalued because of their sex.

These attacks also had a massive impact on women journalists. A massive 63 per cent said they had suffered from anxiety or stress, 38 per cent said they resorted to self-censorship while 8 per cent lost their jobs. 47 per cent of the women admitted that they did not report the abuse and, when they did, it was because their media management was helpful.

The Protection Against Harassment of Women in the Workplace Act should have changed everything. This is the only law that ‘criminalises’ workplace harassment. Under this law, there is a system in place for reporting the crime and for investigating it. But while the law was passed and devolved to the provinces by 2010, not many media organisations follow the directives. Some have been implementing the law only partially, while others not at all.

Only two or three organisations have a fully functioning inquiry committee as per law. Two leading media groups have implemented the law. Their inquiry committee takes every allegation seriously and aims to create an environment where women feel safe to work. While girls from lower socio-economic families are at risk, those who enter the field of journalism from better off backgrounds are also vulnerable.

CHANGING MINDSETS

Many women have had to give up their jobs only in order to get away from harassment. Urdu language and regional papers and broadcast channels are the worst when it comes to implementation of the law.

“There is always a culture that each media channel and publication reflects,” says a journalist from Rawalpindi. “From the ratio of male to female workers they keep, to the protection of women in the workplace, one can easily discern what kind of attitude the management has towards women, and subsequently sexual harassment.”

Mehmal Sarfaraz, a former member of the now defunct South Asian Women in Media (SAWM), says that back when there was no law to protect women, SAWM offered them a platform where they could complain about any kind of sexual harassment they were facing, among other issues. “We offered them psychological counselling and legal too, with the late Asma Jahangir being on board with us. But most girls said they cannot pursue.”

Sarfaraz observes that most of the women who are victims of sexual harassment belong from the lower socio-economic classes.

“Many of these girls also need the job [for more than career’s sake],” says Sarfaraz. “When they face sleaziness especially from their seniors, they tend to keep quiet rather than make waves and shout out about it. Vulnerability increases multifold because of class, for sure.”

This is partly the reason why there is more sexual harassment in Urdu and regional-language publications and channels. “Besides this, most of the staff there is male,” says Sarfaraz. “This I would say is across the newsrooms, regardless of language. Also within the media sector, it is rare that women are given senior positions responsible for operations, or editorial content.”

Farhana* was so sick of listening to crass comments that she was forced to protect her reputation. “I came from a very conservative family. For them it was the kind of situation where they were worried about what others would think even though I had been the one harassed. They ended up marrying me off in order to ‘protect’ my reputation,” she says. “My career, my entire professional identity all went down the drain. I had to reinvent myself.”

Sonia* from Lahore also belongs to a very conservative family. She had to work hard after her father passed away to support her siblings. The “nightmare” she had to face at work made matters worse. “A man in our office used to watch porn, then minimise it when I turned, but he made sure I caught some of it running anyway,” she recounts, still horrified by the experience.

Neither Farhana nor Sonia saw any warnings put up anywhere in the office premises warning against sexual harassment, or calling it a crime. No inquiry committee existed. Yet both of them worked in two of the biggest news channels.

“The only person I could complain to was my section head, a male, and I did not feel comfortable doing that,” says Farhana.

While girls from lower socio-economic families are at risk, those who enter the field of journalism from better off backgrounds are also vulnerable, says Sarfaraz. From listening to comments on the clothes they wear, to being subject to flirtatious advances, newly-recruited women probably have it worse than those who have been there since years.

WORKING WITH SHARKS

“My boss used a call me ‘bachay’,” says FW*, who works in a leading channel, “but all of a sudden one day he sent me suggestive pictures and began telling me his doctor had advised him to find someone he could have sexual relations with, as he wasn’t on good terms with his wife.” There was no committee to report to and “we had already seen what happened when an internee had complained to the section head about some boys harassing her. The next day everyone on that floor knew which girl had complained against whom.”

It is not easy or even possible at times to accuse a senior colleague or a man in a powerful position.

One TV channel is owned by a man who has been accused often of being ‘forward’ with the girls. Yet everyone knows no inquiry committee could hold him guilty. (Perhaps for that reason that channel does not even have one).

“Sometimes it’s also better just to ignore this rather than to complain, because the backlash is too great,” says SM*, a show producer.

Sarfaraz says in many of the cases, women learn to deal with it the best they can. “If they can give them what is known as a ‘shut up call’, then it’s good, but so many of these predators, especially the influential and powerful ones just cannot be stopped.”

As a result, many girls have had to give up their jobs only in order to get away from harassment. And at the same time, those women who are from the more privileged class have to also use the ‘class card’ in order to get some kind of consideration from their colleagues.

Maria*, an associate producer in a Lahore-based TV channel, says that because her uncle was a well-known academic she was treated with a little more respect, but she could see how the other girls were being mistreated.

What are some workplaces doing?

It remains to be understood why certain workplaces have not implemented the law in their buildings. Even questioning those in management has not yielded any answers. Some admit that the committees are indeed long overdue.

A senior editor in a Lahore-based English daily says that an inquiry committee was formed just recently. “Honestly we received one only complaint and we took care of it,” he says. “Through impartial investigation, we found the accused to be guilty and he was fired.” However their workforce, he says, is approximately less than 20 per cent female. “Women are very few in our organisation, but we have still always provided them with a positive work environment.”

In some places, a kind of ‘moral code’ exists, that tends to work without the existence of an inquiry committee. Even after eight years, the owners of these media houses prefer to solve issues of harassment or anything pertaining to matters that arise when men and women work together, on their own.

For example, Afshan* works in a well-known Urdu daily newspaper based in Lahore. It is owned by one of the biggest media families of the city. There is no inquiry committee but the owner has established such a strict code in the building that, she claims, “no one even dares think of sexual harassment.” The flip side to this is that when a couple genuinely interested in each other were found eating from the same plate, they were both fired without even listening to their side of the story.

“It was a bit overdone, to take this kind of action only to prove their morals,” says Afshan. “Having said that, we have no harassment issues. All the women who come to work, young and old, feel extremely comfortable working here.”

A newspaper’s inquiry committee representative believes a major stumbling block in implementing the anti-harassment law is the general disregard for following laws, across the country. But a bigger reason is probably ‘self-preservation.’ “If indeed a sexual harassment case does come up, media owners and management are scared, more than anything else, of it coming out in public,” he says. “Instead of acting to protect their female employees, they will instead cover it up. This is why they don’t bother with establishing a committee.” He adds that sometimes senior people are involved in sexual harassment cases and the employers don’t want that to get official prominence.

There is a lot of fear among men too of being accused of something which was construed as sexual harassment contrary to intentions. “A lot of things are sometimes misconstrued or even misrepresented,” says a desk in-charge, who says he was accused by a girl of sexually harassing her. “In reality I had absolutely no inclination of doing anything like that. She just did not like to take directions from me as a senior and, in fact, wanted to be given the position herself. She also threatened me once saying she would complain about me and I told her to go ahead and do it, because I was sure she would not find anything.”

There was a thorough and fair investigation by the inquiry committee of the organisation — one that is famous for giving women the benefit of the doubt — and the result was that they did not find him guilty.

“After her accusation, I fell into deep depression for a very long time, because I was not that kind of a man,” he says. “These things should not be misused.”

VICTIMS OF CULTURE

Workplace harassment has caused severe duress for women who have filed a complaint against perpetrators. Some women have seen others fall victim to the culture of misogyny by becoming part of it themselves.

GH* who is a reporter in one of the Urdu dailies says that there are two or three older women journalists who sometimes lure young women journalists and drag them along to meet men in the position of power. After that, the men start pursuing those girls by themselves. “In turn, these older women end up receiving clothes or something as compensation. I have been at the receiving end of such a situation but backed out just in time,” she says.

Afshan says that there is a growing acceptance of a sort of ‘casting couch’ culture in the industry. “It’s not always that they want a position,” she says, “but certain women are so vulnerable and so in need of a job that they end up tolerating harassment.”

There was a time, she says, when being spotted eating with your senior colleague or having coffee with him was considered taboo, but today it is more acceptable. “They won’t always ask for big favours either, so it becomes easier for women to do. They would ask for a cup of coffee with them, or to discuss something in their rooms, and women end up falling for this because they fear that if they speak out they will be ostracized.”

Journalist Shiraz Hasnat feels a woman can more than often control the situation if she knows where to draw the line from day one. “Some of our cameramen and NLEs are under-exposed and come from less educated backgrounds, and inevitably they do act in inappropriate ways,” he says. “Occasionally, I have had women come up to me and say they don’t want to travel or sit next to a certain man, so then it’s up to me as head of the department to protect them.”

Generally, the complaints that Hasnat receives, however, are of the nature that the attitude of these men is sexist towards working women. “I’d say sexual harassment starts from there. Initially it’s not sexual, but more like over-directing, or taunts, or pressurising the woman. At this stage, women should tell them off. I never even close the office door when I am talking to a woman, in order to make her feel comfortable.”

But why do men do it?

“It’s the mentality, it’s part of the culture that surrounds them,” says Hasnat. “A man who has seen his family’s women work would not do this.” He reiterates that if women ask for undue professional favours, such as having a man go the extra mile for her, instead of doing her own work, these men are in a way encouraged.

THE LAW

Working towards gender equality in the professional world remains an ongoing battle across the world. In a lnadmark move, Pakistan became the first country in South Asia to make special laws on sexual harassment. The law went through a 10-year gestation period, and had some esteemed women’s rights activists behind it, including Asma Jahangir, fighting for it to be passed in both assemblies.

Dr Fouzia Saeed, author of Working with Sharks, helped draft the bill. Unlike the other countries, says Dr Saeed, Pakistan has had its own ‘#MeToo’ campaign, but people don’t realise how it came about years ago. “In 2012, where we had a nationwide campaign, and in every gathering, women would come up and openly state incidents. We then went on with it in a very responsible manner. We made our laws and we got them implemented. We believe in due process for both men and women.

“I fully understand that when the harasser is a giant it is very difficult to bring him down and it is only social condemning that can bring him down but I am not in favour of media trials. There should be a formal complaint, investigation and accountability, preferably in confidence so that none of the party loses dignity while it is going on. Once the results are out then the social condemning is okay as we have to change the mindset.

“Among [print] journalists, there is a clear improvement,” she says. “But the problem is severe. The TV channels were the last ones to come on board and so many of them have still not even complied with the law. I think the journalist fraternity should wake up to this and actively clean out their own houses.”

In this regard, Saeed feels the Islamabad Press Club has taken many positive steps but there is a lot more to be done by the journalists. “There has been a very big change in mindset and especially the courage levels of working women. Now they feel that their dignity is their right. Before, sexual harassment was ‘buri baat’ [something bad] but now it is a punishable crime.”

Saeed also argues for following the process as outlined in the law rather than going directly for short-cuts. Those who want to appeal the decision of their workplace committees can appeal to the ombudsman’s office and after that ask the president to review. “We created the ombudsman office so that the woman doesn’t have to go through years of litigation,” says Dr Fouzia. “They are time-bound to give a quick remedy as per law but they are not doing so.”

Meanwhile, Barrister Mirza Taimur, who is fighting a case on behalf of a woman journalist, says that until lawyers and employees in an organisation do not receive proper training on sexual harassment, the problem will never be reduced. “We see campaigns and ads by Federal Bureau of Revenue (FBR) and the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) about corruption, but we rarely see campaigns about this law,” he says. “Lawyers don’t even know how to fight such cases.”

As far as Tanzeela is concerned, she will never give up her fight. “I have contacts, a forum where I can speak,” she says. “But it makes me feel very bad about the hundreds of women who don’t have support or space and so keep silent. But I won’t give up.”

Dawn