Karachi: Asharq Al-Awsat—Fears are growing among Pakistan’s journalists following a recent spate of killings and death threats against media workers in the country that have been linked to the Pakistani Taliban.

In response, some journalists have hired bodyguards to accompany them at work, while others have asked their families to leave the country.

Perceptions of danger have grown during the past year, as journalists have received an increasing number of threatening phone calls, text messages and other threats from Taliban spokesmen.

Senior Pakistani journalists interviewed by Asharq Al-Awsat said that the seriousness of the threat was brought home in mid-January, when three staffers from a leading media group were killed in a Taliban attack in Karachi. Gunmen riding on motorcycles shot dead three Express News workers after ambushing one of the channel’s vans while it was parked in the city. The Pakistani Taliban—the Tehrik-e-Taliban—claimed responsibility for the attack in a live telephone call from Afghanistan to Express News anchor Javed Chaudhry.

“We accept responsibility. I would like to present some of its reasons: At present, the Pakistani media is playing the role of [spreading] venomous propaganda against the Tehrik-e-Taliban. They have assumed the [role of] opposition. We had intimated the media earlier and warn it once again that [they must] side with us in this venomous propaganda,” Tehrik-e-Taliban spokesman Ehsanullah Ehsan told Express News.

“We have warned Express News a number of times. I have contacted Express News myself and conveyed to them our grievances,” he added.

This attack changed everything for Pakistani media workers. Suddenly the threats which journalists had been receiving from unknown sources via telephone calls and through text messages, with callers usually identifying themselves as Taliban, assumed an even more sinister dimension.

Several journalists told Asharq Al-Awsat that following the attacks, several senior journalists and owners of media outlets have sent their families out of the country.

Asharq Al-Awsat interviewed a s senior Pakistani journalist about the issue. Seated in his office at a distance from its large windows, a small precaution against a potential bomb blasts or sniper bullets, he said that the Tehrik-e-Taliban had access to accurate intelligence about journalists and the organizations they work for.

“The threats the Taliban are issuing are not meant only for the high profile figures of Pakistan’s media. A number of [junior] reporters have also received these threats from the Taliban,” said the journalist, on condition of anonymity.

He continued: “It’s not just us, the faces on TV. They know the personal numbers of in-house employees, and people in charge of different newsdesks and bureaus, the people no one outside the organization or a small circle would know about. Who is giving them these numbers?”

There are now reports in the media that the Taliban are planning to attack high-profile members of the Pakistani media in order to make a bigger impact, such as a TV anchor or the editor of a national newspaper.

One of Pakistan’s leading journalists, Hassan Abdullah, recently visited Afghanistan and claims to have seen the “hit list” of Pakistan’s leading journalists prepared by the Taliban.

“The initial hit-list prepared by the Tehrik-e-Taliban names nearly two dozen journalists and publishers. It includes the names of a number of media-group owners, the news heads of various television channels, prominent anchors, the editor of a leading English-language newspaper and even some field staff,” Hassan Abdullah writes in one of his most recent reports.

These threats to the media were recently underlined when the Taliban’s spokesman launched a diatribe against the media in one of his videos messages, released in December.

“The job of a journalist is to be fair and tell all sides of a story,” claimed Ehsan. “But we know of journalists who are completely one-sided propagandists. We even know of journalists who work as spies for the police and other departments.”

“But later on it was decided that the media was basically the institution driving this war and public opinion. When it is already defaming us, we really don’t have much to lose and may as well deal with the media as a party to this war,” he said.

“Even at this stage the media could mend its ways and become a neutral entity,” asserted Ehsan. “Otherwise, the media should not feel secure. A few barriers and security escorts will not help. If we can get inside military installations, media offices should not be too much of a challenge.”

The Taliban threat to the media has assumed a more sinister cast at a time when the Pakistani government is planning to initiate dialogue with the militant organization. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the formation of a four-member committee to hold talks with Taliban. Two members of this committee are prominent journalists Rahimullah Yusufzai and Irfan Siddiqui.

After a recent meeting of negotiators between the government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban, both sides said that “there should be no activity by either side which can potentially harm the peace efforts.” Today, journalists in Pakistan wonder if this includes attacks on them.

ASHRAQ AL-AWSAT

Chief Justice Sindh High Court Justice Maqbool Baqar has ordered the IG Sindh to expedite the pace of investigation into killing case of three employees of a private television were attacked in North Nazimabad area last week.

The IG Sindh has been directed to furnish a report in this regard “at the earliest.The incident that sparked a wave of nationwide protests by the journalists had taken place on January 17 in the busy neighbourhood of North Nazimabad. The following day, the SHC Registrar Faheem Siddiqui had put up a note, containing newspaper clippings, regarding killing of the private TV channel’s three workers and JUI-S leader Mufti Usman Yar Khan in the city on the same day.

While taking notice of the incidents, CJ Baqar had called a report from the Sindh police IG regarding these incidents within three days. IG Sindh submitted in its report that two special teams have been constituted by Additional IG Karachi Range under chairmanship of DIG CIA and comprising senior officers for conducting investigation into the cases of killings of three employees of private TV as well as Jamiat Ulema Islam (S) leader Mufti Usman Yar Khan in Gulistan-e-Johar area.

He stated that teams are conducting required investigation in both cases with the firm resolve to expose the perpetrators to face criminal justice for such horrendous crime adding that after the conclusion of investigation in both and cases detailed report would be furnished for perusal of the CJ SHC.

The report stated that 17 shells of the 9mm pistol and two pellets recovered from the crime scene have been sent to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis, and report is still awaited.

It was stated that all efforts are being taken to apprehend the real accused through spy information and the intelligence agencies and further detail will be communicated within the due course of time.

The News

The members of Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) staged a protest here on Thursday to condemn the killing of three workers of a private TV channel in Karachi. The protest was led by KhUJ President Nisar Mehmood, General Secretary Tariq Afaq and other senior media persons.

The protestors, tying black strips around their arms, urged upon the government to take serious steps for the protection of journalists. They also raised slogans against the federal and provincial governments and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa police for torturing a senior journalist inside the provincial assembly.

The KhUJ representatives strongly condemned the killing of three workers of a private TV channel in Karachi. They said that both the federal and provincial governments had failed to ensure protection to journalists. They urged the government to initiate stern action against the culprits involved in the gruesome and inhuman acts and bring them to justice. ANP leader Mian Iftikhar also participated in the protest camp to express solidarity with the journalists. He said that sustainable peace in the country was not possible until terrorism was eradicated.

Business Recorder

KARACHI: Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has announced to observe token hunger strike tomorrow (Thursday, 23 January, 2014) throughout the country to protest against non-provision of protection to journalists and media workers.

In a press release issued, PFUJ president Rana Azeem and Secretary General Amin Yousaf directed unions of all cities to establish hunger strike camps in their cities. They said that killers of journalists and media workers have not been arrested, while compensation amount has not been given to the heirs of martyred journalists.

PFUJ leaders appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to take notice of situation and give representation to PFUJ in the parliamentary committee formed for protection of media workers.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists