ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly Standing Committee on Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, while discussing the Protection of Journalists Bill 2014, suggested that media owners should attend meetings to address the issue.

The committee has decided to form a subcommittee, in order to discuss the matter further and will report within 30 days.

The meeting was presided over by Pir Mohammad Aslam Bodla. Senator Mushahidullah Khan, who has been chairing a Senate subcommittee on the Journalists Protection and Welfare Bill, also participated.

Acting information secretary Saba Moshin Raza said the bill is being reviewed, and some responsibilities will be given to media owners.

According to Senator Khan, media owners and their representative bodies have not participated in the Senate subcommittee meetings, which have been attended by representatives from the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ).

“[Although the] government is willing to ensure the safety of journalists, I believe media owners can take most of the steps for journalists’ safety,” he said. He added that an effective law cannot be made without the input of media owners.

Dr Mohammad Azhar Jadoon asked how it was possible that the standing committee had called on someone and been ignored.

Senator Khan said an ex parte decision could be made, but he wanted input from all the stakeholders in order to make the bill comprehensive.

Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) chief Absar Alam informed the meeting that there is a committee of editors and owners on journalists’ safety, and suggested that the committee be invited to the standing committee.

While discussing the non-payment of salaries to BOL TV employees, the Pemra chairperson astonished committee members and the press when he claimed that BOL TV was not launched because of the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) The matter was raised by Senator Mushahidullah Khan, who said that more than 2,000 employees had not been paid their salaries, and suggested that one of the company accounts should be unfrozen to pay employees’ wages.

However, BOL TV representatives seemed more interested in approval for the launch of the television channel. BOL TV representative Nazir Leghari said the channel was suspended unnecessarily.

“We had a licence, but the Ministry of Information wrote a letter to the cable operators instructing them not to show the transmission. The Pakistan Broadcasters Association (PBA) feared that other channels would be closed if BOL was launched,” he said.

He said the Pemra chairperson can withdraw the suspension, as the chairperson can suspend the licence and the office of the chairperson was vacant when the BOL TV licence was suspended.

Absar Alam said the matter of salaries was raised during before a Senate Standing Committee on Tuesday, after which someone from BOL TV tweeted against Pemra.

“Although the tweet can be from a fake account, I was hurt. I have been raising the issue of BOL TV and I have sent two letters to the Ministry of Interior, but so far I have not received any answer. I am working beyond my mandate to address the issue,” he said.

Mr Absar said the interior ministry, on Mar 25 2013, sent Pemra a no objection certificate for the channel. “However, on Apr 9 2013, ISI sent a letter that it had not given clearance to the channel. If clearance is given today, I will issue the licence for the channel in the next meeting,” he said.

A meeting with a one point agenda, on BOL TV, will be held next week.

Dawn

Till a few years ago, no one in the Pakistani media could believe that a journalist’s handcuffed and tortured body would be found one day. But Fata journalist Hayatullah Khan’s body was found in just that condition in 2005, almost five months after his disappearance.

The families of journalists have also come under attack. Hayatullah’s wife was not only attacked – after she identified the alleged kidnappers of her husband in her testimony before a judicial commission – but killed. What followed was a string of killings of journalists in Fata and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Once it would have been hard to believe that a journalist would be picked up from Islamabad, our most protected city, and his body would be found in a Punjab town. But that happened to Saleem Shahzad, who was under threat for his bold writing and sensitive disclosures.

Once it was impossible for anyone to believe that a journalist would be found dead just 30 minutes after giving a live beeper on TV.

But this too happened with Musa Khankhel, a correspondent for Geo News in Swat, who was killed soon after he reported on the procession of Sufi Mohammad, the head of the Tehreek-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi.

Another journalist, Mohammad Ibrahim, was shot dead along with his camera man after interviewing the head of an outlawed group in Fata.

Once it would have been unthinkable that a columnist would be killed simply because of a misleading headline. But Dr Chishty Mujahid was. A group claimed responsibility, signalling the beginning of dangerous times ahead for journalists in Balochistan, once the safest province for journalists.

Dozens of journalists have been killed there since then. The latest case was of the kidnapping and murder of Abdul Razzaq Baloch. His family was not able to get justice despite a petition filed in March after his disappearance.

In Karachi, journalists are threatened and killed by ethnic and political groups. Wali Khan Babar’s case still haunts journalists in Karachi. In that case, all the witnesses – including investigating officers – were killed.

What is common in all these cases is the state’s failure to protect journalists. Many journalists have migrated from Fata and Balochistan to safe houses in other cities.

Journalists in Fata find it most difficult to report on the ongoing conflict and anything relating to the Taliban or army operations.

With the massive rise in the number of militant groups – whether ethnic, sectarian, jihadi, political or with underworld connections, as well as state intelligence agencies – a journalist’s work has become more and more hazardous in Pakistan.

The failure of the state to provide safety and the failure of media houses to provide training have led to huge risks and Pakistan has come to be ranked among the three most dangerous countries in the world for journalists.

Pakistani journalists and the media must keep in mind that more difficult days may lie ahead.

No training or protection can give you 100 percent guarantee of safety, but proper training can certainly give reporters the strength to cover a story with courage if they get insurance cover and appropriate equipment to protect themselves.

The writer is a senior journalist. Email: abbas.mazhar@gmail.com

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