Media in the crosshairsThe media remained the target of attack through 2014, caught in the crosshairs of guns wielded by militants, political and criminal elements and even professional rivals throughout 2014. The country was declared the world’s most dangerous place for journalists by the International Federation of Journalists, ahead of war-torn Syria. Fourteen journalists were killed during the year in what appeared to be targeted attacks – in some cases for exposing wrongdoing, in others for motives that remain mysterious.

The year began on a bad note, with a television channel reporter shot dead on January 1 in Larkana, allegedly for showing a pharmacy selling a drug that had a ‘not for resale’ label on it. The life of journalists it seems comes cheap. There were other incidents too, such as the attack on the office of the Online International News Network in Quetta in August. Three persons, including two journalists, were killed. There were no arrests and, as the PFUJ noted in his report released at the start of the year, this impunity contributed to making the year that has just passed possibly the worst on record for media professionals in the country.

The lack of accountability was visible also in the failure to identify those who had staged attacks on prominent journalists or issued threats. Geo news journalist Hamid Mir narrowly escaped death in May 2014 when he was attacked by gunmen in Karachi. Raza Rumi had to flee the country after his car was shot at in Lahore in March the same year. We still do not know who was responsible for these assaults or the threats issued to journalists. The trend seems dangerously to be on the rise.

It was not only individuals who were caught in the delicate line fire. The Jang/Geo media house was taken off the air for 15 days following charges of blasphemy made during a morning show, with the incident leading to a mass campaign in which newspapers belonging to the group were attacked and all Geo channels erased from cable networks long beyond the Pemra dictated period of a 15-day suspension. There were strong suspicions of rivalries and politics at play in the unpleasant series of events.

Other channels came under attack too, with the PTV headquarters in Islamabad broken into by PTI and PAT activists on September 1 during their sit-in in the capital. For 40 minutes, the national network vanished from the airwaves. No one has been punished for what happened; and no one has been punished for the attacks made on media professionals by political activists including those from the PTI – a party which has repeatedly lashed out at Geo, accusing it of being an enemy agent with activists beating up its reporters covering their rallies.

While the year has been a bleak one for the media, it has also been a time when the need is arisen for it to reflect on its own actions. The issue of hate speech broadcast over channels has been raised again and again. This is a matter that has to be addressed. Media responsibility is just as important as is the need by the state to protect it. We also lost key figures who have shaped the media in Pakistan during the last year, with Majeed Nazami, one of the country’s best known editors whose contributions go beyond the realm of journalism, passing away in July 2014.

The hold of the media over the minds of people continues to grow. It has shown resilience in the face of violence, and its evolution continues at a time when it is clear it must play a critical role in shaping the future of our country.

The News

Pakistan is ranked 158 out of 180 countries in this year’s World Press Freedom Index and has one of the highest murder rates for journalists. As is evident from this statement there is almost no space for freedom of expression in the country which provides a free playing field for law enforcement authorities and extremist religious forces particularly the militant groups – to act as they please. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has announced the appointment of a Commission for the protection of journalists but it has remained as only an announcement and no further action has been taken in that regard. Still no mechanisms have been developed to stop the attacks on the media houses. The political parties, the pressure groups and religious militant groups in an effort to dictate their policies continuously attack media houses and journalists.

Several media houses including the Pakistan Television (PTV), the official government channel, was attacked by hundreds of political activists, supporters of Imran Khan, a cricketer turned politician and Dr. Tahirul Qadri, a Pakistani born Canadian national. Broadcasts were stopped for 40 minutes following the capture of the station and after hundreds of people, many armed with sticks, ransacked the Pakistan Television building in central Islamabad, smashing vehicles in the parking lots and cutting transmission cables in the newsrooms. The network said that at least 14 cameras had been stolen.

Reports revealed that on the instructions from the Pakistan Army – by a mere gesture of raising a finger – the army abandoned the occupation of PTV building. However, during this period protesters have attacked and injured more than 100 policemen – as police have been given instructions not to use fire arms against the agitators. A senior police officer, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) was beaten in front of PTV building and has been seriously injured. More than 100 persons inside the PTV building were also harassed and beaten and one lady anchor person has been abused by the protesters.

About half a dozen senior journalists have received death threats from “unknown persons”. However, it is generally a known fact that these ‘un-known persons’ are those representing the various state intelligence agencies.

Following is a list of names of injured persons from the different media houses;
Khuram Shazad, Cameraman, Sama TV,
Awais Qazi, Cameraman, Sama TV,
Amir Syed Ababs, Reporter, Sama TV,
Atif Yousef, Cameraman, Waqt TV,
Imran Iqbal, Cameraman waqt TV,
Muhammad Zahid DSNG Engineer, Waqt TV,
Jameel Kayani, Driver, Waqt TV,
Essa Naqvi, Reporter, Duniya TV,
Hassan Ayub, Reporter, Dunya TV,
Dan, Engineer, Dunya TV,
Anjum Fatimi, Cameraman, Dunya TV,
Asif Abduulah, Cameraman, Ary News,
Iqbal zeb,cameraman, Ary News,
Kashif Abbasi, Cameraman, Dawn News,
Noshad Abbasi, Cameraman, Dawn News,
Kashif Malik, Reporter, Dawn News,
Samar Ababs, Reporter, Dawn News,
Ishfaq Hussan, Cameraman, Dawn News,
Imran Chudry, Cameraman, Dawn News,
Mansoor Ahmed, Cameramen, Dawn News,
Amir Alam, Cameraman, Eexpress News,
Majid Shah, Cameraman, Express News,
Usman Afzal, Cameraman, Express News,
Bakhat Zameen, Driver, Express News,
Rana Tariq, Reporter, Aaj Tv,
Haroon Khurshid, Cameraman, Aaj Tv,
Ghulam Ali, Cameraman, Aaj Tv,
Azad Syed, Star Reporter, Geo Tv,
Arshad Syed, Senior Reporter,
Farhat Jabeen, Senior Reporter,
Saif-ur-Rehman, Journalist, Geo Tv,
Shabir Ahmed, Cameraman, Geo Tv,
Khuram Shahzad, Cameraman, Geo Tv,
Ihsan Ali, Bureau Chief, Mashiq,
Arshad Waheed, Senior Reporter
Ajab Khan, Cameraman Sama Tv,
Ghulam Shahzad, Cameraman Geo Tv,
Essa Ali, Bureau Chief Mashriq

Received threats from ‘unknown persons’

Kamran Shafi, Senior journalists
Ahmed Noorani, The News Reporter,
Ajab Khan, Cameraman Sama Tv.
Omar Quereshi, editor Express tribune and contributor to DW

Four Journalists and five supportive staff killed

In another recent event, on 28th August 2014, the office of the Online International News Network in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan Province, was attacked by “unknown persons” who had shot dead three persons including a prominent journalist, Irshad Mastoi, a trainee journalist, Ghulam Rasool and an accountant. No one has been arrested for the shooting. Since the year 2001, when military operations started in the different parts of Balochistan, to-date 40 journalists have been killed by “un-known persons” and not a single attacker has ever been tried before a court of law.

The phenomena of “unknown persons” has been introduced by the successive military governments which gives impunity to these ‘killers’ and it has been a common occurence, following the incident of 9/11 when the military government of General Pervez Musharraf received support from the international community on the “war against terrorism”. Since then, journalists have always been at the receiving end of attacks from these “un-known persons”. Moreover, journalists have increasingly been involved in several incidents of forced disappearances and extra judicial killings including target killings and “un-known persons” have been attributed in all such acts.

On 14th February2014, a correspondent for the ‘Daily Intekhab’ was attacked and killed in Khuzdar, in Balochistan by “un-known persons”. Prior to his killing, he has been receiving death threats from such persons for reporting on disappearances and extra judicial killings.

On 1st January 2014, a reporter for “Abb Tak Television” was shot dead; shot in the back, while filming outside a pharmacy near the Badah Press Club in Larkana, in the Sindh Province. The army claimed that the video which he was recording at the time showed medication Dahar bought at a pharmacy which had a “not for resale” stamp on it – and the journalist was killed a few minutes after.

On 17th January 2014, in the North Nazimabad area in Karachi, the capital of Sindh Province, the vehicle – a van belonging to Express TV was attacked in the early hours by “un-known persons” killing three supporting staff working for the TV channel. They were Waqas Aziz Khan, Mohammad Khalid, and Ashraf Arain. The cameraman was sleeping at the rear seat of the van and thus escaped unhurt. The Express TV was also targeted by Taliban and other militant groups for criticizing the resurgence of Islamic militancy.

In yet another incident, Geo TV, one of the biggest channels in Pakistan, is continuously under pressure from the ISI – the infamous army intelligence agency for the past four months for naming the involvement of the ISI in the attempted murder of a prominent anchorperson, Mr. Hamid Mir, who received six bullet shots by “un-known” persons while he was travelling in his car.

Since January 2013 to date 19 journalists and 10 supporting staff have been killed and no person has been arrested for these killings. The tribal area of Khyber Pakhtunkha (KP) Province and Balochistan remained the ‘killing fields’ where most journalists have been attacked and killed.

Attacks and death threats to journalists

Raza Rumi, the anchorperson of Express TV was attacked by “un-known persons” on March 28th 2014, in the city of Lahore, the capital of Punjab Province. He received minor injury but his driver was killed. Rumi was receiving life threats through unidentified telephone calls. After the attack he has fled the country.

On 19th April 2014, a prominent journalist and an anchorperson for GEO TV was critically wounded by six bullets as explained above. The assailants yet remain unknown. He and his family members accuse the ISI and its chief general Zaheerul Islam of organizing the attempted murder.

TV host Imtiaz Alam has also been receiving death threats. A few months ago TV anchor Jasmin Manzoor reportedly cried in front of the Prime Minister and begged for her life. She was threatened to be killed allegedly by a political party, the MQM and then she had to flee the country.

On 22nd August 2014, a prominent columnist for various local and international newspapers and a retired army officer, Kamran Shafi received death threats by mail, from a group claiming themselves to be the ‘Khaki power’ (a term is used for army persons) and these threats have continued for several days. In the threatening mails his nick name which was used during his service in the army has been referred to – a nickname, he claims was only privy to him and his army colleagues.

In the first week of September, Omar Quereshi, the editor of editorial page of Express Tribune and contributor to the German broadcasting house, the DW, has received death threat messages in his private email account.

On 2nd May 2014, GEO TV’s news cameraman Asif Kabir was travelling to the channel’s office in Model Town A, Bahawalpur, Punjab, when three motorcyclists wearing helmets had stopped him. The three men had called him a traitor and an Indian agent and then had assaulted him in broad daylight. The assault left him badly injured and reports stated that the persons had also attempted to steal his camera. As of this date neither case nor investigation has commenced by the police into this incident.

These reports were extracted from the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), Reporters without Borders and various other media houses in Pakistan;

Jamshed Baghwan, Express News TV’s Bureau Chief in Peshawar experienced a gruesome third attempt on his life by unknown persons. Unknown persons have set up an explosive device outside his house in Peshawar, capital of KP Province. The devise was left in a milk pack in front of the house by men on a motorcycle. The bomb damaged the outside of the building but caused no injuries. This followed an 11-month long string of attacks on the Express Media group personnel and their installations. Some of these attacks have been claimed by the Taliban.

In another incident, unidentified gunmen torched cable TV operator WorldCall’s premises in the southern city of Karachi on 19th July 2014 in order to silence the embattled TV news station Geo News. WorldCall had only recently resumed transmission of Geo News, which the government suspended for 15 days last month. Police and witnesses said between four – six gunmen stormed into WorldCall’s offices, disarmed security guards, ordered employees to leave and then set fire to the place. The blaze gutted the premises but caused no injuries. It also interrupted transmission of Geo News in several parts of the city.

From 14th August 2014 to date dozens of journalists including females journalist have been attacked and injured by the political workers or activists of Imran Khan and Dr. Tahirul Qadri, who have been agitating against the government outside the Parliament house, the Prime Minister’s house and the Supreme Court of Pakistan.

On 15th August 2014 at least four crew members from Aaj News, including digital satellite news gathering engineer Iqbal, cameramen Usmaan, Iqbal, and Samaarat, were beaten up by workers from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party while covering a speech by the PTI leader Imran Khan during a sit-in in Islamabad. The four have been treated in hospital for minor injuries.

On 17th August 2014, as many as eight reporters, cameramen and drivers have been assaulted by the workers in two days alone. Azaz Syed, a star reporter of Geo TV, was abused; his mike was snatched and when he was about to go on air from the rally venue in order to report on the situation on ground. Meanwhile, a mob had encircled him and forced him out of the venue. All this for working for GeoTV. Arshad Waheed, a senior reporter of the network, also came under attack the same day.

On the same day, another Geo TV journalist, Saif-ur-Rehman, came under attack by Imran Khan’s party (PTI) activists who identified him by the mike carrying the logo of the network. He had to flee the scene to save his life. Shabbir Ahmed, a cameraman of Geo TV, had his camera broken by the PTI’s miscreants. Another cameraman, Khurram Shehzad, was beaten.

On 30th August 2014, when protesters were marching towards the Parliament house to attack there had been a clash between marchers and the police and during this clash, police have deliberately attacked and severely beaten several journalists.

Asian Human Rights Commission

The demand was made through a resolution that was passed at the conclusion of a protest jointly held here by the Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) and National Press Club (NPC). It was largely attended by members of human and civil society organisations.

Addressing the participants of the protest, NPC President Shahrayar Khan said Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) Chief Dr Tahirul Qadri had been constantly inciting their workers that finally resulted in attacks on Geo News and PTV for which both of them should apologise to the workers of these organisations and the people as well.

The speakers who spoke on the occasion included NPC General Secretary Tariq Chaudhry, RIUJ President Ali Raza Alvi, RIUJ General Secretary Bilal Dar, Geo News Bureau Chief Rana Jawad, PTV MD Muhammad Mallick, cricket commentator Ehtashamul Haq, Waseem Farooq of the Punjab Union of Journalists, Farzana Bari and Naeem Mirza.

They said the workers of PTI and PAT attacked the Geo offices 25 times and its workers in the last 18 days and dozens of journalists were brutally tortured by the policemen in the Red Zone area that is really unfortunate in the country where every one talks about freedom of expression.

“The leadership of PTI and PAT and the interior minister should offer apology otherwise the journalists’ community would be left with no other option except to register cases against them. The journalists show the truth to the people so those who target and torture them are those who want to hide facts for their personal reasons,” they said.

Meanwhile, the journalists and members of the civil society organizations also attended the “Pro-democracy” camp set up in front of the National Press Club (NPC) and urged the government to immediately evolve a joint political strategy to get rid of a group of few thousand people who are making vandalism in Red Zone area and annihilating the image of Pakistan in the comity of nations.

The News

Business Recorder

They were also surprisingly familiar with the locations of key offices and the central newsroom and news studios located within the labyrinthine building of the state-broadcaster, which is a veritable maze for newcomers.

PTV officials told Dawn that the intruders also harassed station employees vandalised several offices on different floors.

A security official deputed at PTV Headquarters told Dawn around 9:30am, approximately half an hour before the station was stormed; a bearded man approached the security room adjacent to the building’s main gate and issued an ominous warning.

“Be ready. We are coming for you in a little while,” the security official quoted the unidentified man as having said.

“I thought he must’ve been some sort of over zealous protester, trying to harass us, the official said, adding that just after 10am, when hundreds of protesters stormed the building, he was forced to change his opinion.

Upon entering the premises, a team of individuals made straight for the MCR, where they asked technicians to first remove all news tickers that were relaying news of the state broadcaster’s occupation by protesters, at the time.

Following this, the men, who appeared to be from both PTI and PAT, asked them to cease transmission.

“A layman cannot possibly understand the technicalities of transmission so well; they knew exactly what they had to do,” an MCR technician told Dawn, adding that it was surprising that they managed to find the MCR with such ease.

In order to ensure that PTV went off the air, certain individuals among the occupying group asked the staff inside the broadcast facility to deactivate the satellite uplink, while keeping uplink and downlink monitors active, the MCR technician said.

“In my near-30 year career, this is the second time I’ve seen the army deployed at PTV Headquarters,” he said, referring to the coup staged by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in October 1999.

“This time around, I don’t how long the army will state here, because their presence is felt to be necessary for as long as these anti-government sit-ins continue,” he said.

PTV World Controller Mohammad Owais Butt told Dawn that it was a stroke of good luck that after taking over the MCR, the protesters did not seek to come on-air and make a statement against the interests of the state.

“We were afraid that they might force us to air their own propaganda, but thankfully, they seemed content with interrupting our transmission,” he said.

DAWN

According to eyewitnesses, nearly 400 PTI and PAT workers stormed the PTV building, across the road from the main entrance to the Pakistan Secretariat. The attack came soon after demonstrators were repulsed from the secretariat compound.

But the occupying force was dispersed without incident by a contingent of army and Rangers personnel, who arrived on the scene within an hour of the state-TV being taken off-air.

Transmission was restored shortly after noon as the occupying force dispersed peacefully, shouting pro-army slogans and hugging military and paramilitary personnel who arrived at the scene.

This is the first time that PTV’s transmission went blank since October 12, 1999, when former military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup after toppling the government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Eyewitnesses told Dawn the protesters were carrying PTI and PAT flags and shouting slogans in favour of Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri. PTV Senior Controller Asmatullah Niazi blamed the district administration for what he called their failure to protect the state broadcaster.

PTV employees had been facing a hard time, as their office was located right on the edge of the red zone and was at the centre of the anti-government protests, which have raged on in the capital for over two weeks now.

“Despite the army’s deployment in aid of civil authorities, how could the administration forget to deploy security around this key national institution,” he said.

Mr Niazi said that PAT workers who stormed the building instructed staff manning the channel’s transmission to stop broadcasting “useless content” and asked them to broadcast speeches by Dr Tahirul Qadri.

DAWN

“Violence and destruction of private property and government buildings are not acceptable means of resolving political differences,” said US State Department’s spokesperson Jen Psaki in a statement issued hours after protesters briefly occupied PTV headquarters in Islamabad on Monday. “We strongly oppose any efforts to impose extra-constitutional change to the political system.”

The State Department’s statement reminded Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek workers that while “peaceful protest and freedom of expression are important aspects of democracy,” violence was not.

“We continue to urge all sides to refrain from violence, exercise restraint, and respect the rule of law,” said Ms Psaki, adding that the United States had “been carefully monitoring the demonstrations in Islamabad” and wanted all parties to resolve this dispute through dialogue.

Meanwhile, The New York Times urged the Obama administration to ensure the democratic process in Pakistan continued uninterrupted.

“The United States, preoccupied with crises elsewhere, has shown little urgency in trying to calm the situation, even though Pakistan’s stability is crucial to regional order — especially as American troops withdraw from Afghanistan,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

DAWN

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

He shared this information during the deliberations of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting here at the PTV Headquarters. The secretary said there was no need for obtaining an NoC from anywhere with regards to the proposed piece of legislation.

The matter was raised by Senator Farhatullah Babar and wondered why not it was taken up by the government as already 60 mandatory days had already passed. Babar said they had learnt that a ministry was impeding forward the movement of the initiative and had asked for not pursuing the proposed law as it was opposed to a particular part of it.

He urged the government to take particular care of the bill as the Senate committee had expressed no objection to it being tabled as a government bill.

The News

ISLAMABAD: The Senate Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting expressed concern on Monday over a growing trend among private channels to telecast Turkish soaps, expressing fears that the local mini-screen entertainment industry would go the way of its big-screen sister.

A meeting of the committee, held at the Parliament House, noted that contents of these programmes were contrary to Pakistani culture and norms.

When members of the committee criticised the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra) for its failure to control the “free for all”, its chairman Abdul Jabbar said stay orders by different courts had tied their hands down.

“We are literally insulted in courts, especially in the apex court, for taking action against programmes or entertainment channels,” he said, adding: “Whenever we issue notices to these channels for airing of any immoral content, they file a contempt application against us.”

The meeting, presided over by Senator Kamil Ali Agha, was held to discuss issues relating to monitoring of foreign contents on private television channels. Dr Saeeda Iqbal, a member of the committee, raised the issue of Turkish and Spanish soaps being aired by a local channel.

“When you have stopped Indian entertainment programmes from being aired in Pakistan, why the regulator is not acting against programmes from other countries,” Senator Saeeda wondered. “Have you seen the theme and odd dressed in these programmes.”

The Pemra chairman said the regulator had taken note of the Turkish and Spanish programmes and issued notices to the channel concerned, but after a final shutdown notice was issued, the channel obtained a stay order from a court in Sindh.

“We have had stay orders against show-cause notices and warnings from Lahore and even Islamabad. How can anybody expect us to regulate the programmes in this condition,” Mr Jabbar said. “It is not limited to these programmes only; almost all local news and entertainment channels have obtained stay orders against Pemra rulings.”

Information Secretary Chaudhry Rasheed informed the meeting that the local advertising industry had suffered badly because of an open policy of sponsors and a bulk of advertisements featuring foreign models were being made abroad. “Now a similar situation can be expected for the entertainment industry,” he added.

The meeting was informed that under the law, channels were allowed 10 per cent foreign contents, which included six per cent Indian and four per cent other countries.

“But the main problem is that a number of TV channels are airing foreign programmes during prime time,” PTV Managing Director Yousuf Beg Mirza said, adding: “At the same time there is a very strict policy for PTV for airing foreign content and as a result revenues are shifting to private channels.”

Pakistan Press Foundation