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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Committee to Protect Journalists

PESHAWAR: The police arrested one of the alleged attackers behind the Shama Cinema blasts – a teenager – in injured condition from Lady Reading Hospital (LRH) on Thursday.

Addressing a news conference at Malik Saad Lines, SSP Operations Najeebur Rehman said they had arrested 15-year-old Hassan alias Israr alias Hasan Haroon, a resident of Riaz Garhi, Bakhshi Pul from the hospital.

“This boy was going to be used as a suicide bomber but was also sent for this mission along with another miscreant identified as Bilal who threw the hand grenades with him,” informed Rehman, adding Hassan was also injured in the attack and later hospitalised at LRH.

“Hassan is a resident of Speen Qabar, Bara and hails from the Qamber Khel clan. He was recruited by the Jangrez militant group after being brainwashed,” he said, adding both the attackers were sitting on the back benches of the cinema and they threw hand grenades on the people during the film’s screening on February 11. At least 13 people were killed and around 25 injured in the incident.

“During the course of interrogation, Hassan has disclosed important facts about terrorist networks,” said the police official, adding there were several different groups involved in terrorism and police had taken significant steps to deal with the ongoing series of militant attacks.

“Jangrez is an offshoot of the Darra Adam Khel faction of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan operating in Peshawar,” said Rehman.

Express Tribune

The Taliban claimed responsibility for killing three Express News TV workers in broad daylight in Karachi on January 18. It was the third attack on the media group. Following the attack a statement was issued by the Taliban warning journalists of dreadful consequences if they kept pursuing the ‘anti-Islamic’ agenda of the government. They also released a list of journalists who according to the Taliban deserved death because of their harsh stance against the group. The list has not been made public, though certain media houses claim to have received it. Pakistan is one of the fourth most dangerous countries in the world for journalists. Journalists have been demanding protection given the kind of hostile environment they have to operate in. After the latest killing the demand grew louder, and the other day the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, National Press Club and Parliamentary Reporters Association boycotted the National Assembly session to register their protest. In order to restore calm, a typical sweetener was offered by Information Minister Pervez Rashid, saying that the government has formed a committee to find out solutions and means to protect journalists. This typical, run-of-the mill and mundane style of appeasing protesting groups cannot be taken seriously. These committees end up gathering dust in meeting rooms.

On the other hand the Taliban’s warning seems to have worked on some TV anchors; their broadcasts have since taken on an appeasing tone. This attempt at appeasement will only make the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan bolder in its dictation to the media. It is a win-win situation for them. If their threat is responded to by appeasement, which even the government and many of our leaders are practising, then who can stop them from eventually taking over the state? The only efficacious response to this threat, as far as journalists are concerned, lies in denying the oxygen of publicity to the terrorists. A complete silence in both the print and electronic media will starve the terrorists of the publicity they require to perpetuate terror in society. The tool has been famously used in the past against the Ireland insurgents by Margaret Thatcher. Broadcasters have inadvertently lent themselves to exploitation by the terrorists, when the former kept hammering away at viewers about the terrorists’ activities through their reportage and analysis. The government, having failed to contain terrorism, will certainly not be in a position to provide protection to journalists, the Information Minister’s committee notwithstanding. The only solution left is to cut off the terrorists’ access to the media. Isolate them. This will eventually weaken them.

Daily Times

Express Tribune

The report points fingers at all those quarters that have, in the past, been accused of making life a living hell for journalists from all media backgrounds. They include not just the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) but also state security agencies and even political parties. Basically, everyone with something to hide has a score to settle with this country’s media men and women. The most visible cases that outline the dire threat against journalists are those of Saleem Shahzad who was killed after he uncovered a story about militant ties with the security agencies and Wali Khan Babar who was killed in Karachi after exposing some of the mafias that have the city in its grip. Both cases highlight how the state’s security agencies and the mafia wings of certain political parties may be involved in putting the lives of journalists at risk.

Pakistan has earned and retains the unenviable title of ‘the most dangerous place in the world for journalists’ since 2010. The Amnesty International report clearly states that journalists have been threatened and coerced for reporting on the military, political parties and militant outfits. It also states that lack of persecution has allowed this open hostility towards journalists because no one has so far been brought to book for the deaths and intimidation of journalists. If one thinks about it, the deaths of Saleem Shahzad and Wali Khan Babar seem to have forever been lost in the murky waters of the country’s rich and powerful interests. In addition to this, the electronic and print media bodies and managements of media organisations refuse to take responsibility for their employees, never bothering to look into the threats visited upon journalists who uncover some of the biggest and most damning stories in the country. The media has been a relatively free voice, a watchdog of society, since 2002. It is the one forum in the country where people are held accountable and crimes by the well connected are brought to light. If those who threaten the media are allowed to walk away with impunity, there will be no end to these crimes against humanity and freedom of expression. The Amnesty International report should not be taken lightly; it is there for the whole world to see. With a new elected government about to take office, it is time it and the media bodies came together to tackle this growing threat to the media.

Source: Daily Times