US public radio Voice of America (VOA) on Thursday called for Pakistan to lift a block on two of its websites, in Urdu and Pashto, as concerns grow over freedom of speech in the country.

“In the interest of press freedom, VOA calls upon those responsible for blocking our content to immediately remove these constraints,” said Amanda Bennett, the director of VOA, in a statement to AFP.

“Any attempt to block our websites deprives Urdu and Pashto speakers in the region access to a trusted news source,” she continued, adding that the organisation was “troubled” by the block.

The VOA Urdu website has been partially or fully blocked since early December and the site for VOA Deewa, the Pashto language service, since late October, she said.

The websites have been irregularly accessible in Islamabad in recent days. Pakistani information minister Fawad Chaudhry told VOA the block was in place due to “false and prejudiced reporting”.

“The stories they were doing were only projecting a particular narrative without any impartial view,” he said, according to a story published by VOA on its English language site.

“There are many things happening in our country and most are positive.”

In the article VOA blamed the penalty on its coverage of the Pashtun Protection Movement (PTM), a civil rights group which has rattled the powerful Pakistani military with its claims of army abuses and accusations of ties to the Afghan Taliban.

Recently, the military warned the PTM that it will use force against them if they “cross the line”. Coverage of the group in local mainstream media is muted.

There have been growing concerns about what is seen as a clampdown on media in Pakistan in recent months, with a series of high-profile attacks on journalists leading to fears the shadowy military establishment is seeking to shrink the space for dissent and free speech.

Local media have complained about pressure in the run-up to a general election in July which resulted in self-censorship tilted towards the eventual victor, cricketer-turned-prime-minister Imran Khan.

In January, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s Pashto-language station — Radio Mashaal, or Torch — was closed for airing content “against the interest of Pakistan”.

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These statistics have been revealed in a report called the Fata Development Indicator Household Survey 2013-14. The report will officially be released on Monday (today).

The lack of a reliable source of information has left a gaping hole which people fill by listening to various stations such as Radio Dewa, Voice of America, Radio Mashal and BBC Radio stations. Worryingly, they also have access to militants-backed radio stations such as Khilafat and Da Haq Awaz.

Radio Al-Khilafat is run by Jamatul Ahrar while Da Haq Awaz is broadcast by the banned Lashkar-e-Islam, led by notorious militant Mangal Bagh. The broadcasters obviously believe it is an effective medium to spread their ideology. The stations sponsored by the militants are mainly run from across the border in Afghanistan.

“Compared to local FM channels or Radio Pakistan, Fata residents mostly depend on Mashal or BBC as their have wider reception in the area,” says an official, requesting anonymity.

“The channels from across the border transmit programmes at prime time in the evening when people are back from work or gathered at hujras.” The militants run their campaigns and continuously push their agendas from across the border, threatening anyone opposing them.

Senior officers, requesting anonymity, say the development indicator survey 2013-14 contained data about the performance of former governor Shaukatullah.

“There is no data about development in Fata under Governor Sardar Mehtab Ahmad Khan Abbasi,” a senior officer tells The Express Tribune. Though 20 months have passed since he took charge, there has been no survey in his reign despite the fact that tribal areas are said to be comparatively safer.

According to data made public, the report states unemployment rate among the youth between 15 and 24 years stands at 11.8%.

In addition, literacy rate in Fata is 33.%. At least 0.7% children between the ages of two and nine have one disability. Alarmingly, a skilled professional is at hand for only 29.5% of births. The findings further state only 38.3% of Fata households have flush latrines while 6.3% are equipped with underground drainage systems.

Keeping in view the mass displacement of people from many tribal agencies, there is a question mark over the authenticity of the report. No official of the secretariat was willing to speak on the record before the official release.

Express Tribune