Pakistan continues to be one of the most dangerous places in the world for journalists, an uncomfortable truth highlighted by yet another murder of a mediaperson on November 22. Television journalist Hafeezur Rehman was shot dead by unidentified people in Kohat, only weeks after a fellow professional, Zaman Mehsud, was ambushed in a similarly ghastly …
The aftermath of the Charlie Hebdo Paris attack reignited the debate around freedom of expression. Numerous conversations ensued on the horror of the attack, the condemnations it elicited, the debate on the motives of the attackers and the justifications offered and repulsed. However, while no degree of coverage provided to such atrocities can suffice when …
By: Zeeba T Hashmi There are two factors that directly change the perception of an individual in a given society: the environment and their relativity to it in terms of dignity, quality of life and sense of responsibility. Unless it is realised, a healthy democracy cannot take shape. There is, however, a constant tussle between …
THE report released on Thursday by Reporters Sans Frontières reminds us that politics around the world today has inevitably taken a heavy toll on media freedoms, squeezing both the public’s right to know and journalists’ duty to inform. “Press freedom … is in retreat in all five continents,” said the RSF 2015 World Press Freedom …
Not only is freedom of religion guaranteed in the west but also freedom from religion. Nobody is obliged to believe in a religion and therefore sceptics, agnostics and atheists are free to follow their own moral codes Freedom of speech is a core liberal human right, one that western democracies put on the highest pedestal. …
By Syed Talat Hussain “It is a message for the coalition…your men will end up in videos that are even more horrific and will do lasting damage to public opinion in your countries”. This is how Romain Cailet, a militant movements’ expert, has explained the motive behind Islamic State’s release of an over 22-minute long …
By: M Ziauddin Pakistan has been at war now for almost 35 years at a stretch. It all began with the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan around 1979-80. A call went around the so-called Islamic world for recruits for jihad against the infidel Soviets. Our religio-political parties, led by the Jamaat-e-Islami and the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam, not …
By: Zaair Hussain We come into this world crying, and by that we are marked as healthy. We leave it with our last words imparting whatever final wisdom they can to those who matter to us. In those moments, expression is free and fearless. All our lives, the desire to express what we feel even …