Beating up journalists in Pakistan

Beating up journalists in Pakistan

Editorial in The News International (Pakistan)
19 November 2001

It may just be a coincidence that the third Islamabad journalist who was mauled

 totally pointlessly, by an arrogant, out of his mind army major, in front of the Press Information Department, was someone who had irritated President Pervez Musharraf at one of his live televised news conferences. Faraz Hashmi, the Dawn reporter, was thrashed just because his car got involved in an ordinary fender bender with the army major`s vehicle. The other two victimised journalists in recent months were, Chief Reporter of this newspaper Shakil Sheikh and Nawa-i-Waqt`s Masood Malik. Malik had committed the same crime, ask a direct unpleasant question, and he was reprimanded and disciplined by his newspaper administration, under government pressure, or on its own. Shakil was picked up from his car inside Islamabad, kidnapped, thrashed badly with military boot marks on his back and ended up in a hospital, all blue.

The pattern is a cause for serious concern to the journalistic community and may even be so to President Musharraf himself, as he has established over the months that he is a good listener and tolerates a lot of rubbish, coming from journalists and hacks of all hue. So why does he allow his minions and over-zealous cronies to tarnish the image he has tried to build over a long period of time. Faraz Hashmi`s case may probably be one of an angry car owner, who was not expecting a hiccup at this particular time. But his reaction was unacceptable. More alarming was the refusal of the police to treat the case under the law and to even register a FIR. The army major also tried to use his uniform to pressurise the police and prevent the law from taking its course. The police conduct, obviously under military pressure, was pathetic and according to one published expert legal opinion, was a cognisable offence.

If all those who ask unpleasant questions are to meet such, apparently unconnected, punishing treatment at the hands of angry majors, invisible gangsters or loyalist newspaper administrations, the claims of General Pervez Musharraf that he had allowed total Press freedom may appear to look like tainted with undeserved blood scars, boot marks or harassment. The army officer who took the law into his own hands should immediately be brought to book and the army should not make it a case of its prestige against the Press. His action, simply put, was unbecoming of an officer of his rank. General Musharraf should also try to find out why all those who irk him get into trouble. There may be no conspiracy behind it, but, there may be one.

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