Thaindian News

Islamabad, June 21 (IANS) Journalists in Pakistan face danger all the time, said a daily Tuesday, noting this “climate of threats to journalists is serious and troubling”.

An editorial in the Daily Times referred to the murder of journalist Syed Saleem Shahzad “to faceless murderers because of his hard-hitting reporting.

“It is alleged that the ISI, Pakistan’s premier intelligence agency, is behind his death.

“Last week Waqar Kiani, who works for the Guardian, was badly beaten up by men in police uniform in Islamabad who wanted to ‘make an example’ of him.”

It said that Kiani was attacked less than a week after he went public with his account of how he had been picked up and tortured in 2008 by “suspected Pakistani intelligence agents”.

Citing another example, the editorial said Khalid Mehmood, a journalist from Shujabad in Punjab, was picked up last week by unknown men. Mehmood’s family blamed the security agencies for his disappearance.

That’s not all, the daily said.

Imtiaz Alam, secretary general of the South Asian Free Media Association (SAFMA), has received “threats to his life from a sensitive agency”.

“Alam is no stranger to threats and attacks by the agencies but to receive such threats from the highest quarters in the present climate is no laughing matter.

“This climate of threats and worse to journalists is serious and troubling,” the editorial said.

The paper went on to say that “journalism is not an easy job to begin with and apart from a few exceptions, it does not pay well either.

“Despite all this, journalists all over Pakistan continue to do their jobs by bringing to light important issues. They have to face danger all the time.

“…journalists are harassed, intimidated, threatened, kidnapped and in some cases even killed by ‘invisible’ murderers. In most cases there is no concrete evidence to go after the perpetrators.

“Even when there is evidence, not many have the power to convict the all-powerful personnel of the security state. This culture of impunity must come to an end.”

But the editorial made it clear that Pakistani journalists would stick to their faith.

“If the security agencies think our media can be stopped from functioning under such adverse circumstances and they can silence the journalist community’s voice, they are in for a surprise.

“Despite the looming threats, Pakistani journalists will not take this lying down any longer and will continue to bring to light the truth. The sooner the state apparatus comes to terms with this fact, the better.”