Journalists under attack

Journalists under attack
Column By: Ashfaq rehmani
Email: pasrurmedia@hotmail.com

Throughout the world, every nation has to spend a lot of its financial resources on the formation and the development of the security forces; and in return these forces are expected to provide safety and security to the nation. The situation becomes very painful when the security forces become a pain in the neck for the nation itself. People become frightened by losing confidence and the enemies take full advantage of this fear and fright
The Pakistan authorities have promised to provide all possible security to the journalists and penalize the miscreants in all cases of terrorism against media men but as far as the journalists in Pakistan are concerned it is something next to unbelievable. How can be the journalists in Pakistan promised security when the security personals themselves are the biggest culprits and the worst threat to peace and calm of the Pakistan society. Four people have died in a bombing attack on a club for journalists in Pakistan's northwest city of Peshawar. The incident took place when a bomber blew him up after police officials at a security gate stopped him from entering the building. Peshawar's hospital officials and medics confirmed four deaths including a policeman and a press club employee. The blast reportedly ripped through the building and damaged a number of vehicles parked near the explosion site, while all windows of the building were shattered. Police said four journalists were among the wounded. Pakistan has been the scene of increasing violence-related incidents ever since former President Pervez Musharraf joined the so-called US war on terror.
According to an other report, three people were killed yesterday in a suicide bombing outside a club for Pakistani journalists in this northwestern city, as Islamist extremists continued a two-month spree of violence that has further destabilized this politically fragile nation. At least 20 people were wounded in the attack by a young man who approached the gate of the Peshawar Press Club and detonated his explosives when a police guard attempted to search him. The bomber killed the guard, a club accountant and a female bystander, said, the press club's president. The bombing came as political turmoil roils Pakistan, distracting the weak civilian government from its battle against a rising insurgency that unleashed a campaign of violence across the nation in October.
President Asif Ali Zardari has faced calls to resign since a Supreme Court decision last week threw out an amnesty that had shielded him and many other top government officials from graft charges. Militants have called the string of attacks a response to a military operation against the Pakistani Taliban in a mountainous region near the Afghan border. No area of the country has been hit harder than Peshawar, the volatile capital of the province edging that region. Though most attacks have targeted security forces, militants have also struck a market, a mosque and now - for the first time, authorities said reporters in the city.
Extremists have threatened, attacked and killed journalists in attempts to prevent reporting they deem critical of the Taliban, and journalists also say they face pressure from government operatives trying to influence news coverage. The combination has made Pakistan one of the most dangerous environments for journalists, rivaling conflict zones like Iraq and Somalia, according to media watchdogs.
At least 45 journalists have been killed in Pakistan since 2001, the year Pakistan joined the U.S. in its fight against the Taliban and al-Qaeda, said Mazhar Abbas PFUJ. The press club, a popular gathering spot for journalists in the restive city, had received recent threats and boosted its security in response, Shahid said. He said those measures probably kept the bomber from reaching the organization's building and exacting a greater toll.

On behalf of the all India Forum of Muslim Journalists, as its convener, S.M.PASHA said through “the post” we strongly condemn the dastardly attack on the Peshawar press club. It is high time bomb-blasters realize that pens are and will ever remain mightier than their bombs and that their foolish attempt to gag the mouths and fetter the hands of journalists will never succeed in the longer run though they might now rejoice over their temporary success if killing innocents can be a thing of joy.
According to The CPJ, a New York-based press freedom group said this was the highest annual toll it had ever recorded. Another 20 deaths of journalists are being investigated to determine whether they too were work related. The toll was up from 42 last year. The previous record had been 67 killings in 2007, largely due to violence in Iraq.
"This has been a year of unprecedented devastation for the world's media, but the violence also confirms long-term trends," said CPJ Executive Director Joel Simon.
"Most of the victims were local reporters covering news in their own communities. The perpetrators assumed, based on precedent, that they would never be punished. Whether the killings are in Iraq or the Philippines, in Russia or Mexico, changing this assumption is the key to reducing the death toll." This year's figure was driven by the bloodshed in the Philippine province of Maguindanao this November, when 29 journalists and two support workers were among 57 people massacred in an ambush. This was the deadliest incident involving the media in CPJ records, but was not unexpected given the "climate of impunity" in the Philippines, the organisation said. "The killings in the Philippines are a shocking but not entirely surprising product of a long-term reality: The government has allowed unpunished violence against journalists, most of it politically motivated, to become part of the culture," said Bob Dietz, CPJ's Asia program coordinator.
In Iraq, four local journalists were killed, the lowest tally since the US invasion in 2003.
Nine journalists were killed in Somalia, some while covering combat and others in cold blood. CPJ's deputy director, Robert Mahoney, said the killings in Somalia were "a tremendous loss for the tiny band of journalists who risk their lives every day just by stepping out into the street". "Their courageous reporting exposes them not just to crossfire and random violence but to targeted killing by Islamists who want to control the message." Four journalists were killed in Pakistan. Russia, long one of the most deadly countries for local journalists, again featured, with the murders of three reporters.
Only two of the journalists killed worldwide were not locally based reporters. Nine were freelancers. Most on the list were murdered. Eleven died while covering combat and seven while covering other disturbances.
according to a report by a press advocacy group, The November massacre of 30 media workers in the Philippines made 2009 the deadliest year ever for journalists The Committee to Protect Journalists says in a report to be released that at least 68 journalists were killed in 2009, a 60 percent increase over 2008, when 42 deaths were recorded.
"What stands out is that three quarters are killed deliberately for their work, and in 85 percent of these cases no one is brought to justice," CPJ Deputy Director Robert Mahoney said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "This has a poisonous effect on good journalism." Until the November massacre in the Philippine province of Maguindanao, where 57 people, including 30 journalists, were killed, 2009 seemed likely to end with 38 killings a lower death toll than the previous year.The previous high one-year total was 67 killings recorded in 2007. The latest figures still represented a disturbing trend, especially in Somalia where nine journalists were murdered and killed in combat situations, Mahoney said.
Four journalists were also killed in Pakistan, making it the second-most deadly country in 2009, followed by Russia where three journalists were killed. Two journalists were killed in both Mexico and Sri Lanka. Other countries with media fatalities were Afghanistan, Colombia, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kenya, Madagascar, Nepal, Nigeria, the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Venezuela. Fifty-six percent of those killed worked for print media, highlighting the continuing importance of newspapers and blogs in covering important stories that may not lend themselves to television. "In Mexico, print journalists, for example, are the ones who tend to write the exposes on organized crime and drug trafficking," Mahoney said. "It's the fact that a lot of print journalists are doing that kind of work that gets them killed by assassins." Mahoney added that the killings have had a chilling effect on journalism, leading many Mexican news organizations to simply stop reporting on drug trafficking and organized crime. According to the report, almost all of the victims were local journalists, not foreign correspondents. Joshua Friedman, a professor at the Columbia School of Journalism and member of CPJ's board of directors, says local journalists are finding themselves as targets more often as large international news organizations scale back their foreign operations. "Increasingly foreign news is being gathered by freelancers and less experienced reporters," Friedman said. "It's much harder to kill a world famous CNN correspondent than someone who no one has heard of." Zohra Yosuf is a freelance journalist and council member of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan said “While religious groups are primarily responsible for denying space for pluralistic thinking and limiting the scope for democratic development, some newspapers in Pakistan are themselves involved in promoting intolerance in society. In Pakistan, there is a peculiar dichotomy in the press and, consequently, in the values they support. The English-language press, by and large, is known for its consistent support for the rights of women, minorities and other disadvantaged sections of society, as well as for peace with India. The Urdu-language newspapers, read by far more Pakistanis, look upon these issues as contrary to the country’s interests and Islamic values. They have assumed for themselves the role of super-patriots and keepers of the ‘ideology’ of Pakistan. The vernacular press also plays a dangerous role in stirring up emotions against India, which often results in persecution of non-Muslims who comprise a very small minority in Pakistan. “The other section of the press in Pakistan whose editorial content remains unchecked is the jihadi press. In spite of Pakistan’s ostensible crackdown on Islamic militants, the publications of these groups continue to be circulated, even though they contain highly inflammatory material such as calling upon Muslims to kill westerners, particularly Americans. They also call upon young men to take up jihad. Today, the forces of extremism are a major threat to the fragile state of freedom of the press in Pakistan. The country urgently needs democratizations and adoption of secular, liberal values as elements of state policy to effectively check the dangerous trend.”
Words are not enough to condemn the suicide bomb attack on the Peshawar Press Club. The attack has grave implications for the media and its role in fighting militancy in Pakistan. Many journalists have come under attack in Pakistan 15 lost their lives in the year ending 2009 and many more have received death threats. But so far individuals have been targeted not only by militants but also by the security agencies for their independent reporting. The media is never loved by those who fear disclosures of their wrongdoings. But when the state fails to protect journalists, they end up putting their lives on the line. The attack on the press club is a chilling message sent by the militants to all members of the media, regardless of their independent views or the political orientation of the channels and newspapers they work for. This is the first time such an attack has taken place and it appears that the militants are now desperate and realise that they are perhaps losing support of even those sections in the media that had at times been accused of boosting Taliban efforts to propagate extremism. It is about time the government tightened security for journalists and their institutions.

One must also salute the police force that is playing a heroic role in defending citizens from terror attacks. Many in the police have died in the line of duty. In spite of their inadequate training, insufficient equipment and facilities and poor monetary status, the police continue to perform their duty as best as they can. Head Constable Riazuddin Khan, who challenged the bomber and in the process lost his own life although he saved many others, is deserving of the tributes being paid to him. The Peshawar Press Club should honor his memory in some way.