- Autocratic regimes worldwide curb media freedom
“I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.”
“It is dangerous to be right when the government is wrong.”
–Voltaire
Every democratic country holds dear the freedom of opinion or expression. This particular freedom is the most cherished one, taking precedence over others. Shortly put, it lies at the heart of the democracy. Media freedom and democracy go hand in hand. No democracy can flourish without a free press and no autocracy can consolidate its hold, power and influence for a long tenure with a free press. Just as democracy is considered antithetical to autocracy, so is a free press.
An independent media is the voice of the people. On the other hand, a media that is on a tight leash only serves as a propaganda machine to further the vested interests of the authoritarian and autocratic regimes. Coercive measures are the favourite resort by them to muzzle and gag the media. Censorship is another way to control the media. False or fake news is yet another tool in the armour of the anti-democratic forces to deal with the real news.
If we go back in time, and study the history of journalism, it becomes evident that whenever autocratic regimes take up the reins of the government, they first make an assault on the media. Journalists were put behind the bars and severely tortured, all in an attempt to silence the dissident voices. Silence becomes a virtue. ‘Seal your lips or you will have to bear the consequences’ is the motto of these regimes. They regard “freedom of speech” as a direct threat to their existence. They fear every independent voice taking them to task, exposing the monstrous injustices, brutalities and egregious mistakes committed by them. They make determined and concerted efforts to intimidate and coax into silence the consciences of the independent journalists.
When it comes to freedom of press or opinion, Pakistan has come a long way. Pakistani journalists made enormous sacrifices and laid down their lives in pursuit of the truth. They literally offered blood, toil, tears and sweat to help journalism take root. They have been fighting long and hard against those trying to chip away at their freedoms. They cannot simply let the hard-earned freedoms be stripped away so easily.
Ziaul Haq’s tenure saw journalists flogged and incarcerated en masse. It was, by comparison, the darkest era for journalism. The author, Ahfazur Rahman, in Sab Se Bari Jang (The Biggest War) painstakingly documents the massive brutalities committed against the journalists in the period 1977-8. From the upper echelons of power to the lower, the state machinery was exploited to callously crush any dissident voice. Yet another three books, The Press in Chains, The Press Under Siege and The Web of Censorship, by Zamir Niazi, meticulously chronicle four decades of state repression and the resistance put up by the journalists.
Media freedoms have been suffering setbacks under Imran Khan’s rule. The veneer of freedom is increasingly vanishing into thin air, as if Pakistan was slipping into authoritarianism
It was Gen Pervaiz Musharraf who gave the media leeway, which was hitherto unexpected and unthought-of. Needless to say, he did it to justify his despotic rule and in pursuance of “enlightened moderation”. Nevertheless, it was the media which literally became a Frankenstein’s monster for him and ultimately, he asphyxiated and stifled the independent media by shutting down the channels, when he had imposed emergency on 3 November 2007. His tenure saw direct attacks on two private channels in a bid to coerce them into retreating, but kudos to them that they refused point-blank to bow down to pressure. In point of fact, the media was instrumental in bringing his autocratic rule to a close.
Our neighbour, India, faced the worst kind of censorship and the freedom of press was effectively undermined when Indira Gandhi imposed emergency on 26 June 1975. It was the darkest period for the country in general and Indian newspapers in particular, who had to buckle under rampant “self-censorship”. Coomi Kapoor, the contributing editor of The Indian Express puts this in her book, The Emergency: A Personal History in the following words: “Emergency had been proclaimed in the country, press censorship had been imposed, senior leaders had been arrested and fundamental rights had been suspended. It was then that I realised that we were staring at a dictatorship”. To drive the point home more forcefully, one may make reference to the late Kuldip Nayar, the great Indian journalist. He in his autobiography, Between The Lines, wrote that his weekly column in The Indian Express was stopped by the cronies of Indira and he was ultimately detained like other journalists.
Ironically, it was Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the India, who said “The restoration of free speech, free association and free press is almost the whole of Swaraj (self-governance)”.
This is not all. A few independent journalists in India, that write against the monstrous barbarities committed by Indian forces in Kashmir, face the worst kind of criticism from all walks of life, including the liberals. Chief among them is the author Arundhati Roy.
If we look around the world, it becomes crystal clear that even in the developed countries like Australia, the press’s freedom is curtailed and curbed. A case in point is the Australian police raid on the ABC building in Sydney.
The USA, the champion of press freedom, is no different. It too indulges in such practices. Before even taking the office, Trump openly made mocked the press and journalists. His sarcastic tweets about The New York Times and The Washington Post bear this out. He gave a shut-up call to a CNN reporter, Jim Acosta, raising many an eyebrow.
A very recent book, Truth In Our Times, published this year, written by David E McCraw, deputy general counsel of The New York Times laments that “… the president himself asked the Department of Justice to open a criminal investigation to find out the identity of “Anonymous,” a senior government official who had committed the “crime” of writing a Times op-ed capturing the president’s erratic behaviour, impetuous policy choices, and disregard for the rule of law”.
Which brings us to the recent attempts made by the ruling party here to censor the media. While Maryam Nawaz was holding a press conference, the sound was muted and three channels were pulled off the airwaves for giving live transmission. Worse yet, a recent interview of Maryam Nawaz was forcefully taken off the air, dealing a severe blow to media freedom. Needless to emphasise that right from the very beginning, the media freedoms have been suffering setbacks under Imran Khan’s rule. The veneer of freedom is increasingly vanishing into thin air, as if Pakistan was slipping into authoritarianism. The ruling party should avoid taming and shackling the media in this day and age when the social media is increasingly getting stronger by the day. Mr Khan should not forget that it was the media that played a profoundly active role in paving the way for his election win. And it is the media that has the capability to expose any attempt at misadventure. The sooner he realises this, the better it will be.
