And the double standards associated with it
Suppression of a free press is nothing new in this country. Successive military regimes and even civilian setups excelled at it, most notably the Zia era. Now that two successive democratically elected civilian governments have – the current setup will do so in two weeks – completed their respective terms one would assume that a fundamental pillar of democracy, a vibrant and free media, would have been strengthened in these ten odd years. Far from it! Two prominent media groups of the country ‘Geo’ and ‘Dawn’ face restricted broadcasting of their channels and distribution of their publications.
While the former has been able to carve its way out of the mess it found itself in by seriously overhauling its editorial line the latter, after recently printing a controversial interview with former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, now has to bear the brunt. Barring the debate over whether what was said should have been said or not that the printing of the piece by the English daily is the rationale for such excessive curbs is worrisome.
Interestingly the institution that takes most exception to the kind of content printed in that interview chooses to ignore how their own people have made the same claims in the past. Former DG ISPR Ather Abbas in 2011 claimed that ex-ISI men collaborated with the perpetrators of the 26/11 Mumbai attacks. Ex spy chief Shuja Pasha has said they were “our men” but it was “not our operation”. There is an obvious double standard here as the definition of ‘against the national interest’ differs according to who is accused of it.
It is true that the media in Pakistan is far from perfect but the answer here is not imposing censorship or restricting distribution. Rather there is a need to create stronger institutions run by experienced professionals from the industry that have the constitutional mandate to effectively monitor, investigate and fairly penalise content that is being put out.
These undeclared restrictions are contradictory to the citizenry’s fundamental right to know. But with the situation as it is more media houses are now fearful and tow a certain line to remain above water. And that is a tragedy that will sooner than later turn into a catastrophe.
