Impunity to those who attack journalists is hampering press freedom in Pakistan

Karachi: Impunity to those who attack journalists is hampering press freedom in Pakistan and all stakeholders including media organisations, government and civil society should join hands to devise some mechanisms for better safety of working journalists, said speakers of a round table here on Saturday.
The round table discussion on ‘Impunity to those attack journalists’ was organised by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) at a local hotel with UNESCO Director in Pakistan Dr Kozue Kay Nagata as chief guest. Journalists from all four provinces of Pakistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir who had personally witnessed incidents of violence narrated their testimonies.
Dr Nagata said she was saddened to hear the testimonies of journalists who had faced violence, intimidation and other hardships while discharging their professional responsibilities. She said the Pakistani journalists are victims of circumstances that are both local and global in nature. She said there is necessity to protect journalists and the UNESCO would highlight the issue at appropriate forums for benefit of journalists.
She said in Pakistan journalists are the most powerful, educated, intellectual and elite section of civil society. She said only governments or international bodies could not provide protection to them, but the support of an educated and enlightened civil society could do so. She said the focus should be on increasing education, literacy, communication and production. She said the journalists would get proper protection when the power of an educated society is behind them. She said educated and enlightened citizen could be a dependable partner of journalists to realise their due status and get better safety and security.
She stressed the journalists to go for transformation of society through education and democracy. She said instead of illiteracy is a must there should be education is a must in Pakistan. She said democracy is indispensable for a better society and ensuring safety to journalists.
Dr Nagata said in Pakistan journalists are being targeted because they are powerful opinion leaders and they influence on major event of their country. They are an important and privileged section that can change the society. She said the journalists must work for changing their society though this task is fraught with many risks.
She stressed the need for promoting a new kind of media, social media. She said through strengthening social media the Pakistani journalists could extend their outreach and dispel various misconceptions about press freedom and democracy in Pakistan.
She said she see Pakistani journalists not as a weak section of society, but rather the most powerful institution of civil society. They should empower and educated their people, stressed Dr Nagata.
PPF secretary general Owais Aslam Ali noted violence against journalists is on the rise in whole world. During last 10 years about 500 journalists have been killed in various parts of the world and in 90percent of these cases journalists are murdered. In Pakistan during last 10 years some 40 journalists have been killed and 12 of them murdered. Sadly, not a single case of these murders is properly investigated.
Referring to Freedom of Expression Monitoring Project, he said UNESCO is working for promoting press freedom in Pakistan. He said a day should be observed on global level against impunity to those who attack journalists. He said the press freedom is on rise in whole world and so the attacks on journalists. He said this trend would likely to continue and the journalists should have to unit so that their attackers could be punished. Ali said we could not win press freedom unless we succeed in getting punished the killers of journalists in Pakistan.
He said the frenzy of daily based political controversies on Pakistan electronic media compels many to think that Pakistani journalists enjoy a lot of freedom; however, the reality is that they could not even report freely on what is happening in FATA, tribal areas and Balochistan. He said even in urban areas political parties and other entities set the limits for journalists about what to cover and what not to. He said this pressure and intimidation has forced the journalists to adopt a ‘self-censorship’, which further limits the meager press freedom they enjoy. He said if there is no press freedom in society it would promote rumors-based media, a phenomenon being witnessed by Pakistani TV channels now-a-days.
Shahzada Zulfiqar of Balochistan, Muhammad Dawar and Muhib from FATA, Abdul Salam Soomro, Suhail Sangi and Imran Shervani from Sindh, Syed Afraz Gardezi from Azad Kashmir, senior journalist Idress Bakhtiar and others also spoke. ppi