Pakistan: A state of fear

TERRORISM is rule by fear and it is being used by the militants as the most powerful weapon to break the resistance of ever-expanding groups in the country. The relentless spate of killings has generated a state of fear, effectively wearing out the will to fight back.

Fear for the safety of life is driving many of our public figures, including journalists and writers, to tread a cautious path so as to not provoke the ire of the militants. Even more frightening, some have turned defenders of the militants’ cause. But can this ostrich-like behaviour or compliance be traded with security for long? Not speaking out on mindless killings makes one only more vulnerable. The only way to make ourselves secure is to break this state of fear.

It began with the politicians, most of whom kept silent when the Taliban targeted their rivals during the election campaign. They didn’t speak out when our soldiers were being beheaded. They looked the other way when the extremists massacred Shias and other religious minorities. Instead, they appeased the murderers. Now the same terrorists are coming for them too. No one will be spared, the message is loud and clear. The line is drawn: either you are with us or against us.

Now the militants have turned their guns on journalists. Some days ago, they killed three staffers of the Express TV channel in cold blood. It was not the first time that media persons were killed in violence in this country, which is rightly described as the most dangerous place for the journalists. But the latest killings in Karachi were perhaps the most gruesome.

It was a clear declaration of war by the Pakistani Taliban against those who dare to speak out against the militants’ savagery. The attack was meant to silence the voices of sanity now becoming a rare commodity in this country where freedom of expression is increasingly under threat from rising violent extremism.

The Taliban have issued a fatwa accusing the media of siding with the ‘infidels’ and have vowed to eliminate those opposing their cause. The militant outfit has also reportedly prepared a list of media houses and journalists who according to them have been inciting ‘non-Muslims’ to wage war against the ‘forces of Islam’. Before achieving the freedom it now enjoys, the Pakistani media had to work hard and long under draconian laws. But now, ironically, non-state actors and terrorists are dictating their terms for journalists to operate, once again restricting their freedom. For sure, the main objective is to terrorise the media into submission.

This presents the most serious threat to the freedom of media in the country and fear of attack has already affected the objectivity of journalism. The threat has become much more real after the Karachi incident, forcing some media houses to tone down their criticism of militancy.

One of the most bizarre spectacles was witnessed just days after the Karachi incident when an anchor got on the telephone line Ehsanullah Ehsan, a spokesman for the Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan, live on his television talk show. Ehsanullah not only brazenly claimed the responsibility of the murder of journalists, who ironically belonged to the same channel, but also warned of more such actions in future if the media did not stop what he described as “unfair reporting”.

Even worse was the way the anchorperson grovelled before the Taliban honcho, seeking to placate him, and sought the advice of the militant commander about what he considered ‘balanced reporting’. He promised to give the Taliban ample coverage in the future and to air their views regularly. But it would not please the militant spokesman who kept threatening dire consequences if the media group did not toe the line. Such an approach only makes journalists more vulnerable. Predictably, the fear of retaliation has caused a marked decline in the publications of articles and reports critical of the Taliban in some newspapers. What is worse, however, is that the fear of a terrorist backlash has driven some journalists to propagate the militant narrative. Some of them have even gone to the extent of publicly defending the militants’ actions.

It is so repulsive the way a section of the Pakistani media, particularly the TV channels, readily embrace the Taliban’s position and whitewash their brutalities. It is unique for Pakistan that mass killers are allowed to appear on television shows and their statements are given wide coverage in the national newspapers. Such glorification of the terrorists in effect legitimises the militancy. To be fair, one cannot pin the blame on the media and journalists alone for succumbing to the threat when the national leadership itself has surrendered to the militants. Who would want to put one’s neck out especially when there’s little faith in the state to provide security?

Another driver of insecurity for journalists is the growing religious extremism and prevailing intolerance in society. The fear of victimisation has limited the intellectual discourse in the country. It is not only the threat by militants that has affected the independence of the media, but also the campaign launched by some right-wing and pro-Taliban political parties against the liberal press.

It is certainly the most testing of times for the media and democratic freedoms. We will lose this battle if the media submits to the terrorist rule of fear. This state of fear must be broken if we want to retain our freedom and win back the soul of this nation.