Sunday, December 29, 2019

A silence envelops Pakistan - curb free speech and rein in the media as a means to divert attention from governance issues

Adnan Rehmat
 During 2019, the Imran Khan government made several moves to curb free speech and rein in the media as a means to divert attention from governance issues'

Another year of travails, some of the worst in recent memory has rolled by for the media in Pakistan, which hardly stands out for its free speech environment. Pakistan ranked a pathetic 142 out of 172 countries on the 2019 global annual press freedom ranking of global media freedom watchdog Reporters Sans Frontiers. Afghanistan and India, its neighbors which themselves have serious press freedom issues, ranked dozens of notches better than Pakistan on this index. It’s that bad.
Imran Khan marked his first year in power in 2019 and he has been a revelation in terms of his government’s undisguised contempt for the media throughout the year characterised by a steady erosion in the freedom of expression environment. Facing harsh criticism for its failures in delivering on pre-election pledges and growing economic hardship, the government became increasingly intolerant of dissent as the year progressed.
During the year the Imran Khan government made several moves aimed at curbing both free speech and reining in of media as a means of diverting attention from its governance failures. The cabinet and its ministers have variously announced measures including merging media regulators for print, electronic and internet into a singular body with draconian powers to fine and control the media and force annual renewal of licences to induce censorship; a new bill to stop the media providing coverage to the government’s political opponents facing controversial trials or given convictions, ban on opposition party leaderships’ interviews on TV and live coverage of all opposition press conferences, and preventing criticism of friendly states.
Some ministers throughout 2019 routinely tweeted against the media. One minister slapped a journalist in public, another made anti-Hindu comments and was removed from office, only to be restored within months. Press advice to censor news became routine.
The relentless intimidation of media in Pakistan in 2019 included several attacks on media houses by mysterious groups that raised slogans in favour of the government and the military; seven journalists murdered for their work; withholding of government advertising dues; of criminal cases against over a dozen journalists for their private social media postings under the controversial cyber crime law.
The relentless intimidation of media in Pakistan in 2019 included several attacks on media houses by mysterious groups that raised slogans in favour of the government and the military; seven journalists murdered for their work; withholding of government advertising dues; of media running into billions of rupees that forced major downsizing and loss of over 3,000 jobs of journalists; growing intolerance of the security establishment of even mild criticism; criminal cases against over a dozen journalists for their private social media postings under the controversial cybercrime law; and a ban on distribution of newspapers and TV channels deemed ‘unpatriotic’ in cantonment areas and other residential societies controlled by the security establishment.
For journalists just doing their jobs of being guardians of public interest it has been really tough out there being unhappy with the government in Pakistan in 2019! The year was annus horribilis for the media – making the current era one of the worst ever in Pakistan’s history to exercise free speech even within the constitutional limits on freedom of expression as guaranteed under Article 19 (dealing with freedom of expression) and Article 19-A (dealing with right to information).
This was the year of a growing hush in Pakistan wherein both the Deep State and government dropped all pretensions of tolerating criticism of their controversial scorched-earth policies and inept governance. This will not be without consequences for the body politic. With the government wantonly ratcheting up pressure on free speech, it appears that procedural censorship is being imposed on Pakistan aimed at re-drawing the very freedom of expression and right to information landscapes of the country.
Pakistan’s pluralistic constitutional foundations are under threat and the country’s declared democratic aspirations are being throttled. The silencing of civil society, the gagging of media and the censorship of political leadership strike at the very democratic project of Pakistan. The last time this happened, the country broke up into two in 1971. That lesson is clearly lost in the mists of time.
If this continues into 2020, the biggest consequence will be a shift away for Pakistan from democracy to authoritarianism, a process already far advanced, which may make it difficult to hold state actors accountable on policies that in the past have resulted in loss of hundreds of thousands of lives and displacement of tens of millions of people in the region and the country.
The social and economic costs of this will be massive, as they have been in the past. This notwithstanding the media story of the year – the death sentence for former dictator Musharraf by a special court. While the verdict constitutes a re-balancing of the power equation, it is expected to generate a new cycle of pressure on the media in 2020 to blunt media and political narratives in support of the judicial courage.A democratic Pakistan cannot exist without free media because it is a multi-national, multi-ethnic, multi-linguist, multi-religious and multi-cultural state wherein all these wondrous pluralisms want their voices to be heard and want direct and better engagement between the citizens and the State. Silencing the media will snuff out the voices.A citizenry able to express itself and reaching out to the government only ends up empowering the state. Freedom of expression and right to information are guaranteed in the constitution as fundamental rights. This is the big challenge handed by 2019 to 2020, so to speak.
There is a need to halt and reverse the wanton climate of censorship engendered in 2019 to foster greater pluralisms and engagement between the citizen and state to strengthen democracy in 2020. A closed Pakistan uneasy with itself and with no way to express itself, is a recipe for disaster. An open, democratic and accountable Pakistan is better for itself, for the region and for the world.

https://www.thenews.com.pk/tns/detail/589580-invisible-workers

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