FOR good reason Pakistan is considered amongst the most dangerous places in the world for journalists. People in this profession have often been targeted by terrorists and militants for bringing information into the public domain. More disturbingly, there have been a number of cases in which the suspicion is that journalists have been subjected to intimidation and torture by state actors including the military and intelligence agencies. Most recently, this allegation has been levelled in the murder of Syed Saleem Shahzad; there have been similar cases in the past as well. According to Reporters Without Borders, 17 journalists have been killed in the country in the past 16 months alone. As noted earlier on these pages and elsewhere, the problem is not just that journalists in Pakistan are targeted, but that no credible investigation of any such case is ever undertaken. Never have journalists' persecutors been brought to justice. With the state standing by in this manner, the signal sent out is that journalists can be targeted with impunity.

Given this situation, it is imperative that mechanisms be created to protect journalists who have received threats from any quarter as a consequence of discharging their professional obligations. A useful suggestion has come from Bob Dietz of the Committee to Protect Journalists. At a meeting at Washington's National Press Club on Tuesday, he proposed that a cell along the lines of Karachi's Citizen-Police Liaison Committee be created to help journalists who have been threatened and their families. This is a useful idea and ought to be given due consideration by journalists and media-house owners. A journalist-police liaison committee of this sort would constitute a forum where threatened journalists could set alarm bells ringing; it could then contact relevant departments and organisations such as the interior ministry, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, the All Pakistan Newspapers Society, the Pakistan Broadcasters' Association and news outlets. It could liaise with the police and intelligence agencies to protect reporters who face threats, and investigate such cases. Timely intervention could save lives, and for that reason such a cell ought to be created immediately.