ISLAMABAD, Jan 11: South Asia Free Media Association (Safma) has sought legislators’ support to get seven media related ordinances amended. In a letter addressed to all the parliamentary leaders, association said it had prepared drafts proposing clause-by-clause amendments to these ordinances which in the present form violated press freedom in the country.
The letter was read out at the fag end of the launching ceremony of “South Asia Media Monitor 2006” by Safma President and eminent journalist Nusrat Javed. He asked legislators to pilot these media laws in both the houses so that a bi-partisan consensus was created in respective parliamentary committees.He said the Safma in consultation with various parties will convene a multi-party meeting to formulate a course of action on the proposal to amend prevalent media laws.
According to the Media Monitor, a publication of South Asia Press Commission, Pakistan topped the list of abductions and killings of journalists. Despite remaining independent, the media in Pakistan continued facing outbursts of intolerance by the security agencies and a section of the establishment.
The report said the tribal areas had been turned into no-go areas for journalists. The situation in Balochistan and interior Sindh remained quite dangerous for journalists. The government further amended the Pemra law to curtail the freedom of electronic media and weighed its options on bringing in yet another black law, Papra, to contain the print media. Despite some advances in press freedom, Pakistan tops the list of murdered journalists, where four journalists were killed followed by Sri Lanka where two Tamil journalists and five media employers were killed. Two journalists each (two Germans and two Indians) were killed in Afghanistan and India.
In Nepal one journalist was killed, whereas in Bangladesh no journalist was killed, although in terms of threats to journalists Bangladesh still remains a dangerous place for the profession. The Maldives still remain a prison of journalists and there is no let-up in curbs on the press.
On the legal front, except for India, where information law was further relaxed, there was no significant development in terms of improvement in press laws. Although SAFMA national chapters have proposed amendments to the media laws in various countries of South Asia, the authorities have not taken any positive step in ensuring legal coverage to access to information and a free press.
Cross-border free flow of information, free movement of journalists and media products continued to suffer from various restrictions. Member countries of SAARC continued to ignore the urgency to overcome information deficit in the region. SAFMA came under attack in the SAARC for supporting press freedom in Nepal.
In Pakistan the year 2006 took life of four journalists while performing their professional duties. A journalist Hayatullah, who was abducted in December 2005 allegedly by intelligence agencies in Waziristan for an expose, was found dead on June 16 sending out signals of insecurity to other journalists. Muneer Ahmed Sangi, a photographer of Sindhi-language daily Kawish and cameraman of TV channel KTN, was shot dead while covering a clash between two tribes in Larkana on May 29. This killing was alarming for media organisations, which send their correspondents in the field without security precautions for their protection.
In Dera Ismail Khan, Maqbool Hussain Siyal, district correspondent of the Online news agency, was gunned down by unidentified assailants on his way to meeting PPP leader Nawab Azek on September 14.
The fourth killing was that of Malik Muhammad Ismail, editor of a national news agency Pakistan Press International (PPI) Islamabad. The motive behind his killing could not be ascertained, the report said. The impunity in these killings has undoubtedly scared the journalists in Pakistan.
Journalists’ massive protests and campaigns could not bear fruit and no culprit could be punished. Journalists protested against the harassment, abduction and torture. Tribal areas, especially Wana and Bajour, have got the status of “no-go areas” for journalists where harassment by intelligence agencies due to the military operation remained at its peak. Rather than providing any security, law-enforcement agencies worked as a big threat to journalists’ security and an impediment to their work, the report said. During the year, Pemra continued its operation against illegal FM stations in the tribal areas and shut down 156 stations, which were in use of religious people allegedly promoting extremism and intolerance and spreading hatred and anti-state statements.