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The
journalists and media outlets suffered from horrendous conditions
in the conflcit-ridden regions and faced unprecedented restrictions
and forced closures in Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Twenty
journalists and four media workers were killed in South Asia in
2007. Pakistan topped the table with seven deaths followed by
Sri Lanka with six and Afghanistan with five killings in the line
of duty. Three journalists were killed in Nepal. One media worker
in Afghanistan and three media workers lost their lives in India.
Amid
debate on sting operations and foreign investment in Indian media,
attacks on media freedom from official agencies and non-state
actors made the news. The media situation showed disturbing trends
— arrogance by the authorities, especially in the states,
misplaced enthusiasm to “reform” the media, and intolerance
of militant groups, evident in disproportionate, violent reaction
to publication of the accounts of their activities, not to their
liking.
Three
media workers died when protesters set fire to the daily Dinakaran's
office in the town of Madurai. The protesters were angry at a
survey in the paper which found their leader MK Azhagiri to be
less popular than his brother and political rival MK Stalin. The
two are sons of veteran politician and state Chief Minister M
Karunanidhi. In Hyderabad, the activists of MIM, Majlis Itthadul
Muslimen, attacked the chief editor and owner of an Urdu daily,
Siasat, which had carried material, critical of a legislator of
their party. In Guwahati, ULFA threatened a city-based satellite
news channel with closure, in case a report against the organization
was not substantiated within a specified period. In Mumbai members
of a little known Hindu Rashtrya Sena attacked the Star News headquarters,
because the channel had “glorified” the elopement of
a Hindu girl with a Muslim boy.
The
government announced its plan to regulate broadcast services through
an official agency causing a big uproar by media organizations
and forcing it to defer it. The media representatives favoured
formulation of a code by the profession itself. Self-regulation
will be in the interest of the profession and prevent the government
from moving against the media on one pretext or the other.
Anti-media
moves and threats by non-state players were equally disturbing
with both the electronic and the print media being at the receiving
end.
In
Pakistan, where free media flourished with the vibrant induction
of private TV channels, the private electronic media faced worst
times with successive draconian amendments made to the Pakistan
Electronic Media Regulatory Authority Ordinance and, later, imposition
of an arbitrary media code that took life out of the private TV
channels. As the Pervez Musharraf government that took pride in
allowing private TV channels panicked over massive public outrage
against the suspension of the Chief Justice of Pakistan, it clamped
down on private electronic media that sympathized with the cause
of independence of the judiciary. Faced with the constitutional
and judicial hurdles to legitimize sitting army chief’s controversial
election as president, the military regime not only once again
put the constitution into abeyance and suspended the fundamental
rights by imposing a sate of emergency, but also took off the
air all news channels and imposed blanket restrictions on free
debate and live coverage of events, the Commission report says.
The restrictions continue to keep the election campaign of most
popular parties at low key. Under the new amendments made to PEMRA
and the Press, Newspapers, News Agencies and Books Registration
Ordinance (PNNABRO), the TV owners and journalists can be imprisoned
for three years and a fine up to Rs. one million and a publication
can be suspended for a month without notice.
A
report issued by Commission Chairman N Ram says the journalists
suffered immensely in the ongoing conflict in Afghanistan and
Sri Lanka. In Afghanistan - especially in the Pakhtun belt across
the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan - the journalists
had to pay heavily amid the cross-fires of adversaries. They became
victim to the guns of not only Taliban-Qaeda extremists, but also
of various other forces, including the warlords and IASF. The
Afghan authorities also showed short temper in tolerating criticism.
Most worrisome was the introduction of illegal FM radio stations
promoting hate and violence in the tribal areas of Pakistan and
Afghanistan.
In
Sri Lanka, as the internecine ethnic conflict grew out of proportion,
media persons and outlets became more vulnerable to conflicting
pressures. The Government of President Mahinda Rajapakse and the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam competed in enforcing restrictions
on the media.
However,
Nepal and Bangladesh presented a mixed picture due to a difficult
and tenuous transition. If the Maldives remained, as usual, a
difficult country for journalists since many decades, Bhutan presented
a case of healthy but careful opening for media with the advent
of constitutional monarchy and introduction of democracy.
The
most encouraging feature of 2007 was the valiant resistance put
up by the media and the civil society against the curbs on freedom
of expression and the right to know in Pakistan, Afghanistan,
Sri Lanka and the Maldives. The bodies of working journalists,
in particular, deserve our praise for putting up protracted resistance
to the curbs imposed on media. The solidarity expressed by the
media community across South Asia and world-wide was worth noting.
The
other signatories to the report are Secretary General Najam Sethi,
and Regional Coordinator Husain Naqi.
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