Silencing voice of dissent

LAHORE: On September 5^th, Indian journalist Gauri Lankesh was shot dead outside her residence in Bangalore, Karnataka. Known for her vocal opinions and writings on nationalist and violently sensitive views, the said journalist had remained critical of outright nationalist political factions in India. Putting journalists behind bars or shooting them dead is nothing new in developing countries such as India and Pakistan. Despite the freedom of expression guarantees in the statute books, the voice of dissent might never become a reality. Pakistan, too, has a long history of journalists’ arrests, assassinations and bans on several print and electronic media houses, all in the name of maintaining the writ of the state and to eliminate anti-state elements.

Unfortunately, the media has been played as the scapegoat to make up for the flawed regimes of the democratic and military leaders. Ban on media houses during Gen Musharraf’s rule and prior to that during Ziaul Haq’s era is certainly less shocking than the attempts to curtail independent media by democratic governments. Keeping aside its unbiased portrayal of events and opinions, the media is expected to follow the narrative of the succeeding governments. Although the media has made giant leaps as an independent institution, it still faces the wrath of governments and military leadership.

Whereas Pemra critically regulates the content/broadcasts on TV channels and issues notices in no time, the government’s media regulatory body should not curb the freedom of the media. It’s not difficult to understand who could be behind silencing journalists who are critical of the government and the establishment. Hence, undermining the independence of media is equivalent to undermining democracy.

Hamza Hamid 

Published in The Express Tribune, September 8^th, 2017.

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