Following the atrocious human-rights situation in Balochistan, anti-state elements have now targeted the media
QUETTA: Following the atrocious human-rights situation in Balochistan, anti-state elements have now targeted the media, which is caught in a tussle between the government and the militants. On the one side, the media is expected to please the government and, on the other, it is pressured and sometimes even threatened by local influential to give their demands significant coverage. With an increase in the number of incidents of journalists being threatened, beaten or even killed in other provinces, expecting the government to take immediate actions in Balochistan may be asking for too much.
How can the government come forward to protect the media and journalists in a province where it has itself been accused of forced disappearances and extra-judicial killings? After the government’s failure to handle the law and order situation in the province, is media the next institution to face the ire of the extremist forces gradually gaining strength in the conflict-ridden province?
For more than a year, newspaper circulation and distribution in Balochistan has remained confined to only 18 districts with 15 press clubs already being shut down. Given the situation, it doesn’t take much to sketch the idea of the freedom of the press in the province. But as media is an important platform to highlight the issues plaguing the province, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure the safety of media personnel.
Hafsa Sameed
Published in The Express Tribune, November 23rd, 2017.
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