Scare tactics

The firing incident on August 16 at the Express Media office in Karachi was obviously intended to create fear. The target was the media and its freedom. This has been a trend in the country that has grown alarmingly in recent years. According to the New York based watchdog body, Committee to Protect Journalists, four have been killed this year; seven died in 2012 — and since 1992, a total of 52 have died as a direct result of their profession.

In this context, the attack in Karachi becomes all the more frightening. According to witnesses, four men on motorcycles drove up to the office, the drivers wearing helmets. The two pillion riders got off and fired some 20 to 22 bullets directly at the guards posted outside the building. One guard and a woman were injured. The toll taken by the assault could so easily have been higher. Quite clearly, the firing was intended to send out a message and quash the right to free expression. It cannot be ignored or taken at all lightly. What happened needs to be investigated, for the sake of all those in the profession so that their safety and security can be ensured.

It is a good sign that the prime minister, the president and other senior members of government have taken note of the firing. However, we need to move beyond this point. The culprits must be detected and brought to trial. Only if this happens can there be any surety of a safer environment for the media to operate in and any guarantee that journalists across the country will be able to pursue their professional duties without death hovering over them. It is as such our duty as citizens to do all that we can to highlight the issue of the right to information for all. This can of course happen only if those who gather information, in other words, journalists, are safe and able to go about their duties without suffering the kind of attack Express Media has come under. Further incidents of this kind must be averted at all costs.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2013.

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