Even for A Nascent Democracy Such As Pakistan, Detention Of The Owner-Editor Of Jang Is Tragic
By
Beena Sarwar
July 7,
2020
The
country’s most prominent media owner-editor is detained and incarcerated. The
image-conscious prime minister ignores a letter from United Nations officials
about the detention, which Time magazine lists among the “10 ‘Most Urgent’
Cases of Threats to Press Freedom in the Age of Coronavirus.” The media tycoon
is held for over 100 days without charge; five bail hearings are postponed, and
the bench assigned to hear his case is changed three times in as many months.
Shakilur
Rahman, the owner-editor of Jang, has been arrested and remanded in custody
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Even for a
nascent democracy such as Pakistan, under military rule for much of its
existence, the bizarre arrest and ongoing detention of Mir Shakil-ur-Rahman is
novel and tragic.
The
owner-editor of Jang, arguably Pakistan’s most powerful media conglomerate, was
arrested on March 12. The move was so unexpected that he didn’t obtain
pre-arrest bail when responding to a summons by the National Accountability
Bureau office in Lahore. (I have worked with Rahman and the Jang group in
various editorial capacities.)
Pakistani
Prime Minister Imran Khan in Islamabad, Pakistan, on March 16, 2020. (AP
Photo/B.K. Bangash)
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The NAB is
investigating Rahman for a 34-year-old private property transaction in Lahore.
Also accused is Nawaz Sharif, a thrice-elected former prime minister who
allegedly bent rules to lease property to Rahman when Sharif was chief minister
of Punjab in 1986.
If there
was wrongdoing, the NAB should indict Rahman, say legal experts. Yet it took
more than three months for the government to file charges against him. The
“undue and unholy haste” of the arrest, which occurred on the same day the
inquiry was authorized, violated the NAB’s own protocols, says Amjad Pervaiz,
Rahman’s defense counsel.
There are
also concerns about Rahman, almost 65 years old with underlying health
conditions, being incarcerated during the coronavirus pandemic. Pakistan’s
infection rates rose by over 500 percent in May. Even as human rights defenders
and health experts around the world urge governments to release nonviolent
prisoners, coronavirus cases have emerged in the facilities Rahman has been
held in.
He and his
media group have been under fire before. In 1998, then-Prime Minister Sharif
used allegations of tax evasion to prevent Rahman from launching Pakistan’s
first 24/7 television news channel (Geo TV, eventually launched in 2002, which
I was also involved with). In 2014, pressure on Jang included a campaign by
rival media group ARY News and other forces. Rahman filed a defamation suit
against ARY in London, where a court convicted the ARY owners for slander and
libel. ARY pleaded bankruptcy and paid nothing. Jang emerged with a moral
victory and began rebuilding itself.
These
battles are part of a long-running war for media freedom in Pakistan. In the
1980s, Gen. Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq’s military regime — supported by the United
States and Saudi Arabia — imprisoned, tortured and executed political
dissidents, censored the press and flogged journalists. A “democracy musical
chairs” period followed Zia’s death in 1988, with four elected governments
toppled before completing their tenure. Another military coup in 1999 ended
that cycle. The tail end of the Pervez Musharraf dictatorship in 2007 imposed
heavy media censorship, including for Jang’s Geo TV.
Prime
Minister Imran Khan, an Oxford-educated former cricket hero, heads the third
government since the 2008 general election. His party is more aligned with
Pakistan’s powerful military than any past elected government. In fact, some
analysts say that the military is de facto in charge.
The
muscular nationalism in established democracies such as the United States and
India finds echo in Pakistan, with Khan’s complaints about the “traitorous”
media finding a sympathetic ear in President Trump.
In the
current climate, authorities no longer need to withhold newsprint or issue
press advisories to bring the media in line. Threats to journalists from
government officials and ministers, law enforcement and the prime minister
himself now ricochet virtually, echoed by online troll armies. The increased
targeting of social media users, human rights and peace activists, and
journalists is pushing many into self-censorship. Lately, reporters exposing
the inadequacies of Pakistan’s coronavirus response and province chiefs whose
policies differ from the centre are also being targeted.
Over the
past 18 months, the government has cut off advertising payments to media houses
that don’t toe the line. Newspaper companies face distribution disruption, and
television channels have been taken abruptly off air. A youth-led human rights
movement is so heavily censored that it doesn’t exist on mainstream media.
Direct threats to journalists via WhatsApp calls or messages are increasing.
No one
accepts responsibility for these violations. Since it is dangerous to name
names, Pakistanis resort to euphemisms such as “angels” and “aliens” when
airing their suspicions. Rahman’s case is just the latest example of a media
environment that is becoming more dangerous and less free.
Rahman’s
incarceration has drawn condemnation from lawyers, business leaders,
intellectuals and human rights and media freedom groups at home and abroad. His
next bail hearing is Tuesday. But even if he is released on bail, this will be
a minor victory achieved at a huge cost — not only for Rahman, but also for the
dwindling state of media freedom and democracy in Pakistan.
Beena
Sarwar is a freelance editor and political analyst from Pakistan.
Original
Headline: In Pakistan, a bizarre arrest shows how media freedom is being
squeezed
Source: The Washington Post
URL: https://newageislam.com/current-affairs/even-nascent-democracy-such-pakistan,/d/122325
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