Under Imran Khan’s Rule, Judiciary and Media in Pakistan Face a Grave Crisis
Judges,
Journalists and Human Rights Activists Face Harassment and Torture by
Government and Army
Main
Points:
1. The judiciary was
compromised in the graft case against Nawaz Sharif accused a senior lawyer
2. The proceedings of the Asma
Jahangir Memorial Conference were disrupted by the government and agencies.
3. 57 journalists of Pakistan
have been assassinated during the last 20 years.
4. Last year, the FIA framed
false charges against 49 journalists of Pakistan.
5. Many journalists and social
media activists live in exile in European countries for fear of life in their
motherland.
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New Age Islam Staff Writer
1 December 2021
Imran Khan, Prime Minister of Pakistan
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Mehmal Sarfaraz’s article ‘Sound
of Silence’ underscores the grim reality of journalism in Pakistan. Though
during the most part of Pakistan’s history, journalists, intellectuals and litterateurs
have faced the wrath of the military and the government, the cases of
harassment, torture, disappearance and assassination of journalists and social
media activists have gone up during Imran Khan’s government. The author brings to the fore the upper hand
the government has over the judiciary, which is responsible to uphold the
constitutional rights of the citizens of the country. Accusations by senior
judges and bureaucrats reveal the judiciary was manipulated and compromised to
indict former Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and his daughter Maryam Nawaz. These
are very serious allegations which need to be addressed. If the judiciary
buckles under the pressure of the Pakistani army and the government, democracy
cannot survive and the lives of people, especially of intellectuals and
journalists and social activists will remain in peril.
The disruption of the proceedings of the
Asma Jahangir Memorial conference held last month only tells to what extent the
government can stoop to stop a leading politician of the country from speaking
to a conference when he himself is the victim of the alleged manipulation of
the judiciary. It is not the first time that politicians, journalists, social
media activists and human rights activists have faced state repression of
various kinds. According to reports, 57 prominent Pakistani journalists have
been killed during the last 20 years.
There are scores of Pakistani journalists in exile because of death
threats to them in Pakistan. Taha Siddiquee, Sajid Hussain, Ahmad Waqas are
some of the Pakistani journalists in exile. Sajid Hussain was found dead in
exile in Sweden. The journalists in exile don’t feel safe even in exile because
the Pakistani military and the government hound them in exile. Ahmad Waqas was assaulted outside his home in
Holland.
The journalists who work and live in
Pakistan are always the target of the government and the military and they are
harassed, tortured or framed in false charges for criticizing the military, the
government and religious extremists.
Last year Bilal Farooqee was arrested on charges of ‘defaming” the Pakistani
military (perhaps Pakistani military has been raised to the status of a
religious institution).TV journalist Ehtisham Kiyani was booked for possessing
weapons. Last year, in the biggest crackdown against journalists, the FIA
(Federal Investigating Agency) framed false charges against 49 journalists and
social media activists for criticizing the government and the army.
The current situation of the judiciary and
journalism in Pakistan belies the claim of Imran Khan that under his
government, democratic process has seen an improvement. Contrary to his claims,
extremism, terrorism and sectarian violence has witnessed rise. Imran Khan
needs to address these problems to improve the image of his country in the
world and to come out of the Grey List of the FATF.
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By Mehmal Sarfaraz
30.11.21
Yesterday, the veteran Pakistani
journalist, Muhammad Ziauddin, passed away in Islamabad at the age of 83.
Ziauddinsahab, as we lovingly called him, was someone who can be called an icon
of Pakistani journalism. He was one of the bravest and most upright of
journalists who did not bow down to any power centre. A true democrat at heart,
Ziauddinsahab never compromised his principles and did not mince his words or
play to the gallery when it came to calling out anything undemocratic in
politics. He will surely be missed, especially at a time when many political
moves are afoot and many remain hidden — not to forget the ongoing assault on
freedom of expression in the country.
Nawaz Sharif. / Getty Images
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Earlier this month, the third Asma Jahangir
Conference was held in Lahore. The conference has been held every year —
barring 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic — to commemorate the legacy of the
iconic human rights lawyer who died on February 11, 2018. The conference,
organized by the Asma Jahangir Foundation, the Pakistan Bar Council and the
Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan, had more than 20 sessions discussing
issues regarding dissent, violence against women, freedom of religion and
belief, Pakistan’s economy, the Afghan crisis, the Kashmir conflict, and
democracy in Pakistan, among others. From its inaugural session to the closing
session, the conference created quite a stir. At the inaugural session, the
senior lawyer, Ali Ahmad Kurd, gave a fiery speech in the presence of the senior
judiciary. He criticized Pakistan’s judicial system and questioned how justice
is not dispensed but dictated. The Chief Justice of Pakistan, Gulzar Ahmed,
responded quite strongly to Kurd’s allegations and said that neither he nor the
judiciary under him took dictations from anyone. “No one dares interfere with
my work,” said the CJP and asked Kurd not to bring the honourable courts into
any controversies.
Kurd’s speech perhaps came in response to a
signed affidavit by the former chief judge of Gilgit-Baltistan, Rana Shamim,
who had accused the former CJP, Saqib Nisar, of judicial interference in the
cases involving the former Prime Minister, Nawaz Sharif, and his daughter,
Maryam Nawaz. Justice Shamim’s affidavit led to a lot of questions. Or perhaps
Kurd was making a general comment as the judiciary has seen many a controversy
in recent years. A leaked audio of Justice Nisar was published by the
journalist, Ahmad Noorani, in which he is allegedly telling an unidentified man
how there is pressure on the judiciary to penalize Nawaz and Maryam and pave
the way for Imran Khan to come to power. The former CJP has denied both
allegations — the one in the affidavit and that in the leaked audio. Perhaps it
is time for the superior judiciary to have a dialogue within its own ranks and
discuss how this is not the first time that such allegations about manipulating
judgments have come to the fore and what can be done to restore the public’s
confidence in the judicial system.
Now let’s go back to the Asma Jahangir Conference.
This time, the closing session saw a lot of drama where Mian Nawaz Sharif was
going to address the participants at the end via video link since he is in
London for medical treatment. A couple of hours before Sharif’s address, mobile
internet data at the conference venue was blocked. The connection was lost when
Sharif began speaking. According to the conference’s organizers, “The internet
provider was restrained from providing the organisers with internet services
for the conference two hours before the closing and [before] Mr Sharif’s speech
was supposed to start.” In the end, the organizers had to take Sharif on a
telephone call at the venue so that he could address the conference. Even
before his speech could start, the ruling party’s senior ministers had started
reacting to the announcement and asked how an absconder could address a
prestigious conference where the superior judiciary and diplomats of various
countries were invited as guests.
Last year, the Pakistan Electronic Media
Regulatory Authority had banned the broadcasting of speeches by absconders and
proclaimed offenders, a move that was seen as a way of banning Sharif’s
appearances on television. Sharif has been declared an absconder by the courts.
But there is no bar on Sharif addressing conferences, party meetings or jalsas
(rallies). Unfortunately, the government has gone into an overdrive against the
AJ Conference and Sharif’s speech there. Prime Minister Imran Khan has
criticized the organizers more than once since Sharif’s speech. Yesterday, Khan
asked, once again, how Sharif was allowed to address the event and lamented
that societies suffer when they condone wrongdoings. Senior members of his
cabinet have asked for explanations from the donor countries who sponsored the
event. The human rights minister, Shireen Mazari, tweeted yesterday, “Wondering
if foreign donors for an NGO conf in UK would invite a UK convict as chief
guest for a session? Apart from UK govt not allowing it, if foreign donor was a
diplomatic mission it would be seen as violation of Vienna Conv on Dip
Relations Art 41!”
The government’s criticism may be more
political in nature but it is also detrimental to an already shrinking space
for dissenting voices. The AJ Conference and other such events are fora where
people are able to freely voice their concerns on sensitive issues. When such
events are targeted by a sitting government, it means that those in power do
not want any critical voices whatsoever. Pakistan does not rank well in any
ratings related to the freedom of speech and the media. Censorship in the media
is nothing new but trying to censor and silence civil society in the name of
politics smacks of another attack on the freedom of expression. In a country
where there are actually real problems that the government should focus on —
economy, inflation and so on — it is sad to see a government going after civil
society with such vengeance.
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Mehmal Sarfaraz is a journalist based in Lahore
Source: The Telegraph India
URL: https://www.newageislam.com/islam-human-rights/imran-judiciary-media-pakistan-/d/125879
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