Pakistani journalists including Jahanzaib Ali were recently heard casting aspersions on the freedom of the press in India as they claimed that Australian journalist Avani Dias was denied her visa renewal by the Modi government. However, it turned out that she returned to Australia after she was granted a visa extension, and Australian media also reported that her reason for returning to the country was not intimidation by the Indian government, but rather a new job and her wedding.
Now, it is not unusual for India’s hostile neighbour to meddle in her internal matters and pontificate as their own country rapidly devolves into a hell hole. This unabashed hypocrisy is ingrained in their national character. A recent instance of this is the annual “Pakistan Freedom of Expression and Media Report 2024” by Adnan Rehmat, which was produced by Islamabad-based Freedom Network and titled “Erosion of free speech: The silencing of citizens, political parties, and media.” It was published on the occasion of World Press Freedom Day on May 3rd and covers the period from May 2023 to April 2024.
The report addressed significant concerns about the threats that media professionals and journalists confront as well as the narrowing margins of dissent in the Islamic Republic. Four journalists were killed during this time, according to the report, underscoring the perilous conditions in which the media operates there. Three journalists were assassinated in the last year and one was killed in March 2024. Freedom Network data showed that between January 2018 and December 2023, two journalists were killed annually on average in Sindh.
It contained information on 104 incidents of violations against media professionals, including threats, kidnappings, murders, assaults, injuries and court cases. Sindh was the most dangerous area for journalists and content creators, accounting for 33% of the breaches (34 out of 104 incidents) that were reported there. Islamabad came in second place with 26% of the cases right above Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (23% or 24 cases).
The research described a pattern of crackdowns on political activists, bloggers, and journalists. Legal notifications, arrests, assaults, and intimidation were all part of this. According to the research, in addition to harassment by state actors, predatory acts by certain non-state actors resulted in over 200 online information practitioners, including journalists and bloggers being targeted by more than 70 legal notifications served to them. It also expressed concerns about proposed laws including the Personal Data Protection Bill and the E-Safety Bill, which could further stifle free speech in the media and impose restrictions on online material. The lack of public consultations on these bills is also a point of contention.
The analysis pointed out that as voters in Pakistan, the fifth most populous country in the world, prepared to cast ballots in a turbulent general election which was carried out in February of this year tainted by violence and allegations of improper behaviour, mobile phone services were suspended across the country. Internet outages were reported in several parts of the nation as 128 million registered voters prepared to exercise their democratic rights, according to international online freedom group NetBlocks, which also observed that the disruptions came after “months of digital censorship targeting the political opposition.” Amnesty International called the suspension “a blunt attack on the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly.”
Likewise, mobile communications and internet access were shut down nationwide in the wake of former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest. NetBlocks and Open Observatory asserted that the action affected people who depend on mobile data for communication and their daily lives, including businesses and daily wage earners. After the suspension, every major social media platform including Facebook, WhatsApp, YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, X/Twitter, and Telegram remained unavailable for several hours.
A Pakistan People’s Party senator named Bhehramand Tangi even moved the upper house of parliament in March 2024, seeking a comprehensive ban on access to all social media platforms allegedly in the desire to protect the youth from harmful influences. However, the resolution was withdrawn in a matter of days after being criticized by members of his party, other lawmakers and advocates for digital rights.
Pakistan remains a generally hostile environment for women, both in terms of their inclusion as journalists and the manner in which they are portrayed in the media. Women make up a very small percentage of working journalists, media professionals and content creators. which holds true for both independent digital news media, an ecosystem that has expanded recently and traditional media outlets. The ideas and experiences of genders other than men are glaringly underrepresented in media coverage as well.
Women who are not necessarily journalists but are active in the digital world, such as advocates for free speech and users of social media platforms, often experience harassment and trolling that extends into spaces frequented by female journalists. Gender bias, harassment in journalism, and lack of representation in newsrooms, unions, and press clubs are still common issues. Press clubs, unions, and newsrooms continue to be hotbeds of gender-based discrimination, intimidation connected to journalism employment and a lack of representation.
Like everything else in Pakistan, the study stands as a stark reminder of the disorganized state in which journalistic freedom exists. These are only a few of the challenges raised in the research, which is plagued by the country’s inability to provide its journalists with a safe and secure environment. However, Pakistanis are slaves to their habits, willing to poke their noses into India’s business while ignoring the chaos at home. Pakistan, which is de facto a military state ruled by its armed forces, clearly has no regard for media, either within its own borders or outside. Its sole purpose is to degrade us and portray a fabricated image of how “intolerant” India is.
While Pakistanis, devoid of any due diligence, support anti-Indian factions in their pitiful attempt to attack us internationally, reports from their own land show how antiquated laws and regulations beset their country, and media is crumbling there. Nevertheless, it would be unrealistic to believe that a report will force Pakistan to face its internal problems. As their consistent behaviour has proven, Pakistanis are unlikely to self-reflect and will instead choose to make unfounded accusations against India whenever they get another opportunity.
