MANSOOR JAFAR Al Arabiya January has always been a dreadful month for the media in Pakistan. Not only because the media publishes yearly reports on the number of newsmen killed on the job, but because over the last few years, very high profile newsmen have been killed in this month. Noted US journalist Daniel Pearl and Geo News reporter Wali Khan Babar are just two of them. This January has been no exception: one newsman and three technicians of TV channel “Express News” were gunned down in Karachi in separate incidents. Someone claiming to be a new spokesman of the Taliban took the responsibility for shooting them, saying they were killed to avenge the media's backing of military operations and drone attacks on tribal areas. Newsmen in Pakistan have always been victimized by the state and pressure groups. After Sept. 11, 2001, they have been targeted by many sections of society and have been literally performing their duties against a barrage of gunfire and bombs. Religious extremists accuse them of siding with the enemies of Islam while the Taliban kills them for allegedly carrying out a US agenda against Islamists. Pakistan's secret agencies viciously slander newsmen whom they think are exposing their illegal activities. Many political parties openly accuse the media of being biased against them or of being paid by their rivals. The most courageous and truthful journalists have to face the most accusations and threats. After failing to counter the truth, people conveniently accuse journalists of corruption and betrayal against the country. Pakistan has had this ugly tradition for a long time. Former military dictator General Musharraf was known for his open contempt and averseness to the media. When the government of Nawaz Sharif at last lodged a treason case against him a couple of months ago, he became the first military dictator in the country's history to be in the dock for treason against the constitution. A couple of days ago, however, his lawyer Ahmad Raza Khan Kasuri followed the precedent of those before him when he publicly accused journalist Ali Sher of corruption and of being a traitor, threatening that newsmen would be "dealt with appropriately." The crime of the unlucky journalist was simply asking the lawyer why Musharraf, who used to boast he never feared death, has now been "hiding in a hospital for the last two weeks on the pretext of some sudden and mysterious heart problem, to avoid appearing before the court despite the issuance of repeated summons from the judge." The question pricked the seasoned lawyer so much that he instantly lost control of himself and began shouting at the newsman, who works for a local Urdu language daily. The lawyer not only accused those journalists criticizing Musharraf of being secret Indian agents and corrupt, but also threatened them, claiming that those journalists working against the general would be dealt with soon. He went on to cite the faults of the journalistic community, saying that many of them actually held dual nationality and were in Pakistan to carry out a foreign agenda. When the anchor of a TV talk show asked the lawyer to retract his comments, Kasuri refused and persisted in his threats and warned the media that he had compiled a long list of traitor journalists and that he had already filed a petition with the Supreme Court to try such newsmen. General Musharraf was known for treating his opponents with open contempt and naked threats, even while addressing them live on media broadcasts. Once he contemptuously threatened to hit Baloch tribesmen with sophisticated weapons fired from a long distance. Similarly, he used to ridicule the media by saying, “you ask too many absurd questions." Kasuri must not forget that the media has so far gone very softly against General Musharraf. Few have questioned why Nawaz Sharif has brought such ineffective treason charges against Musharraf that only deal with his dismissal of supreme court judges and the imposition of emergency in 2007. Only a few have questioned why Nawaz has spared Musharraf of treason charges of dismissing his elected government and parliament in October 1999 and his crime of selling off thousands of innocent citizens including noted educationist Dr. Aafia Siddiqi to the CIA on charges of working for Al-Qaeda. All of these citizens are still missing to this day with their families running from pillar to post in search of them. Kasuri might have been more furious if, for example, the media had asked about the allegations of Musharraf launching US-propelled military operations in tribal areas that caused a civil war-like situation in the country, taking a toll of 70,000 civilians. Not many journalists today accuse Musharraf of allowing drone attacks and inviting secret private US forces like Blackwater into the country, forces that wreaked havoc in the shape of subversion and killing sprees like that of Raymond Davis and the operation to hunt for Osama Bin Laden. Another former military dictator, late General Ziaul Haq, once said that if he had hanged a few journalists nobody would have dared to speak against him. His military courts punished four outspoken journalists with flogging. Three of them were actually flogged while the fourth escaped the punishment because he was handicapped and doctors advised that he should not be flogged. Musharraf's lawyer has a lifelong love for military dictators. Kasuri was a devoted supporter of General Ziaul Haq and remained at the forefront of his campaign for awarding capital punishment to deposed former Prime Minister Bhutto. Then he joined hands with General Musharraf as a loyal leader of his party, the All Pakistan Muslim League (APML). Following his threats to the media, if anything happens to those journalists critical of Pervez Musharraf, should Kasuri be held responsible? Some journalists tried to lodge a case against him for hurling open threats, but Islamabad police were reluctant to lodge a formal report and the case against him was not made. Kasuri's client General Pervez Musharraf has always favored foreign journalists over the local media. His inclination toward Indian and Western journalists was known to all. During his visit to India in 2003, he appeared on many television shows and gave a number of interviews. His overindulgence with Indian media was considered one of the reasons that his visit failed to achieve the desired results. He was known for breaking exclusive information only to the foreign media, like his notorious interview with the US press in which he opined that Osama Bin Laden might be hiding in Pakistani tribal areas. This interview paved the way for generating a strong US demand to launch military operations in FATA areas in February 2004. In his last days before retirement, the dictator gave exclusive interviews to the foreign media and selected TV anchors, ignoring the mainstream local media. It is strange that Musharraf's lawyer has accused local journalists of having dual nationality. Even if some newsmen are dual nationals, it is their own business and has nothing to do with Kasuri's bad temper. He must not forget that newsmen have no guns to defend themselves unlike his commando general client. – Mansoor Jafar is editor of Al Arabiya Urdu based in Islamabad. Follow him on Twitter @mansoorjafar
