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How criticism of the state is crushed in Pakistan
Aneela Z Babar
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There s always a limit to what one can write or say. For some activists, even exile has been dangerous
Last week the veteran journalist Nusrat Javeed went through multiple drafts of his press diary for the emergency session of the National Assembly. Javeed has been in the media since 1975 and has been a witness to Pakistan’s political adventures . He later wrote in the Nawai Waqt that he was editing drafts as “My main concern was that the writing was becoming too bitter. Not in line with the current climate of ‘freedom of expression’. Rather than writing down the key thoughts in my mind, I was struggling to come up with words that would not cause me harm.”
“SOMETIMES I think they just wanted to scare me, but then I think maybe they wanted me dead,” says Bisma , a journalist well known for her progressive views. It was one evening in February 2019 when several shots were fired right outside her house. She has never spoken about the incident to anyone except her immediate family, her boss and the head of the media company she works for all of whom believe it was due to her reporting.
It had been a year since Bisma had done a particular story and started getting threatening calls telling her to “watch out”, the tone in each subsequent call turning more aggressive. “I never thought they would show up at my doorstep,” she says. Fearing further repercussions, she kept quiet, and has since then drastically cut down her social media presence. “The message was pretty clear.”
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Women journalists in Pakistan work in a hostile environment; only the fittest can survive.
“SOMETIMES I think they just wanted to scare me, but then I think maybe they wanted me dead,” says Bisma , a journalist well known for her progressive views. It was one evening in February 2019 when several shots were fired right outside her house. She has never spoken about the incident to anyone except her immediate family, her boss and the head of the media company she works for all of whom believe it was due to her reporting.
It had been a year since Bisma had done a particular story and started getting threatening calls telling her to “watch out”, the tone in each subsequent call turning more aggressive. “I never thought they would show up at my doorstep,” she says. Fearing further repercussions, she kept quiet, and has since then drastically cut down her social media presence. “The message was pretty clear.”