he much celebrated Protection of Journalists and other Media Practitioners Act, 2021 had not even taken off at the Centre when Sindh took the lead in legislation by not only adopting the Act but also constituting a commission headed by Justice Rasheed Rizvi. After his death last year, Justice Nazar Akbar was appointed by the caretaker provincial government. Unfortunately, Justice Akbar resigned two months ago after hearing news that the government intended to bring someone from the ‘bureaucracy’ to fill the job (as they believed that the caretaker chief minister Justice Maqbool Baqar had appointed him on his last day of office). I wish the government would have gone through the law and the procedure of appointment and removal of the commission’s chairman. In the end, a dismayed Justice Akbar quit. Since the vacancy has not been filled, the commission has practically been rendered defunct. Meanwhile, the killing of journalists continues unabated and there has been little success in tracing their killers.

Journalists are being targeted, kidnapped and are facing threats to their lives. This is where the story ends as far as the fourth pillar of the state is concerned, leaving it practically fractured as an institution.

The Sindh Protection of Journalists and other Media Practitioners Act, 2021 had come as a ray of hope. The PPP was rightfully getting credit for it. Journalists were hopeful that the commission formed under the law would not only be empowered but would also get a proper secretariat. Sadly, much of that hope has been lost.

The killing of journalists has continued. In 2024 alone, five journalists have been killed in Sindh, raising questions of failure and negligence. High profile cases such as that of Jan Mohammad Mehr, bureau chief of KTN TV in Sukkur, and of Nasrullah Gadani, of Awami Awaz, remain unsolved. The police apparently know who killed them and why they were targeted. In Mehr’s case, they even know where the killer is hiding.

The late Justice Rizvi had operated from his private office till his death as the government did not provide much support in terms of establishing a proper secretariat for the commission. He also had some reservations about the law itself, which he had pointed out in a letter. One of the important points he had raised was with regard to the powers of the commission, questioning how provinces could legislate regarding international covenants.

However, the most important question which he had raised was in regard to the power of the commission, which he expressed as such: “Vide Section 20, the commission has been authorised with certain powers of the civil court regarding summoning and enforcing the attendance of witness, discovery and production of documents; receiving evidences on affidavit etc. However, the law is silent on how a violator of an alleged offence as defined in the proposed Act is to be tried and prosecuted.”

Are the laws enough?

The most alarming aspect is the failure of the police and other law enforcement agencies to arrest the suspects. The assassination of Jan Mohammad Mehr in August 2023 created a lot of hue and cry. It has been almost 14 months since the PFUJ Sindh Journalists Action Committee, which I headed as a convener, was assured that the killers would be apprehended.

I have followed this case closely for two reasons. First, the PFUJ had nominated me as the convener of the joint action committee; and second, because the murder was one of the most high-profile killings of a journalist in recent times. Jan Mohammad Mehr had enjoyed a good reputation as a professional journalist.

I still remember the first time the action committee gave a call for a protest sit-in outside the Chief Minister’s House. Hundreds of journalists from all over Sindh came to Karachi. Two days prior to the sit-in, the then caretaker chief minister invited the committee. In his presence, top police officers including the IGP gave a comprehensive briefing on the possible whereabouts of the alleged killer. The CM asked us to call off the sit-in. Instead, we assured him that the minute the main suspect was arrested we will call it off. A month later, Caretaker Home Minister Brig Haris called us. He also called an ‘influential landlord’ whom the agencies suspected of protecting the assailants and asked him to use his influence to facilitate the arrest.

The kind of influence used to protect the assailants raises serious questions. From Aziz Memon’s case to those of Mehr, Nazim Jokhio and Nasrullah Gadani, the assailants were protected by people who enjoyed the backing of the ruling elite.

One must still commend Dr Shireen Mazari, who in 2021, played a proactive role as minister for human rights to ensure that a strong law for the protection of journalists and other media was passed. Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah went a step further by also appointing a commission. However, the impunity of the journalists’ killers has not ended.

A newsroom vacuum

During the days of strong newspapers, the editors shielded journalists facing life threats or security concerns, both before and after the printing of a story. The editor and the management, for instance, provided guards to Dawn and The Star photojournalist Mujeeb, after he had captured photographs of a slain politician and member of Gen Zia-ul Haq’s parliament Zahoor-ul Hasan Bhopali, in September 1982. The assailants had entered Bhopali’s office and sprayed it with bullets, killing him and two others. Mujeeb was there and although he was completely shaken, he took the photographs. He then reached The Star’s office and filed the pictures for a special supplement. He was immediately called by Hameed Haroon, who took keen interest both in the safety of journalists and the stories.

Mujeeb’s trauma did not end there. Being a key eyewitness, he was asked to give testimony in the military court, after Ayaz Soomro, the suspected Al-Zulfiqar assailant was arrested. I, too, was summoned as a witness as I had reported the arrest, giving a date that did not match the FIR. Justice Shafi Mohammadi was the defence lawyer. The trial was conducted inside Karachi’s Central Prison. I told the court through Shafi Mohammadi that I stood by my story. The court asked for the source of my story, which I declined to disclose. The court did not coerce me.

Sometimes a misleading headline can threaten lives. Dr Chishti Mujahid’s case from years back is a classic example. He was not a journalist but a freelance writer as well as a photographer from Quetta, and a doctor by profession. He used to write regularly for a leading Urdu weekly. The piece that led to his murder was about a Baloch nationalist, Balach Khan Marri, who was killed in 2007. Perhaps unaware of the dynamics of the province, someone on the desk gave the piece a headline that was perceived as insensitive and insulting. Mujahid first received a threat after the column was published. In 2008, he was killed just outside his house.

Editors, or in the case of electronic media, directors of news operations, need to be more independent and empowered for them to be able to deal with situations involving safety concerns of their staff, especially those reporting from or working in conflict zones.

Understanding the challenge

Not only have professional editors almost vanished, competent newsrooms, the backbone of the print and electronic media, are also disappearing. Many media outlets have squeezed news operations into mere bureaus. The unregulated digital media has its own dynamics and an altogether different challenge, both in terms of professional practice and safety concerns.

Professional editors used to protect the reporters and photographers in the field. No copy or photograph could appear in print without the clearance and approval of the editor. They provided their staff with the first line of safety. Any newsroom without an editor is a team without a captain.

According to Reporters Without Borders, Pakistan ranked 157 out of 190 countries in 2021 on the World Press Freedom Index. The situation improved slightly in 2023, with Pakistan ranking 150. This was largely due to some seriousness shown by the parliament in legislating on crimes against journalists but that alone can’t guarantee protection and safety of journalists.

Today, Pakistan ranks among the five most dangerous countries in the world for reporting. Despite the killing of over 130 journalists since 9/ 11, the government and most media houses have not shown seriousness about training and safety of the field staff. Condemnation, condolence and a compensation payment are all they manage. The compensation is still paid by the government although the primary moral responsibility lies with the employer.

Freedom Network, in its latest report, pointed out that despite the promulgation of federal and Sindh laws on the safety of journalists, both the federal capital and Sindh remained some of the most dangerous places to practice journalism.

The writer is a columnist and analyst for GEO, The News and Jang. His X handle: @MazharAbbasGEO