After Pearl, Which Journalist is Next?

http://in.news.yahoo.com/020301/64/1hqi6.html

ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - The editor of a leading English-language daily in Pakistan said on Friday he had resigned after the government exerted pressure for himself and three other reporters to be sacked.

He said the pressure followed the publication of an article linking a Pakistan-based Islamic militant with a December attack on India`s parliament -- an event that sparked a major military stand-off between the South Asian nations.

``I was told by my editor-in-chief that he had been asked to sack four journalists -- myself, Kamran Khan, Amir Mateen and Rauf Klasra,`` Shaheen Sehbai, Group Editor of The News daily, told Reuters in an online conversation.

``He (the editor-in-chief) did not name who had said that... but he told me to go and see the ISI (inter-services intelligence),`` he added.

Sehbai distributed copies of his detailed resignation letter to employees and friends on Friday, in which he vowed not to submit to ``government pressure``, as well as a letter from editor-in-chief and the owner of The News, Mir Shakeel-ur-Rahman. Both letters have been obtained by Reuters.

Rahman was not immediately available for comment.

Since signing up for the U.S.-led war on terrorism, Pakistan military ruler General Pervez Musharraf has been faced with tough choices as he attempts to balance support for Washington with strong opposition from militant Islamic groups.

In his resignation letter, Sehbai highlighted a story run on February 17 by Karachi-based Kamran Khan, the paper`s top investigative reporter, saying the prime suspect in the kidnapping of U.S. reporter Daniel Pearl had told investigators he had also been involved in a bloody December 13 attack on the Indian parliament.

That attack, blamed by New Delhi on Pakistan-based Islamic militants and which Islamabad denies all involvement, sparked the mobilisation of up to a million troops along the borders dividing nuclear-armed rivals Pakistan and India.

Other reporters at The News have said privately that the newspaper had been put under heavy government pressure following the story`s publication.

``(That story) in The News, was perceived to be damaging to our national interest and elicited severe reaction of the government,`` Rahman wrote in his letter to Sehbai. He also charged Sehbai with violating standard procedures.

Sehbai and one of the other named reporters, Klasra, have in recent weeks complained of harassment by intelligence agencies, a colleague told Reuters.

While Pakistani media enjoys relative freedom, some newspapers have previously been forced to remove staff after complaints from the government or intelligence agencies.

With all due respect and humble submission, I beg to state that I enjoyed reading this.

What a good piece of writing! The struggle does indeed continue. I hope to see more writing by Mr. Iqbal. The insertion of the clerk was not only amusing (I still see letters like that almost on a daily basis), but it reinforced the point even further. Bahut khub!

The journalistic lobby(wherever they are) won`t rest until Pearl`s killer are neutralized.

They will give the fundoo crowds(whether muslim or hindu) such a bad name, pretty soon, India-Pakistan can truely become secular in a professional sense.

We need to channel our energies in fighting an economic war. We have to fight to see which country gets the highest literacy rate, job growth, etc.

That may happen. As they say, things have to get a lot uglier or worst before it gets any better.

Even in Afghanisthan, people were so TIRED of war.

See ``Opinionating on Foreign media`` - freedom comes with responsibility - freedom is the exercise of self restraint, not the abandonment of restraint. On the the other hand, criticism is the hallmark of freedom - those not free to be critical are certainly not free.

No one, no group can be free of those who would attack Liberty, even if that meant the murder of a Journalist. Journalist are not a privillaged group, but if a journalist can be murdered and those responsible not brought to justice, then all society is condemned to tryanny.

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Chowk editors,

What a brilliant stroke in juxtaposing this article with the article ``Opinionating on Foreign Media``; there is a clearer sense of cross generational dialogue with these two pieces. Nice work!

Mr. Iqbal,

re:

``...The extremists, having discovered how easy it was to kidnap and kill a bureau chief of a powerful international newspaper like the Wall Street Journal, will not hesitate to abduct others. And who would prevent them from killing journalists to settle scores...``

Your piece raised a crucial point that has been expressed in progressive media circles in the US, as well. It is a tragedy when journalists are not respected and protected, when their lives are not valued, and when they are not allowed to fulfill their duties of informing us.

I found the clerk anecdote very Asian; quite interesting.

Anwar Iqbal, that was one powerful ending.
I enjoy your contributions on CHOWK.
This was a very well written piece coming from a professional.

Ras