After Pearl, Which Journalist is Next?

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

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.

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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.

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.

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!

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

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.

BTW, an additional point...

On the issue of bureaucratic stodgespeke the Pakistani press seems to be wayyyyy ahead of us here in India. In fact, we seem to have the other extreme, for example in yesterday`s Economic times almost every second budget headline was an attempt at a pun (some truly pathetic). The emphasis seems to be (in India) on frothy, racy, fluidity-filled writing. Something I failed to find in the web editions of Pakistani newspapers like Friday Times. Some headlines were :``Credibility gap and threat of armed suasion``, ``Donor politics and Pakistan’s de-politicisation in practice`` ... you get the point. I tried to wade through an actual article but gave up and went back to reading tax law manuals instead :))

Am I right about my assumption? Or are there better alternatives?

Cheers,

SM

Jaish -e- Mohammad

re: ``It is a sad state of affairs when the whole Muslim world has an opinion of the Kuffar dying yet have nothing to say when Muslim blood is spilt, except to say “what can we do?”``

That is a patently false statement. The point of this piece was to say that journalists (regardlesss of their nationality) should be protected and respected for serving the citizen/civillian population. This principle is accepted as an international ideal in Latin American, Africa and Asia and the West.

What`s more, I doubt that you have heard or read any progressive Western media that 1. works in tandem with progressive international journalists 2. covers stories that the mainstream won`t-(in fact, I`m thinking of the story of Rita Lazar, the mother of one of the men killed in WTC. She and other women who lost loved ones in WTC went to Afghanistan to speak with and show solidarity with the Afghanis whose towns were being bombed as a protest against US bombing. Are you aware of this story? Why not?) 3. is extremely critical of US foreign policy esp. viz the Middle East and Central Asia. These sources do not make Western lives more significant than South Asian lives.

It is also extremely regrettable that you seem to think that journalists should not try to investigate events that are of grave importance; esp. when it comes to reporting on the scourge of Pakistan, the fundo groups that you have cold bloodedly excused and supported, or corrupt govts., or communal violence, etc.

Why should moderate Muslims be expected to have anything in common with these murderers? That you can find their murderous actions as a defence of Islam betrays a pathology that is THE problem in Pakistan; to use Sameer`s methaphor, Pakistan must be cured of the illness that is the fundo movement.

You speak only for yourself, Sahib.

re: anwar iqbal

…..keep on writing, probing, dissecting and scrutinizing….we need journalists like you to be our collective conscious…

finally, an intelligent and un-biased article on chowk.

i respect you immensely for writing this. hopefully, the murderers of Daniel Pearl will suffer the most severe punishment possible.

it`s the government`s responsibility now to eliminate such criminals from our society.

Sadna #10: As a regular reader of The News, I will miss investigative reporting of Kamran Khan and Amir Mateens` articles. Kamran Khan had been writing the inside stories of current regime`s running the government with gorilla warfare tactics. What surprises me the most is that Sheikh Omar Saeed was never picked up until recently with his hands in so many terrorist activities. He would have been still a free man if not for Pearl`s murder and insuing investigation by FBI. Pakistani investigation, if you recall, was not leading to him. Was it incompetence or plain protecting one of their asset?

I still would like to know: Why a British citizen granted unlimited stay in Pakistan and on what grounds?

Jaishe Mohammad 8

``Hassan Butt AL-MUHAJIROUN Wilayah Pakistan Zilhaj 13, 1422 A.H. 27 February 2002``.

Mr Hassan Butt,the arab wannabe go fcuk yourself

and more over...Udkhul il al miqa`ad filfil al

kabeer,wa khaya ma`ali il al fam.Keef?

Sameer #15,Sadna:

Remember early in the game, right after 9/11 Mushrarraf came on PTV and said something to the effect of ``we have to protect our kashmir ``assets``.

perhaps, he may have meant JeM, Omar Sheikh and his mentor who both were released from Indianjail.

Jaish-e-Mohammed #8: you write ``It has been shocking, to that even in the far remote villages of Pakistan people are discussing the execution over their Eid meals! Yet no one stops and asks why should we care if an Israeli citizen is killed...`` People in the ``far remote villages`` of Pakistan have more decency and a better understanding of Islam that you people do. It is you who should stop to ask why one should care if an Israeli citizen (or any human being) is killed...particularly if he is killed in the ruthless cold-blooded manner. How dare you people call yourself muslims and make references to isolated lines from the Quran when (if you had any fear of Allah or any respect for His Word in the Quran) violate and ignore the basic message of the Quran. You are a bunch of losers and two-bit criminals and you are the ones who are destined for hell in the next world. As for this ``Khalifah`` that you want to put in power, every leader of the religious political parties in Pakistan has this vision of becoming a Khalifah and imposing his will upon Pakistanis through force? Rest assured, you will never succeed in your evil aims. And prepare yourself to be sent by Allah to hell on the day you depart your useless lives on earth.