While independent media will disagree with the registration of sedition cases against journalists, PTI chief Imran Khan is least qualified to condemn them. The former PM was responsible or was a willing accomplice, when some of the worst crimes against independent media and working journalists were committed during his tenure. Soon after he came to power he used Pemra to suppress airing of criticism of his policies. A number of channels were served notices ‘for propagating false news’ about the PM’s personal life or even for airing ‘defamatory’ clips about the NAB chairman. PTI’s Pakistan Media Development Authority (PMDA) Ordinance 2021 sought to centralise media oversight under one draconian authority while media outlets needed annual NOCs to remain operational. The PMDA was widely termed akin to ‘media martial law.’ Newspapers following independent policies were denied government advertisements. Fears were expressed that the PTI’s media policies would turn Pakistan unto an authoritarian state.
Attacks against outspoken journalists who criticized government policies became frequent during the second and third year of the PTI’s tenure. A journalist was shot at while strolling in an Islamabad park, another thrashed outside his home, yet another tortured badly while in police custody. Two well-known anchorpersons were taken off the air under pressure. A number of journalists on the wrong side of the government were abducted and released only after the courts’ intervention.
Mr Khan didn’t take notice of the unending persecution of media houses and journalists under his watch. Instead the PTI’s social media posted the hashtag #ArrestAntiPakjournalists which dropped to second place by evening, but not before it had been used or forwarded more than 28,000 times. Meanwhile IK’s information Minister Fawad Chaudhry maintained that journalists staged attacks on themselves to strengthen their case for seeking political asylum abroad! Some of the pro-PTI journalists who are under a cloud these days supported his views
Journalists do not indulge in conspiracies or sedition. At times they may use strong words to express disapprobation of the measures of the government or establishment with a view to their improvement or alteration by lawful means. Freedom of speech and expression helps in the improvement of policies and should therefore be promoted.
