Tidbits from the Southasian region

Life was hard enough for journalists in Pakistan before the police began registering cases against them. According to reports, in less than a month the police in Sindh registered cases against 34 journalists under anti-terrorism and anti-riot acts, in connection with the violent protests that took place after following Benazir Bhutto's 27 December assassination. Many journalists had police knocking on their doors to raid their homes. It is possible that the police are confused between the rioters and the journalists, who were, after all, merely doing their job.

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With the much-anticipated elections imminent in Pakistan, it would be fair to assume that the news media, there and abroad, is working overdrive. Unfortunately, this is not the case. Pervez Musharraf's benevolent rhetoric aside, there are serious obstacles to fair coverage in the lead-up to the 18 February polls. Fundamental among these are the new censorship ordinances, whereby journalists can be thrown into prison for three years in prison for "mocking" the president. Also greatly worrying is the continued violence and intimidation of journalists across the country. Not only that, but remember that many of the banned television channels were allowed to resume broadcast only after they signed a government-promulgated code of conduct. And though the ban on Geo News, the hugely popular and balanced station, was lifted during the third week of January, Chhetria Patrakar rues the fact that the channel was forced to remove some of its programmes.

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The Pakistani president is not alone in his anxiety about being defamed. Over in Nepal, those trying to investigate conspiracies are continually facing threats. Take the journalists and human-rights activists at the site in the Shivapuri National Park, just outside of the capital, where security forces are suspected to have buried several 'disappeared' persons. While on the job, Sagar Shrestha and Rajesh Gurung, photojournalists with Naya Patrika Daily and The Himalayan Times, respectively, along with journalists Khagendra Panta and Dipendra Kunwar, were apparently accused by Lieutenant-Colonel Rajiv Shah of not being "true" journalists, but rather conspiring to "defame" the army. The journalists were verbally abused and warned to leave the site immediately. But the intrepid Nepali journalists, CP is confident, will not rest until the truth is finally uncovered.

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Sri Lankan police must be working overtime. Over the last two months, they have attempted the abduction of one journalist, and posed as telephone officials to gain entry into and search the house of another. The latter charade seemed to have given still others ideas. In early January, a group of plain-clothed individuals – claiming to be police, but who rather suspiciously fled the scene when a crowd gathered – tried to force their way into the home of Poddala Jayantha, editor of the weekly Silumina. Officials at the police station to which the group's car was eventually traced maintained that the vehicle had not been released for any operation. With their hands full with such antics, CP hopes that the police also find the time to properly investigate the death threats that have recently been received by seven senior journalists.

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Being a journalist in Afghanistan remains a highly dangerous job. Abdul Munir, producer and host of the Afghanistan Radio Television in Jawzjan, was killed when the bus he was travelling in was shelled and shot at by a group of armed individuals. Munir suffered serious injuries, and bled to death en route to the hospital. The perpetrators of the attack have yet to be apprehended, and police continue to investigate the incident. General insecurity, coupled with the specific targeting of journalists, continues to hamper reporting from Afghanistan.

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And as if further proof was required, Norwegian journalist Carsten Thomassen was recently killed in the suicide bomb attack at the up-scale Serena Hotel in Kabul. The heavily guarded property was attacked by four militants wearing suicide vests – one detonated his vest, while the remaining three threw grenades and fired guns. Subsequently, a Taliban representative contacted the media to claim responsibility for the deaths.

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Indeed, the persecution of journalists by political forces of all stripes has become alarmingly commonplace in Nepal. In early January, Pushkar Bahadur Shrestha, publisher of two local weeklies, Highway Weekly and New Season, was shot to death near Birgunj in the strife-torn Nepali Tarai. A local representative of the Janatantrik Tarai Mukti Morcha, a militant group that claims to "defend the population of the southern plains", has taken responsibility for the murder. Shrestha's crime, according to the perpetrator, was his being a pahadiya – a person of hills origin – and a journalist. Equally disquieting was the attack on freelance journalist Manoj Sah – a member of the Maoist-affiliated Association of Revolutionary Journalists – whose hand was chopped off by a group of men carrying khukuris, who were apparently unhappy with Sah's critical article about the Janaki Temple in Janakpur. 

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Good and bad news for our friends in Burma. The good news is that they will now get an hour of news – likely, of course, to be heavily censored by the junta – from within the country as well as the outside world, every day. The bad news is that the price of a satellite dish license has been increased from USD 5 to 800, which will likely serve to effectively block the foreign news channels. The 150-fold price hike will not only deprive Burmese citizens of world news, but also of simple pleasures such as football matches, movies and foreign soap operas – all distractions that the Burmese people could undoubtedly well use from time to time.

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The level of confidence in the media seems to be inversely proportional to the level of press freedom in a country, at least according to the results of a recent Gallup poll. The survey in question found that the international public had greater faith in the quality and integrity of the media in countries where the press was ranked as 'not free' or 'partly free' by Freedom House. Of the countries surveyed in Southasia, more than half of the Nepalis, Indians and Bangladeshis had faith in their media, while Pakistanis, Afghans and Sri Lankans felt otherwise. Unsurprisingly, the press in all these countries – except India – is considered 'not free' or 'partly free'. 

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And if journalists are not blown up in Afghanistan, they might just be fighting the death penalty. Sayed Parwez Kambakhsh, journalism student and brother of leading journalist Sayed Yaqub Ibrahimi, is to be tried in a religious court on charges of blasphemy. It is suspected that Kambakhsh is being targeted to intimidate his brother, who has been censuring officials and warlords, into silence. Kambakhsh was arrested after downloading and distributing an article accusing the Prophet Mohammed of ignoring women's rights. Kambakhsh acknowledges circulating the article, but denies that his behaviour was un-Islamic. The court, which had recommended the death penalty before the case was even argued, had now passed a formal death sentence. To top it all, the deputy provincial prosecutor has threatened to imprison all journalists who support the condemned journalist. CP hereby extends all support to Kambakhsh! 

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The excitable Indian television channels racked up a lot of footage on the cricket series between India and Australia. While CP admits that cricket does not feature at the top of the list of favourite passions, it was certainly amusing to sit back and watch cricket nationalism at its best. An alleged racial slur on Australian cricketer Andrew Symonds by Indian bowler Harbhajan Singh, and the latter's subsequent suspension, not only had the entire cricket fraternity in India bristle with ultra-patriotism, but even the Indian TV channels were abuzz with talk shows, debates and analyses on what soon became a major issue. It's a different matter, of course, that the supposed 'racial' abuse was never revealed, and viewers were left wondering why a Punjabi, in a moment of stress, would think to call someone a 'monkey' in the first place.

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Meanwhile, CP is still awaiting the day when a cartoon evokes only a good laugh, and not a jail sentence. Bangladeshi cartoonist Mohammed Arifur Rahman, detained since September 2007 on charges of "hurting religious feelings", has had his sentence extended for another three months. Here's hoping that Amnesty International and other freedom of expression-wallas will have some success in getting him out. 

– Chhetria Patrakar