IPS-English MEDIA-PAKISTAN: Caught Between State and Non-State Actors Date: Mon, 05 May 2008 15:20:28 -0700 Zofeen Ebrahim KARACHI, May 5 (IPS) - ”My captivity only brought honour upon me,” is how journalist Suhail Qalandar sees his ordeal at the hands of kidnappers last year. He was talking with IPS over the phone from Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province. Resident editor of 'Express', a popular Urdu-language newspaper, Qalandar, 39, was kidnapped on Jan. 2, 2007 and kept in captivity for 52 days during which time he was tortured, fettered and chained. ”During the nights I would be chained to the wall, making lying down very difficult. I was given stale chappatis (flat, unleavened wheat bread) with mustard oil and a tablespoon of sugar.” Recalling his traumatic experience, a little over a year later, Qalandar is firm that members of his fraternity, especially those working in the sensitive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, need to be given extra protection. When he came out of captivity, he recalled, his happiness knew no bounds because ''I was released without anyone having to pay the Rs five million (78,125 US dollars) ransom money”. ”I am very proud that during those difficult times, neither I nor my family had succumbed to the pressure of the kidnappers and that the journalist fraternity continuously demanded my release.” He is grateful to his employers for being supportive to the point of leaving a blank cheque with his wife. But not all journalists were as fortunate last year. On Oct. 18, two bombs went off amidst a crowd of 200,000 people who had turned out for former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's return after eight years in exile. At least 150 people died in the blasts in Karachi, and among the 387 injured were many journalists. Rashid Ali Panhwar from the Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) had to undergo emergency surgery to remove a six-inch long piece of shrapnel from his abdomen. When he was finally discharged, he was told that APP no longer required his services. Mazhar Abbas, secretary-general of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), never tires of advising reporters, especially those reporting from conflict zones, to be ”trained” to combat threats and harassment and also get ”extended insurance cover”. His views are corroborated by a new report released by the PFUJ on May 3, International Press Freedom Day. ”None of the nine journalists (Pakistani) killed and over 75 injured in a year, while performing their professional duties or for their work, had specialist training for reporting in dangerous environments and became victims of authorities and non-state actors.'' ”Violence and curbs on media remained the hallmark of 2007. FATA [Federally Administered Tribal Areas] Balochistan and Karachi remained 'dangerous places' for reporting on conflicts as journalists feared attack from both government agencies as well as from the non-state actors,'' the report said. ”It's a real challenge for the 150 or so journalists to be working in the tribal areas,” agrees veteran journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai, who is also the resident editor of 'The News,' in Peshawar. ”It's like being a war correspondent without support from either the government, the tribe or your employer.” Over the past couple of years, said Yusufzai, scores of journalists have had to flee their homes in the tribal areas and settle in cities. Many had to give up their vocations altogether. BBC's Dilawar Wazir who left South Waziristan does not feel safe anywhere, not even in Islamabad. In December 2006 he was picked up in the capital by agents of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) and tortured for 30 hours before being released as part of an ”intimidation and harassment” package, reserved for 'difficult' journalists who insist on reporting the truth. Wazir's problem was that he was reporting from sensitive South Waziristan. He had already escaped two attempts on his life while his younger brother was killed. ”When NGOs can provide insurance and security for their employees working in these difficult stations, why cannot employers of newspapers and TV channels do the same?” asks Yusufzai. What Yusufzai finds even more disconcerting is ”that when foreign media houses employ local reporters as stringers they flout internationally accepted precautions and norms''. ''Here they cannot provide our already poor journalists with even basic safety gear, what to talk of insurance cover.” Most of the journalists belonging to the seven principalities (North and South Waziristan, Kurram, Orakzai, Bajaur, Momand, Khyber) -- or agencies as they are called in the FATA -- are either paid a pittance or nothing at all. ”Some of my colleagues, not just in the FATA but even here in Peshawar, are not paid, sometimes for over four months at a stretch, and that is why many begin to moonlight for foreign media,” explains Nosherwan Qalandar, a reporter with Aaj TV. Nosherwan, who also works for the Voice of America, has been told by the latter that it will not take any responsibility if anything happened to him. ”They tell me not to cover an event if it is a risk to my life. I'm just paid for a certain number of stories I do per month and that's all. No strings attached!” However, he says, because he is a Pakhtun and belongs to the area and is ”familiar with the local customs and traditions,” and till he adheres to them he believes he is ”safe.” He feels secure also because of the personal relationships he has developed separately with the military (by taking on embedded assignments) and the secret agencies. ''The militants often treat the journalists they call in for regular briefings as special guests,'' he said. Suhail Qalandar, who is president of the Khyber Union of Journalists, said demands have been made to the government and the military access to provide protection and access to all journalists who want to go to FATA and report from there. During military operations in the area, the previous government had stopped media from entering the agencies, though locals were allowed to send in their reports. ”The local journalists cannot report freely, or give the real picture because they are just a handful and easily identified. With the result they are coerced and influenced to write the way a certain group wants them to write. Pressure is put on them by the political administration, the army and the intelligence agencies. Additionally, there is pressure on the families,'' Suhail said. ”We demand the same kind of benefits, monetary as well as others, be given to journalists working here, if not more. The FATA and even the frontier areas are a frontline region where active war is going on,” asserted Suhail. He said that because FATA was not well developed and education standards low, many local journalists lacked reporting and writing skills. ”Perhaps the government or non-government organisations, even international media groups, could come in and train the fraternity.” The information ministry recently announced the establishment of a 'victims fund', while acknowledging that media persons were exposed to violence. Sherry Rehman, Pakistan's information minister, said compensation from this fund would be available to journalists killed, injured or kidnapped. ***** + ExPress Freedom - IPS Focus (http://www.ipsnews.net/new_focus/expressfreedom/index.asp) (END/IPS/AP/IP/PF/IC/PK/DV/HD/CS/ZE/RDR/08) = 05051214 ORP005 NNNN