Daily Times

Activists and journalists critical of the deep-state’s policies continue to be intimidated, attacked or abducted in Pakistan. This wave against dissent of began in January last year and continues unabated. Secular activists and journalists vocal against the establishment’s alleged soft corner for extremist groups have been on the receiving end of violence by ‘unknown’ assailants. In January last year, five social media activists known for their critical views about the establishment were abducted. Four of them were recovered a few weeks later, but activist Samar Abbas, who was kidnapped from Islamabad, remains missing. Peace activist Raza Khan who was involved in efforts to enhance people-to-people contacts between India and Pakistan was also abducted last month when he was returning home after participating in a discussion about the military’s role in religious extremist groups’ sit-ins in Islamabad. Journalist Taha Siddiqui who has been critical of the military in his articles is the latest victim of attempted abduction.

Earlier in 2017, journalists Ahmad Noorani, Matiullah Jan and Azaz Syed had faced similar attacks. On Monday, journalist Fahad Hassan was briefly abducted by men in plain clothes after attending a condolence reference for deceased professor Dr Hassan Zafar Arif. The common factor among cases of all those abducted or attacked in the ongoing wave is their critical view about the military establishment’s policies. The government’s silence in this regard may mean that it condones such tactics against critics of the armed forces. Moreover, mainstream media also seems to ignore the state’s act of using violent tactics to clampdown on dissent. Some media persons have even been justifying the use of violence against secular activists by accusing them of treason and/or blasphemy. The purpose of this violence is clear: to intimidate dissenters and restrict free speech. Activists abducted last year had to move abroad due to security concerns after their recovery. Thus, the abductions served the purpose of silencing them.

It is important to recall that the country’s civil society, which is now being accused of anti-state activities by the deep state, has always been vocal against the Taliban — even before the military launched anti-terror operations

Apart from violence on the ground, dissenters are also being intimidated through organised campaigns on social media. Pro-military troll accounts are unleashed to malign those who disagree with the establishment’s policies. The social media hate campaign is just as intimidating for journalists and activists because online intimidation often leads to attacks in real life in Pakistan. Journalist Ahmad Noorani, for instance, had deactivated his Twitter account after receiving online threats, days before he was attacked by knife-wielding attackers.

The attackers, who in these cases are always ‘unknown’ are actually quite well known to anyone remotely familiar with the issue at hand. Senior politician and Senate human rights committee member Farhatullah Babar had stated during a committee meeting that lawmakers were aware as to who is behind enforced disappearances but they don’t make that information public. Although some parliamentarians have spoken out against the abductions and attacks on activists and journalists in the country, they stopped short of demanding that the military establishment come clean on the allegations of their involvement.

National security has always been used by the powers-that-be as a legitimate reason to suppress dissent. Enforced disappearances in conflict areas such as Balochistan have been going on for the past many years, but the unlawful and unjust practice has now been expanded to target dissenting voices across the country. And it is disappointing that no political leader has dared to take the intelligence agencies to task for these transgressions.

The government’s role during the drive against dissenters of the military has been a part of the problem. Last year the government launched a drive against online ‘blasphemers’ on orders of Islamabad High Court (IHC) when the latter was hearing a petition against alleged blasphemy on social media. The Federal Investigative Agency (FIA) started issuing public notices asking the masses to report blasphemous content they find online. Then Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar stated that all major social media sites would be banned if they refuse to remove blasphemous content. Through its statements and actions, the government built a narrative that Pakistan’s cyberspace is full of blasphemers and traitors who need to be targeted by the state. The horrific murder of university student Mashal Khan was enabled by the state’s dangerous act of encouraging people to report ‘blasphemy’. The purpose of the said drive against blasphemers was aimed at intimidating and threatening dissenters and to stop their activism.

While progressive activists get picked up, killed or attacked, religious extremist continue to operate across the country with impunity. This suggests that the deep state considers dissenters as its enemies, but has adopted a tolerant attitude towards religious fanatics. And this is a misplaced, outdated and counterproductive notion.

It is important to recall that the country’s civil society, which is now being accused of anti-state activities by state institutions, was always vocal against the Taliban — even before the military launched anti-terror operations. Outspoken civil society activists and journalists kept reminding the state that negotiations with the militants won’t work at a time when the country’s leadership was hell-bent on cosying up to the Taliban because they were ‘our own people’ back then. The state at that time was openly appeasing the Taliban and agreements were being signed with them.

It was the country’s vibrant civil society that dared to criticise the Taliban for their atrocities when mainstream political leaders were purposely silent over the violence. Progressive journalists as well as activists helped change the state’s flawed direction and played an important role in creating a narrative in favour of the military action against the Taliban. Therefore, the deep state should realise that dissenters, whom it considers enemies, in fact operate in good faith. The real enemy are those who use religion as a means to divide the people.

The need of the hour is to bridge the long-standing civil-military divide to resolve these misunderstandings. Lack of reasonable communication between civilians and military may be why the establishment considers dissenting voices enemies of the state. In any case, the powers-that-be need to understand that dissent helps improve policies and it should not be seen as a threat. Critics of the armed forces are neither ‘unpatriotic’ nor foreign agents.

If those picked up are involved in any unlawful activities, as is claimed by the troll armies involved in vicious campaigns on social media, they should be tried in courts and punished under the law. But the fact of the matter is that there are no cases registered against those being picked up, nor is there any evidence that proves the abductees were involved in anti-state activities. Those abducted and released earlier were absolved of all charges by the Islamabad High Court.

It is time for all democratic forces to raise their voice against the ongoing attempts at muzzling free speech in the name of national security. The practice of accusing peaceful citizens of anti-state activities and putting their lives at risk must end now. It is about time the deep state understood that dissent is not a crime.

The writer is Assistant Editor, Daily Times. She tweets at @AiliaZehra and can be reached at ailiazehra2012@gmail.com

Published in Daily Times, January 25^th 2018.