Daily Times

Gen (rtd) Musharraf is a free man. At liberty to react publicly and on record to the Indian Army chief’s recent controversial remarks. Despite being wanted by the Pakistani courts on charges of treason for suspending the Constitution and imposing emergency however short-lived that may have been. By stark contrast, two former Prime Ministers and a journalist are in the dock for sedition; all over an interview. Not only that, a non-bailable arrest warrant has been issued for Dawn staffer Cyril Almeida. He has once more been placed on the Exit Control List.

Two interconnected issues are at play here. Namely, democracy — where the rule of law applies to everyone equally — and media freedom. Deposed premier Nawaz Sharif has been summoned over comments made in an interview conducted by DAWN back in May; where he lashed out against the establishment. We, here at Daily Times, are neither judges, juries nor executioners. Our job is simply to report and, when needed, talk to truth to power. And pointing out where justice appears to be selective.

The elder Sharif’s comments may best be described as off-the-cuff. That is, he did not make public any classified information. He merely signalled frustration at how and why Pakistan was being isolated on the international stage. That a journalist can be tried for treason for merely reporting these ill-thought out musings raises important questions about the relationship between the judiciary and the fourth estate. Similarly, former PM Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has also courted he long arm of the law over leaking to the PMLN supremo the minutes of the National Security Council session that was convened in the wake of the latter’s outburst.

Defamation of state institutions appears to be at the heart of the matter. And this, we admit, is a serious issue. Particularly given the prevailing dynamics regarding the country’s eastern neighbour. Yet the journalist community should in no way be made to bear the cost of this. After all, it is already working in a climate of intimidation. A far better way to rebuild any lost repute at the global level would be to bring back the country’s last military dictator to face due process. For until this happens, all civilian actors who are being probed, say, by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB), will have won the moral high ground. If on nothing more than the technicality of an unfair process tasked with delivering ‘justice’.

As for Pakistan’s fourth estate, it must stand with one of its own. That much should be understood, For any nation where the media is not free risks embracing autocracy. And, in short, the citizenry, civil society and the keepers of checks-and-balances have sacrificed time and again in the ardent battle for democracy’s survival. To the extent where giving up now would smack of betrayal.

Thus it is hoped that better sense and due process ultimately prevails. Holding journalists responsible for unresolved battles of power-wielding elites is unwarranted. If not utterly senseless.  *

Published in Daily Times, September 26^th 2018.