By Zofeen Ebrahim
KARACHI, May 5 2009 (IPS)

Till two months back, Shireen Zada of the private television channel Express News would carry a pistol whenever he covered the news in the restive Swat Valley in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP).

Media staff in Buner, a town next to Swat, as Taliban leave the area on Apr. 24 following an understanding with the government. Credit:

"It literally weighed me down. Honestly speaking, my pen and the mike in my hand are enough for my protection," he said, speaking to Asia Media Forum (AMF) over the phone from Swat.

That may be true for him, but the TV station’s transmission truck still has an armed guard.

Over the past two years, Swat Valley, 160 km from Pakistan’s capital, Islamabad, has been under the control of militants belonging to the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), defying over 20,000 Pakistan army troops deployed there as part of the U.S.-led ‘war on terror’ in neighbouring Afghanistan.

Since the army operation began, local journalists have come under immense pressure from both sides, which has made reporting from the area particularly dangerous. In fact, in recent years, several journalists have faced harassment and torture, and some have even lost their lives.

After its recent fact-finding mission, Reporters Without Borders has said the imposition of ‘shariah’ or Islamic law in Swat in mid-February will affect press freedom adversely. It urged the government and Taliban leaders to guarantee the freedom and safety of journalists in the region.

Reporting the truth, it seems, does not go down well with either the Taliban or the military.

"We are caught between a rock and a hard place," said Zada.

According to the reporter, he came under fire at least 30 times during the two-year period. And although he came out unharmed, his home in Swat’s largest city was sprayed with bullets in December 2008, killing his sister Mingora, who was inside.

"They (army personnel) had probably come to kill me, but instead my sister became their ruthless target."

First it was the barber shops and the CD/DVD shops that bore the brunt of the Taliban’s fury. Then girls’ education became a casualty. Getting braver following their success in cowering local residents into submission, they decided to clamp down on women – their mobility, employment and visibility in public spaces.

And the Taliban have now turned their eye on local journalists.

Reporters have realised that it is because of the pen and the microphone that they are being harassed and intimidated. On Apr. 28, the TTP warned the media to "mend their ways," through pamphlets plastered all over their workplaces.

"At around 4:00 PM on Apr. 28, my office boy informed me that some Taliban had plastered pamphlets all over our office boundary wall. I immediately reached the office to see what the note said," said Rashid Iqbal, editor of the Swat-based newspaper ‘Daily Chand’.

"All editors of wire services, private and government-run news agencies and journalists and columnists are informed that the way you present news and report events give us an impression that you are pursuing a pro-West policy under greed or pressure, saying that the Taliban are sabotaging the peace and enforcement of the Islamic system," the pamphlet said in Urdu.

"Stop doing this … and if you did not desist we will take you to Islamic courts and you will be responsible for the terrible consequences," the pamphlet warned.

"Yes, we have circulated these pamphlets," Muslim Khan, spokesman for the TTP, confirmed to AMF. "The media have gone against us and are following a pro-West agenda which is anti-Taliban. This is harming our cause of enforcement of shariah."

Khan maintained that the media were not behaving responsibly and were giving a one- sided picture. "They never call us to confirm or take into account our views and opinions," he complained.

The English-language daily ‘Dawn’ said in its May 1 editorial: "Since they (the Taliban) consider their cause to be faultless and their actions above reproach, any ‘negative’ reporting is deemed to be worthy of brutal retaliatory action."

After reading the note of warning, Iqbal immediately called a meeting of his staff and told them that no news, whatsoever, related to the Taliban could go into the paper till he gave the green light.

"This warning has to be taken in all its seriousness. They do what they say; they brook no defiance. The kidnappings, the killings are very real," said Iqbal.

‘Dawn’ seemed to agree. "Be that as it may, the seriousness of Tuesday’s warning issued by the Swat Taliban cannot be downplayed. Never has the threat of extreme violence been more brazen," read the editorial.

"The Taliban think nothing of slitting throats and killing," said Zada.

"This is serious," concurred Rahimullah Yusufzai, resident editor of another English- language daily, ‘The News’. "The Taliban monitor us minutely, especially those working in the electronic media."

Added Iqbal: "This is pure intimidation and it will be a blow for free expression."

"Working in this climate of fear and intimidation will naturally result in self-censorship," Yusufzai said.

Yusufzai has already observed that journalists have been selective in their reporting over the last two years.

To illustrate, he said, "Many knew about the infamous incident of the (public) flogging of a 17-year-old woman (in Swat). But they never shared it till the video was suddenly shown all over TV channels, on Apr. 3. They often know of many rights violations and atrocities committed against women but shirk from reporting.

"Like the rest of the local residents, the journalists too, want the violence to end and are thus in favour of the peace accord signed by the government, unlike journalists of other regions," said Yusufzai. "The fear and the bad name coming to their area keeps them from reporting about certain issues."

"Yes, independent reporting is becoming difficult, and sometimes for our national interest we keep away from reporting on very, very sensitive issues," Zada acknowledged.

It is for this reason that Zada finds reporting from Swat all the more invigorating, saying "It’s much more challenging now than ever before." But as a father of six, he fears for his family’s security.

"We have to choose our words carefully, to avoid offending either side and yet giving our viewers the correct picture. For example, they censure us for calling the army troops killed in line of duty as shaheeds (martyrs) and not when those from the Taliban side die."

Anticipating a rise in conflict in the region, Yusufzai predicted that in the months ahead, pressure on reporters will also increase. "But there will be less and less factual or on-the- spot reporting," he said. Thus, investigative journalism will take a backseat.

"Of course you will get briefings from both the military and the Taliban, and the reporter will just be their messenger," said the editor. "There will be no way to check the authenticity of what they say."

But it is not just the Taliban that is using intimidation. According to Yusufzai, the Pakistan army and intelligence agencies are equally bad.

"Who do we go to for protection?" asked Yusufzai. "The government is as vulnerable to the Taliban threat as the rest of us – or else they are the perpetrators."

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