Pakistan directs its anger at Indian journalists
Pakistan's virtual expulsion of the only two Indian journalists posted in Islamabad has effectively shut down the last remaining independent channel for exchange of information between the two countries. As the Ministry of External Affairs in New Delhi has pointed out, such free flow of information has long been recognised as a “crucial confidence-building measure”. Without this source of independent reportage, the people of both countries are stuck with hackneyed narratives of the other that only fuels tensions. Moreover, given Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s commitment to strengthening bilateral ties as well as ensuring greater freedom for the Press in his country, many in India had hoped that his Government would encourage broader engagement at least through the media. Unfortunately, that has not been the case. Press freedom in Pakistan has only deteriorated under Mr Sharif's watch. last month, unidentified gunmen shot at Mr Hamid Mir, Pakistan's most well-known journalist and television anchor, only days after another Pakistani commentator Raza Rumi came under attack. Also, intimidation of journalists and Press censorship has continued unabated. And now, less than nine months after the Press Trust of India's Snehesh Alex Philip and The Hindu's Meena Menon began work in Pakistan, they have been asked to leave.
Notably, this is the second time in less than a year that the Sharif Government has given marching orders to Indian journalists. last year, PTI's Rezaul Hasan laskar, who had spent in five years in Pakistan, and The Hindu's Anita Joshua, who had a three-year stint, were also thrown out of the country in an equally unceremonious fashion. It is hardly coincidental that around the same time The New York Times' bureau chief in Islamabad, Declan Walsh, was also bundled out of the country. Indeed, he was blacklisted and expelled on the eve of the 2013 general election that swept Mr Sharif to power. Mr Walsh was also accused of pursuing ‘anti-national' activities — a charge that has been levelled unofficially in the Pakistani media against the outgoing Indian journalists as well. While the allegations against Mr Walsh were probably a consequence of his bold reporting on the Baloch insurgency, which appeared in the international Press after he left Pakistan, there are no obvious reasons for the ouster of the Indian journalists whose professional freedom in Pakistan is even more restricted than that of other foreign journalists. Not only are they hardly ever allowed outside of Islamabad, their movements are under constant surveillance. Eventually, Pakistani authorities will have to realise that Indian journalists in their country are not enemies; on the contrary, they can be a valuable resource to share the Pakistani perspective with the people of India. This is exactly what Ms Joshua did when she was invited by the then Army chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani to visit the Pakistani side of the Siachen glacier.