Media freedom is under attack in Pakistan, declared Hamid Mir, one of Pakistan’s most prominent journalists. He had six bullets pumped into him by bike riders in Karachi on 19 April. TV anchor, Raza Rumi, was similarly attacked in Lahore in late March. In May 2011, investigative reporter Saleem Shahzad was murdered following his allegations of links between the Pakistani military and al-Qaeda.
These are just three of the many Pakistani journalists who’ve been victims of a wave of threats and violence in recent months and years.
Even foreign journalists covering Pakistan from inside the country dare not write about certain issues for fear of being killed, or that their visas will be revoked at the behest of Islamabad’s military and security establishment – the dreaded Inter-Services Intelligence directorate (ISI). New York Times correspondent for Pakistan, Declan Walsh, for example, now files many of his stories on Pakistan from London. He was thrown out of the country last year after displeasing the ISI with his upfront reporting.
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