Islamabad (AsiaNews) In the first six months of this year alone, media organisations in Pakistan have suffered 48 recorded attacks or acts of intimidation, including the murder of two journalists and the torture of another 28, this according to figures released by Internews Pakistan, an NGO based in Islamabad working to develop and strengthen local media.
The statistics compiled by the NGO refer to incidents that were reported in the press between January 1 and June 30. The 48 incidents involved 66 journalists, 25 of whom were either kidnapped or detained with 11 subjected to harassment or threats.
The murdered journalists were Munir Ahmed Sangi of Kawish Television Network (KTN), and Hayatullah Khan of The Nation (an English daily news paper).
According to the report, the incidence of violent acts indicates an upward trend, with the number rising from six in January to 13 in June.
Besides individuals, media property was also attacked. Government and political groups raided for instance press clubs in Peshawar, Khairpur and Quetta.
Sindh province proved to be the most dangerous place in the country to practice journalism with 29 attacks, followed by the tribal areas with 17, Punjab with 11 and the North-West Frontier Province with 7.
The worst incident was the killing of Hayatullah Khan, who was kidnapped on December 5, 2005, and found dead on June 16, 2006, in Mirali, a town in North Waziristan with bullet wounds to the head.
According to Internews Pakistan's annual report, which covers the period May 3, 2005-May 2, 2006, things are getting worse compared to the previous year. The overall number of attacks rose from 120 to 206. In the same period, the authorities banned 19 publications, 32 TV channels and 16 websites.
Undoubtedly, the past year has been the worst year for news media in Pakistan.
