Fawad Chaudhry, Pakistan’s Minister for Information minister and Broadcasting, has refused to recognize that Pakistan has failed to safeguard its journalists.
During an interview with Stephen Sackur for the BBC’s “HARDTalk” program, which aired on Friday, Fawad Chaudhry, who was dubbed “one of the government’s most robust defenders,” did everything he could to dispel the notion that journalists in Pakistan are in any more danger than anywhere else in the world.
When questioned by Sackur whether he believes that the preservation of freedom of speech and independent journalism is the cornerstone of any democracy, Chaudhry cited Article 19 of the Constitution, which ensures such protection.
When asked for a response to incidents that occur “day after day, month after month” that contradict such freedoms and allege that the government is failing to safeguard journalists and freedom of expression, Fawad said that he would obviously contest the claim”.
“Pakistan is probably one of the freest state[s] as far as media is concerned. We have about 43 international media channels, including BBC, here in Pakistan, we have 112 private channels, 258 FM channels, and 1,569 print publications.
“So you can imagine the kind of media we have. The size of the media itself defies your claim,” Fawad responded by saying.
The minister added that he sent top police officials to investigate the assault on journalist Asad Toor, adding that they had received a closed-circuit video of the perpetrators and that “they will be apprehended.”
He went on to say that such incidents do happen “everywhere in the world, and Pakistan is no exception”.
When further grilled on what he, as information minister, is doing about it, Chaudhry said: “The situation in Pakistan is not dangerous for journalists only. The situation in the past for Pakistan was dangerous for every citizen because we were fighting this war on terrorism. And yes, many journalists, especially field journalists, have been killed in this war, but so [have] many other civilians.”
He cited the assassination of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in a terrorist strike as an example of the need to see things in a broader context.
Since Prime Minister Imran Khan assumed office, the minister stated, assaults on journalists had “reduced.”
He further said that “in most of the cases, the culprits were apprehended”.
Returning to the assault on Toor and the assassination of journalist Absar Alam last month, he said that the inquiry is still ongoing and that there is “no reason” to claim that Pakistan is not safeguarding its journalists in light of these two occurrences.
