As he faced the various crises besetting his administration, Prime Minister
Mohammad Nawaz Sharif displayed a distinct tendency toward authoritarianism.
The government's extreme sensitivity to criticism had troubling implications
for the press, which was also vulnerable to attacks from militant groups.
When Pakistan responded to neighboring India's nuclear tests with its own
series of blasts at the end of May, the economic fallout was devastating.
International sanctions imposed against the country for daring to push its
way into the nuclear club led to a $32 billion debt burden, a radically devalued
currency, and steep price hikes on most basic commodities. In an effort to
minimize social disorder, Sharif declared a national state of emergency on
the day after the tests were launched and suspended constitutionally established
rights -- including the freedoms of expression and association -- along with
guarantees regarding arbitrary arrest and detention. In June, a joint session
of parliament approved the declaration and provided for its enforcement for
up to six months. Although Pakistan's Supreme Court restored civil liberties
in July, it upheld the emergency decree.
In November, in response to factional violence that claimed the lives of
more than 1,000 people in Karachi, the capital of Sindh Province and the
commercial heart of Pakistan, the prime minister announced a state of emergency
in Sindh. Sectarian violence in Sindh Province posed dangers for the press,
with an especially ominous bombing in July directed against the Karachi
newspaper Dawn, the country's most widely circulated English-language
daily.
During the year, the government embarked on a systematic campaign of harassment
to punish news organizations that challenged the administration. Among the
hardest hit was the Jang Group of Newspapers, Pakistan's largest newspaper
publishing company.
Also disturbing was the prime minister's push for a 15th amendment to the
Constitution -- the so-called Shariat Bill -- which would give the federal
government greater power to establish Islamic law in Pakistan. Journalists
and human rights activists pointed out that Pakistan is already an Islamic
state, and saw the amendment as an attempt by the administration to establish
a dictatorship under the cloak of religion. Although the bill was languishing
in the senate at year's end, some in Pakistan worried that Sharif's moves
gave confidence to religious extremists, some of whom have threatened journalists
for what they regard as anti-Islamic writings. |
| Attacks on the Press in
Pakistan in 1998 |
| Date |
Journalist |
Incident |
| 12/17/98 |
Saeed
Iqbal Hashmi, Mashriq |
Threatened |
| 11/28/98 |
Naseer
Ahmad Saleemi, Zindagi |
Harassed |
| 11/26/98 |
Idrees
Bakhtiar, Herald, BBC |
Harassed |
| 10/01/98 |
Newsline |
Harassed |
| 09/23/98 |
Saeed
Iqbal Hashmi, Mashriq |
Threatened |
| 09/23/98 |
Ayaz
Ali Shah, Mashriq |
Threatened |
| 09/23/98 |
Qaiser
Butt, Mashriq |
Threatened |
| 09/03/98 |
Zafaryab
Ahmed, free-lancer |
Harassed, Legal Action |
| 07/19/98 |
Ansar
Naqvi, The News Hyderabad bureau chief |
Attacked, Harassed |
| 07/19/98 |
M.H.
Khan, Dawn correspondent |
Attacked, Harassed |
| 07/09/98 |
Dawn
newspaper |
Attacked |
| 07/01/98 |
Jang
Group of Newspapers |
Harassed |
| 07/01/98 |
Maleeha
Lodhi, The News |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Kamran
Khan, The News |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Kamila
Hyat, The News |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Marianna
Babar, The News |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Kaleem
Omar, The News |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Beena
Sarwar, The News on Sunday |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Irshad
Ahmed Haqqani, Jang |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Mahmood
Sham, Jang |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Sohail
Wariach, Jang |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Nasir
Beg Chughtai, Jang |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Mudassir
Mirza, Jang |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Khawar
Naeem Hashmi, Jang |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Sohaib
Marghob, Jang Sunday Magazine |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Abid
Tahimi, Jang Sunday Magazine |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Sajjad
Anwar, Jang Sunday Magazine |
Threatened |
| 07/01/98 |
Mir
Shakil-ur-Rahman, Jang Group of Newspapers |
Harassed, Legal Action |
|
|
