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Pak
Media and
The Feudal Lords
For over 10 years, Shahid
Soomro's reports on tribal feuds and barbaric tribal justice in the
provinces of Sindh and Baluchistan often made the headlines of 'Daily
Kawish', a regional Sindhi-language
newspaper.
On October 21, this intrepid journalist paid with his life for questioning
Pakistan's feudal system and injustice to the poor. He was shot while
resisting five armed men who tried to kidnap him from his home, and
succumbed to his injuries in hospital soon after.
Aziz, Soomro's younger brother, identified three of the five killers and
lodged a case against them at the police station. Two of the main accused
in the killing are nephews of the veteran politician, Mir Hazar Khan
Bijarani, who was recently elected a Member of the National Assembly (MNA).
The reports filed by Soomro often stepped on influential toes. During the
recent elections, his articles had antagonised some of the local tribal
chiefs, who accused him of ignoring them and giving coverage to their
rival candidates. Apparently, Soomro had refused to cover Bijarani's
election
campaign.
Soomro's murder is a horrifying example of the might and mindset of the
feudal lords. In the recent past, feudal landlords and police officials
are believed to have tortured several newsmen working in Pakistan's
under-developed areas when they reported against them. In fact, the feudal
chieftains in Sindh province are said to have killed many journalists.
"These feudal chiefs are brought up to teach a lesson to anyone who
challenges their clout," says Mashooq Odhano, one of Soomro's colleagues.
Ali Qazi, editor of 'Daily Kawish', believes Soomro's murder is a
horrifying example of the worst form of intolerance prevalent in Pakistan.
"Many of these feudal chiefs are not ready to accept that the situation
has changed. The downtrodden farmers are beginning to revolt against the
excesses of their feudal lords. Now, not only are the peasants refusing to
blindly obey them, they are also daring to expose them if they are
involved in any illegal or immoral acts," he says.
"In the past, small-time police officials or journalists were intimidated
by the feudal chiefs. Now trends in journalism have undergone a
sea-change; but the feudals have refused to accept this new reality and
continue to bully and threaten all those who oppose them," Qazi contends.
The police initially arrested two of the alleged killers while three
others remained at large. Due to the hue and cry raised by the media and
civil society, all five are now in police custody. But the intimidation
has not ended. On November 4, the police officer investigating the case
was seriously injured when he received a parcel bomb concealed in a box of
sweets that blew up when he opened it.
According to the police official, he had been receiving threats from the
relatives of the accused, and he was warned of serious consequences if he
implicated the two influential accused. "You have to live here and you
know to what extent can we go," he was told.
Soomro started his career as a journalist in 1988 and had been working for
the 'Daily Kawish' since 1991. According to his colleagues, he had
received threats from some feudal landlords during the elections and was
worried someone would try to eliminate him. "I think if people in this
area were to
be killed for what they write, I'd be the first to go," he is reported to
have told his colleagues.
Soomro's colleagues have called upon the government to take his case up in
the anti-terrorist court. At least 1,500-odd journalists who came from
across the country to attend a protest rally at Soomro's hometown in
Kandhkot vowed that if all the killers were not brought to book, they
would
take the case up to the international level. All of them have decided to
volunteer one day's salary to fight Soomro's case in the court of law.
Condemning Soomro's killing, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ)
and the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) - an international
organisation working to protect journalists - have also demanded that the
government should award maximum punishment to his killers, so that similar
incidents do not take place in the future.
Says A S R Shamsi, President of FUJ, "When a journalist is killed, it is a
crime against society, not simply an individual. Whoever can silence a
journalist can silence everyone. Unless the authorities investigate Shahid
Soomro's killing on a high priority basis, there is little hope for the
protection of basic human rights, not just of journalists but for society
as a whole."
But with the backing of a sitting MNA - who is a feudal lord to boot - it
is a moot point whether Soomro's murderers will ever be brought to
justice.
Soomro leaves behind five young children, a wife and an old mother to
mourn his death. "My son has been killed because he had been reporting
about the injustice against the poor. If his killers are not brought to
justice, no mother will ever let her son fight for the underprivileged,"
says his mother.
� Massoud Ansari
November 23, 2002
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By arrangement with
Womens Feature Service
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