Pakistan a democracy only in name: Hamid Mir
LONDON: The anchor and host of the now-off air primetime show Capital Talk on Geo, Hamid Mir, in a wide-ranging interview to the BBC World Service, criticised the shrinking space for press freedom and the growing “climate of fear” for journalists in Pakistan.
Hamid Mir spoke from Islamabad with Stephen Sackur, the host of the BBC show HardTalk. “There is democracy in Pakistan but there is no democracy. There is a constitution in Pakistan but there is no constitution. And I am a living example of censorship in Pakistan,” Mir told Sackur, who asked if the Pakistani state is out to silence independent journalism.
Sackur introduced his guest as a high-profile journalist who has faced a string of threats and attacks. In the 90s, Mir was kidnapped and interrogated, and later survived two assassination attempts. Sackur told listeners that since June 2021, Mir’s show and his column for Jang Group have been banned by his employers after he made a speech about intimidation and attacks against journalists. “He [Mir] says shadowy forces operating beyond public view wield enormous power in Pakistan and are seeking to control the media,” Sackur said.
Anchor speaks about curbs to press freedom, censorship in BBC interview
Sackur pushed Mir to name names, and asked who these forces are who silence journalists, but Mir shied away from taking names. Instead, he said in the past he had named the head of an intelligence agency as allegedly conspiring to attack him, but that individual did not appear before a high-powered commission probing the attack.When asked by Sackur if intelligence agencies were behind the attack on journalists, including Asad Toor who was attacked in his home in the capital by masked men, Mir said: “These are documented facts and the state agencies and the intelligence agencies were blamed again and again for organising attacks or kidnapping journalists.” Sackur then drew attention to the six sedition cases lodged against Mir, reminding him that if he is convicted he could serve life in prison. ................Source: dawn.com