Pakistani military flexes muscles again: Journalist Hamid Mir taken off air post criticism

On Monday, senior Pakistani journalist Hamid Mir was stopped from hosting his talk show 'Capital Talk' by the Geo News channel after he criticised the military establishment. He has been sent on forced leave and another anchorperson will host the five-day-a-week show for now. Mir came under the scanner after he delivered a fiery speech at a protest on May 28 in the wake of the attack on fellow journalist Asad Toor. Three assailants who identified themselves as ISI agents barged into Toor's Islamabad apartment on May 25 and assaulted him.

Threatening to expose the role of Pakistan's military establishment in the recent spate of attacks on journalists amid inaction from the police, Hamid Mir stated, "I have been feeling this since a long time- the institutions where we work have been coerced to such an extent that they tell us what to say and what not to say. For the sake of safeguarding the jobs of our colleagues, we are cautious. Now, it seems that this has become the strength of those who are the enemies of freedom of the press. I feel that my job is shackling me and I cannot say certain things. From today, I will start saying certain things. Whoever wants to sack me is free to do so. I will get freedom if I am sacked from my job. If I get freedom, then I will remove the masks from your faces."

He added, “If you’re breaking into our homes to assault us, well, we cannot enter your homes as you have tanks and guns, but we can make things public, things from inside your homes". On this occasion, the television anchor also slammed the country's Information and Broadcasting Minister Fawad Chaudhry for accusing journalists of fabricating attacks in order to seek asylum abroad. Reacting to his ouster on Twitter, Mir asserted that he will not back down in the wake of threats. 

Support pours in for Hamid Mir

The coercive action against Hamid Mir drew widespread condemnation with the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan calling for him to be allowed to resume professional duties immediately. Slamming the fascism prevailing in the country, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz spokesperson Marriyum Aurangzeb slammed the attempt to intimidate journalists. Meanwhile, Absar Alam, a veteran journalist who survived an assassination attempt a few weeks ago tweeted, "It’s shameful to threaten anyone’s family. If anyone has a complaint against Hamid Mir, that person should follow the legal path instead of resorting to unconstitutional and fascist acts".

Organizations such as the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and The Committee to Protect Journalists also threw their weight behind the Geo TV anchor. Pakistan which ranks 9th on the CPJ's Global Impunity Index has seen an increase in the censorship and repression faced by journalists after Imran Khan took over as the PM in 2018 after an election perceived to have been rigged by the military. For instance, TV channels are routinely made to censor the bytes of opposition leaders when they mention the names of top military leaders such as Army Chief Qamar Javed Bajwa, ISI DG Faiz Hameed and CPEC Authority Asim Saleem Bajwa. 

Past tryst with military

Incidentally, this is not the first time that Hamid Mir has been at the receiving end of the military's attack. He was critically injured on April 19, 2014, when unknown suspects opened fire on his car after landing at the Karachi airport. Both the journalist as well as his employer Geo TV openly blamed the ISI for orchestrating the attack. Reportedly, the country's spy agency was unhappy over his coverage of the long march over missing Baloch persons. 

After it ran an exhaustive campaign alleging the involvement of ISI, the Geo News network's license was suspended for 15 days besides having to pay a fine of 10 million rupees. Two years later, a three-judge inquiry commission led by the then Chief Justice Anwar Jameeli cleared the ISI of all charges. In its 41-page report, the panel held that Mir's allegations were based on "suspicions, assumptions or apprehensions".