EDITORIAL: The manner in which journalist Matiullah Jan was abducted and released on Tuesday, once again, highlights the dangers media persons in this country are exposed to. CCTV footage shows several men in plainclothes and police uniforms forcibly taking him out of his car from outside a school where he had gone to pick up his wife, and bundling him into an unmarked vehicle. Had it not been for the CCTV camera recording, his disappearance would have remained shrouded in mystery, and his ordeal lasted much longer. The incident drew an angry reaction from all sections of society. His brother filed a petition in the Islamabad High Court, which was accepted "keeping in view the gravity of the matter and its implication in the context of constitutionally guaranteed rights of the citizens." The Supreme Court also took notice of the abduction and directed the Islamabad police chief to submit a report in two weeks. All of this left no choice for his abductors but to set him free.
The 'incident' only goes on to show the increasing pressure that the media is under. Not many may have agreed with what Jan was writing. In fact, a day after he was taken away he was to appear before the Supreme Court in a suo motu contempt case for posting a "contemptuous" tweet against the judiciary. He might also have said something that did not sit well with the sensitivities of certain quarters. But there is a legal pathway for any aggrieved party to seek remedy. In case he was accused of some transgression he should have been duly charged and taken to court. The use of underhand means to teach him a lesson and scare others, will not and must not be tolerated. Freedom of expression is a core value of democracy that ought to be respected by all. Sadly, however, this is not the first case of its kind. Several journalists in not too distant a past have undergone similarly distressful experiences, even worse misfortune. What helped in the present case was a strong and collective voice raised by the journalistic fraternity and other sections of civil society as well as rights organizations, with the Amnesty International calling on the authorities to immediately establish the journalist's whereabouts. Ministers for human rights and information Shireen Mazari and Shibli Faraz also issued statements of concern, promising to do all that was necessary for the recovery of the 'missing' journalist.
Now that he has safely returned home, two questions beg answers. Who abducted him, and why? Jan has said nothing about who he suspects or what was conveyed to him by way of a threat, if any, that could provide a clue as to the identify and reveal the intention of his abductors. Hopefully, when the police submit their report before the apex court in two weeks time, these questions will be properly answered.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2020
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