Mohammad Jamil
Surely, freedom of expression is an open polity’s inviolable part; but in no event can this freedom be a license to say things violating provisos of the Constitution. In no event can this be a license to undermine security of Pakistan, as it has degenerated in this country. There are certain sacrosanct limits that have to be exercised in the civil polities. Those universally accepted norms and standards have to be adhered to in all conditions. But all those niceties are thrown out of the window by our chattering classes. It would not be an exaggeration to say that freedom of expression is most abused freedom in the country. Pakistan established Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) in March 2002, and since then this setup is functioning without any interference of any other institution.
One may criticize former president Pervez Musharraf on other counts but he was the first leader in Pakistan who laid foundation of strong media, as before 2002 there were only 2 to 3 media channels, and presently this number is hundred-plus. During last year (2017) Paris based media watchdog said: “The Pakistani media is regarded as among the freest in Asia but are targeted by extremist groups, Islamist organizations, and state intelligence agencies, all of which are on Reporter Without Borders (RSF) list of Predators of Press Freedom.” The question is why many European countries do not allow to question holocaust, and holocaust deniers are prosecuted and even jailed. There is argument that even Holocaust deniers have the right to free speech. Presently, the following European countries have some legislation criminalizing the Nazi message, including denial of the Holocaus.
Among others, the countries include Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain and Switzerland. Holocaust denial is also illegal in Israel. Some of the countries like Germany and Austria take these laws very seriously and vigilantly prosecute both speech and behavior having any reference to Nazis and Nazism. Others, like Lithuania and Romania, despite laws on the books, enforce them sporadically. David Irving, the discredited British historian and Nazi apologist, was arrested in November 2005 and was given a three-year prison sentence in Vienna for denying the Holocaust and the gas chambers of Auschwitz. Irving, who had appeared in court carrying his book Hitler’s War – my flagship, 35 years of work” and a PG Wodehouse paperback, had vowed to appeal against the sentence.
“I’m very shocked,” he said as he was led back to the cells where he had been held at that time for three months. Irving at that time 67, started the day affecting the image of an English gent arraigned before a foreign court. “Frankly, questions about the Holocaust bore me,” he said, calling the trial ridiculous and claiming that the Austrian law under which he was being tried would be scrapped within a year. Very recently in May 2018, authorities in western Germany arrested serial Holocaust denier Ursula Haverbeck after the 89-year-old failed to show up at prison to start her sentence. She was arrested on court orders and sentenced for three years for incitement by denying the mass murder of 6 millions of Jews during the Nazi era in Germany.
Coming back to Pakistan, there is an orchestrated campaign against Pakistan’s military and other institutions. According Reuters report carried by Aljazeera television, “Pakistan’s military is using fear and intimidation to stifle the media and undermine press freedom even as overall violence against reporters has fallen, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) said last week. The so-called press freedom group said the military had established “lines of control” to pressure the media and journalists who pushed back or were overly critical were attacked, threatened or arrested. “The military has quietly, but effectively, set restrictions on reporting: from barring access to regions to encouraging self-censorship through direct and indirect methods of intimidation, including … allegedly instigating violence against reporters,” the CPJ said in a report.” But this is propaganda to malign Pakistan military.”
Steven Butler, the Asia program coordinator at the New York-based watchdog said: “The deterioration in the climate for press freedom in Pakistan comes as fewer journalists have been killed in recent years, but the organization says impunity remained entrenched, with the military, intelligence, and military-affiliated political groups suspected in the killings of 22 reporters in the past decade. While the decline in the killing of journalists is encouraging, the government needs to counteract pressures that have resulted in rampant self-censorship and threats to the media. Pakistan must address the disturbing trend of impunity and attacks on journalists to shore up this faltering pillar of democracy.” In fact, the US and the West should also allow free speech including discourse on holocaust, and should stop using international media to malign other countries.
