By Iqbal Khattak
PESHAWAR: The worldwide press freedom organisation on Monday welcomes the gradual return of journalists to Swat, where many of them had been forced to go into exile or suspend operations in 2008 and 2009.
“The situation has considerably changed from what it was some six months back,” Ghulam Farooq, the editor of a regional daily, was quoted as saying in a fact-finding report by Reporters Sans Frontières (reporters without borders). “In Mingora, newspapers are functioning and the press club has reopened. The public can watch cable TV again and reporters can move about the valley without too much risk,” he added.
“I no longer carry a pistol with me and neither does my guard,” Shireen Zada, an English TV channel’s bureau chief, told the organisation. “Previously, I had to get home before sunset, but now I am in the market or office until late at night. You can imagine how different the situation is now,” she added. This strategic region north of Islamabad underwent a great deal of turmoil from 2007 to 2009. The Taliban and their local supporters waged an offensive that led the army to launch Operation Rah-e-Rast in May 2009 with the aim of reasserting the government’s authority. More than 2 million people, including most journalists, fled the region to escape the violent clashes.
After fierce fighting, the federal government regained control of the valley in September. Some clashes still continue and the Taliban have vowed to take revenge, but life is gradually returning to normal. After months of curfews, journalists are again doing investigative reporting in the field and local newspapers that were closed for months are again being published.
“Now that press freedom has risen again from the ashes in the Swat valley in the wake of the Taliban defeat, what kind of future can the local media hope to have? Do the Taliban, who have not left northwestern Pakistan, still pose a threat to reporters? Will the army, which the federal government has put in charge of the district, accept criticism?” the report asked.
Source: Daily Times
Date:2/2/2010
