Pak tops the list of journalist killings in S Asia: Report

Islamabad, Jan 12 (UNI) Pakistan has topped the list of kidnappings and killings of scribes in South Asia in 2006, according to a report.

The South Asia Media Monitor 2006 launched here yesterday by the South Asia Press Commission said two journalists were killed in Afghanistan and India and one in Nepal in 2006, Daily Times reported.

Although no journalist was killed in Bangladesh, the country still remains a dangerous place for them.

The report termed the Maldives ''a prison for journalists'' and said there was no letup in curbs on the press in the country in 2006.

The report said despite remaining independent, the media in Pakistan continued facing outbursts of intolerance by intelligence agencies, landlords and clerics.

The tribal areas were turned into no-go areas for journalists.

The situation in Balochistan and interior Sindh remained quite dangerous for journalists.

Four journalists were killed during the year while performing their professional duties.

Malik Muhammad Ismail, the resident editor of Pakistan Press International, was killed in Islamabad and the motives behind his killing could not be ascertained and the police failed to apprehend any culprits, the report said.

The report said on the legal front, except for India where information laws have been further relaxed, there was no significant development in terms of improvement in press laws. The report said corporatisation of media remained the dominant trend in the region with contents and format being decided by the advertisers.

The public sector media, despite competitive pressure from the private sector, remained in government control without responding to the imperatives of public services, openness and pluralism. In terms of inter-state relations in the region, media with a few exceptions followed the official line.

The report said in India, corporate interests had overtaken concerns of the public, adding that neglect of development in the region by the media was marked by negative stories and official stands.

The most glaring was the coverage of the Mumbai train bombings by the Indian electronic media, which promptly blamed Pakistan and its intelligence agency. The media in fact brought the Manmohan Singh government under great pressure to suspend the composite dialogue process, the report added.

According to the report, the most remarkable development was the democratic revolution in Nepal that also freed the media from the clutches of censorship and official control.

In Sri Lanka, growing ethnic polarisation squeezed the space for independent and objective journalism, the report said, adding that the government increasingly adopted measures to curtail press freedom and 2006 was another year of violence.

UNI