Pakistan’s crackdown in PoK: How Islamabad is tightening information chokehold amid global scrutiny
Pakistan’s widening crackdown in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) has drawn international attention, with members of the Kashmiri diaspora, rights groups and global watchdogs raising concerns over restrictions on journalists and media freedom.The measures, introduced by the Shehbaz Sharif government during the so-called assembly elections in the illegally-occupied Valley, have also been criticised by press freedom organisations.According to The New York Times, Pakistan has imposed strict rules requiring journalists working for foreign media outlets to seek government permission before travelling outside Islamabad, Karachi and Lahore.The restrictions come amid increased media coverage of protests in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where demonstrators have been demanding greater political autonomy since early June.The NYT reported that the restrictions could severely affect independent reporting from Pakistan. “Heavy local journalists say will close off one of the last remaining ways to get independent journalism about the world’s fifth-most-populous country,” the report said.Pakistan has also ordered journalists working for foreign media organisations to leave PoK immediately.“The requirement that journalists obtain state approval to report from large parts of the country sends a chilling message: that critical reporting is unwelcome,” Pakistan’s leading human rights organisation said in a statement.Journalists covering developments in PoK have come under particular pressure. According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), two independent Pakistani journalists were detained on August 1 and taken to an undisclosed location.Several others have reportedly been summoned to court under a law that criminalises “false and fake information” over their reporting from the region.The new restrictions have also been criticised internationally. Patricia Gossman, Human Rights Watch’s senior associate Asia director, called them an “alarming step in the country’s narrowing space for press freedom and free expression.” Pakistan ranks 153rd out of 180 countries in the Reporters Without Borders Press Freedom Index.The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists also urged the Sharif-led government to withdraw the restrictions. “If the government is really interested in showing that it believes in democracy and press freedom, then it should immediately lift this ban,” the organisation said.Pakistan’s ministry of information, however, said foreign media organisations would continue to operate normally and that the government was working on a new system for issuing travel permits.The restrictions are expected to have the biggest impact on reporting from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, where the election process is scheduled to conclude on August 10.The region has witnessed months of protests demanding constitutional reforms, while authorities accuse protesters of violence and demonstrators accuse security forces of suppressing peaceful protests.According to local officials and independent estimates cited by the NYT, at least 30 people, including protesters, security personnel and bystanders, were killed in clashes during June and July.Meanwhile, India has also strongly condemned the neighbouring Pakistan’s crackdown on PoK. The ministry of external affairs called the local elections as “a complete farce.” The MEA also highlighted the situation gripped with violence, blackouts, intimidation, and repression against civilians.The Kashmiri diaspora abroad has also staged a strong demonstration in UK. The agitated people took to the streets of Bradford, condemning Pakistan’s crackdown in PoK.
