RMNP Sadiq Gill Press Freedom Award: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

RMNP SADIQ The Network

The Rural Media Network Pakistan (RMNP) was established in 2004 and registered as a non-profit organization with the object of assisting the development of independent rural media in Pakistan. This was to be done by conducting training programmes for both male and female journalists, carrying out World Press Freedom Day and freedom of expression seminars, and campaigning to defend and promote the freedom of press.
The RMNP regularly organizes training programmes and seminars in rural centres which address the issues facing the Pakistani media. In particular RMNP has worked for the improvement of professional skills, and to raise rural journalists awareness of professional, social, political, and human rights issues, including those related to the environment.
The RMNP collaborates with local press clubs and journalists unions and the Citizens Media Commission of Pakistan on the national level. On the international level it has developed relations with UNESCO, the Commonwealth Journalists Association CJA), the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), the World Association of Newspapers (WAN), Reporters Sans Frontiers (RSF), and the International News Safety Institute (INSI).
In addition to capacity building the RMNP is committed to the promotion of the freedom of the press in rural Pakistan. RMNP organises training programmes on basic skills, press freedom, investigative and election reporting, the rights of journalists and journalists ethics. RMNP has played a leading role in promoting the use of the recently introduced access to information laws and is lobbying for improvement of these laws. Urdu translations of these documents have been distributed by RMNP among rural journalists in South Punjab.
RMNP is the only organization in rural Pakistan which celebrates World Press Freedom Day every year, and which publishes an annual press freedom report. This year's report was published in and reported on by national and international media. In 2005 , 2006 and 2009 seminars on UNESCO's annual themes were organised. From 1999 to 2004 WPFD seminars were organised by the National Press Union, with the colloboration of the rural Daily Nawa-I-AhmedpurSharqia, now merged in RMNP.
RMNP is the only organisation in rural Pakistan which is keeping contact with the international press freedom organisations to promote initiatives that stress the importance of press freedom for democracy and individual and collective liberties. RMNP is active in reporting and publicising crimes against communication professionals in rural Pakistan, and elsewhere.

Freedom of Expression Monthly Newsletter Sadiq News

In 2005 RMNP published Pakistan's first Freedom of Expression newsletter which foreword was written by Mr Javed Jabbar former Federal Minister for Information & Broadcasting. It is a monthly published in the Urdu language, the main language used by journalists in rural Pakistan.
Sadiq News was published with the technical assistance of UNESCO with a ceremony on 19th December 2005, and a seminar on the Freedom of Expression Situation in Pakistan. The Minister of State for the Environment, Government of Pakistan, Malik Mohd Amin Aslam Khan, MP Malik Farooq Azam, 250 journalists, representatives of civil society organizations and regional heads of political parties attended. The first colour edition of FOE Newsletter Sadiq News was distributed among all participants and a report of the launch was posted on the websites of the International Freedom Of Expression Exchange (IFEX), the International Journalists Network (USA), the Commonwealth Press Union (CPU), UNESCO, and several other media organizations.
So far RMNP has published 13 issues and distributed them free of cost to press clubs, rural journalists unions, and educational institutions. But financial constraints means that since 2007 only one issue is produced each year, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day (3rd May).
FOE Newsletter Sadiq News has become so popular in Pakistan that RMNP received many emails from urban Pakistan asking for it to be published on the web in both Urdu and English, and asking for it distribution by mail. Rural journalists value it so highly they have asked for it to be published fortnightly. RMNP on 26th April 2009 in a ceremony organised with the assistance of UNESCO launched first monthly Online Udru edition of FOE Newsletter Sadiq News which is being distributed free of cost to rural journalists in all the four provinces and Azad Kashmir.
World Press Freedom Day (WPFD) has provided the appropriate platform in rural Pakistan to strengthen networks, monitoring, and the exchange of information and strategies on FOE. As a result of RMNP's efforts since 1999 four international organizations, UNESCO, World Association of Newspapers (WAN) France, Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) USA, and International Press Institute (IPI) Austria recommended that RMNP be enrolled in the IFEX community. For the same reason the World Editors Forum (WEF ) sponsored the editor of FOE Newsletter Sadiq News to its annual congress in Capetown, South Africa in June 2007. And similarly the Commonwealth Journalists Association paid for the editor of the FOE Newsletter Sadiq News to attending its triennial conference in Kuching, Malaysia October 2008.

RMNP Website

RMNP mounted an international website http://online-rmnp.tripod.com/ in May 2006 with the assistance of the Australian chapter of the Commonwealth Journalists Association.
The website was updated daily with news of events in the rural and metropolitan media of Pakistan, and of events organised by RMNP. However the site is of only limited use to rural journalists in Pakistan because it is in English, not Urdu the language of most rural journalists.
Now in July 2009, a Pakistani host launched RMNP new website in both Urdu and English languages. Rural journalists now download monthly FOE Newsletter Sadiq News and read fresh media related material in their country language Urdu. This new site provides an active link for interested mass media across Pakistan and abroad and also provides information on media defence issues such as regular monitoring of the state of media to record the chronology of media violations, tracking progress on media related court cases and legislation; and compiling an interactive directory of Pakistani journalists and media organisations.

Sadiq Press Freedom Award

With the support of the Emir of Bahawalpur RMNP has instituted an annual Sadiq Press Freedom Award to recognize courage and professional commitment by journalists and media organizations in Pakistan. It also serves to focus national and international attention on the state of FOP in rural Pakistan.
The amount of the annual award is Rs 5,000 which RMNP wants to raise to Rs 100,000.
In 2009 the Sadiq Press Freedom Award went to Mubarakpur journalist, Mazhar Rasheed (GEO TV, Jang), at the World Press Freedom Day Seminar on 3rd May in Jinnah Hall, AhmedpurEast.

RMNP Vision

RMNP's objectives are firmly based on the concept of a pluralistic and independent media.
RMNP forsees a Pakistan where the media has the freedom and capacity to reflect the realities of society accurately and in a manner that captivates the interest of its readers, listeners and viewers.

RMNP Mission

RMNP's mission is to establish a network of journalists to monitor and defend freedom of expression in Pakistan, to build the capacity of rural journalists to report government and politics, and to provide a forum for debate.

RMNP SADIQ ---The Network

RMNP SADIQ UN deplores yet another killing of a journalist in Pakistan

31 August 2009 – The United Nations agency that defends press freedom has condemned yet another murder of a journalist working in north-western Pakistan after an Afghan television reporter known for his criticism of the Taliban was slain there last week.

Janullah Hashimzada, the 37-year-old bureau chief in Peshawar for the TV channel Shamshad, died after being shot multiple times in an ambush last Monday in the Khyber Pass region linking Pakistan and Afghanistan. His colleague, Ali Khan, was seriously wounded during the same attack.

Mr. Hashimzada, who also worked on a freelance basis for the news agencies AP and Pajhwok Afghan News, the newspapers Wahdat and Sahar, and the TV network Al-Arabia, is the second journalist to be killed in Pakistan this month.

Sadiq Bacha Khan, a correspondent of Aaj TV and former President of the Press Club of Mardan, was shot dead on his way to work on 14 August.

The International Press Institute (IPI) says 11 journalists have been killed in Pakistan in the past two years, with six of the murders occurring in the strife-torn northwest. Mr. Hashimzada had told colleagues previously about death threats he had received.

Koïchiro Matsuura, the Director-General of the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), issued a statement on Friday condemning the slaying of Mr. Hashimzada and noting that journalists pay “too heavy a price” for carrying out their work.

“This murder highlights the vulnerability of journalists working in conflict and post-conflict areas, where they fulfil a vital role in providing us with independent information,” he said.

“Peace, democracy and the rule of law depend and require an open and informed debate, which is also essential for reconciliation and reconstruction.”

RMNP SADIQ Journalists protest targeting of Pakistani media

Journalists held demonstrations and press clubs remained closed across Pakistan on Monday in protest of the recent killing of three media workers, and the failure by the security services to hold anyone to account for their deaths.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) led the call for protests, and press clubs hoisted black flags above their buildings while union members took part in demonstrations.

The action follows the killing of Online News Agency bureau chief, Irshad Ahmed Mastoi, reporter Abdul Rasool and accountant Mohammad Younis, who were killed in an attack on their office on August 28 in Quetta, Balochistan. Mastoi was also the secretary general of the Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ).

Some 60 press clubs in Balochistan closed their doors on Monday, while others across the country showed solidarity by remaining shut for around five hours.

Protestors expressed concerns over the general security conditions facing journalists in Pakistan, and the continuing rise of impunity which contributes to worsening safety issues. They criticised the lack of action over the killings and called for the establishment of a judicial commission to thoroughly investigate the murders and bring those responsible to justice.

Posthumous award for Pakistani journalist

On Tuesday, the Rural Media Network Pakistan (RMNP) announced that their annual “Sadiq Press Freedom Award” would be awarded to the former president of the Miranshah press club, Malik Mumtaz Khan, who was murdered in February 2013.

Khan is the first journalist from a tribal area to be nominated for the award, which is sponsored by the World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA).

President of the RMNP, Ehsan Ahmed Sehar said: “The recognition of Malik Mumtaz Khan for the award is a symbol of struggle for the right of information and a reminder to international community about the tragic conditions Pakistan has been suffering since the war on terror after 9/11 attacks.”

Khan was gunned down by unidentified gunmen who attacked him from their vehicle as he walked home. Noone has been held responsible for his murder, although Sehar said that the journalist had been receiving threats from militant groups before his death. He noted that pressure from various factors, whether government agencies, tribal leaders or extremist groups, has made working as a journalist a difficult and dangerous challenge, with media workers striving to strike a balance between producing quality, unbiased reporting and self-preservation.

Attack on TV station

In the latest attack on a media outlet in Pakistan, the offices of Geo Television were once again targeted this week according to reports.

RMNP reported that activists from Pakistan Tehrek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) attacked the premises of Geo Television, which also house dailies The News, and Jang.

Windscreens of vehicles were smashed before the protestors entered the building, but noone was hurt in the attack.

The News reported that the premises have been targeted in some way at least 20 times over the past week.

PFUJ officials condemned the ongoing targeting of Geo and the intimidation of journalists, calling on security officials to offer adequate protection to members of the media amidst the continuing political strife in Pakistan.

Earlier this month, protestors stormed the offices of state broadcaster PTV, forcing the channel off the air for a number of hours until security forces cleared the building.

Son accepts award on behalf of slain journalist Malik Mumtaz Khan

Slain tribal journalist Malik Mumtaz Khan’s son Malik Suleman Khan received the RMNP Sadiq Press Freedom Award 2014 and prize money of Rs 60,000 in an event organized by the Rural Media Network Pakistan (RMNP) at Punjab College AhmedpurEast on Sunday evening.

The ceremony was co-chaired by President RMNP Ehsan Ahmed Sehar and intellectual Hassan Askar Sheikh, with Ex-PPP MNA Arif Aziz Sheikh as the chief guest.

The former President of the Press Club Miranshah, North Waziristan, Malik Mumtaz Khan was shot dead by unidentified armed persons on February 27, 2013 while he was on his way to home.

Speakers at the awards ceremony – President BUJ Majeed Gill, ExPPP MNA Arif Aziz Sheikh, Deputy Director Information Bahawalpr Nasir Hameed, PPP leader Mohd Ali Ahsan, PML(N) leaders Mian Mohd Younas, Mehar Abdul Rehman, PML(QA) leader Salahuddin Jeelani, ExChairman Municipal Committee Mian Ilyas Ayaz, and journalists Zafar Iqbal Minhas, Iftikhar Alvi and Ahmed Khan Babar – each paid rich tribute to Malik Mumtaz Khan, and offered their condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. They demanded the government to arrest the killers without further delay and give compensation to Malik Mumtaz Khan’s heirs.

Majeed Gill, President of the Bahawalpur Union of Journalists, presented the RMNP shield to Malik Suleman Khan, acknowledging his slain father Malik Mumtaz Khan’s courage and dedication with the profession. Hassan Askari Sheikh presented PKR 60 000 sponsored by World Association of Newspapers & News publishers (WAN-IFRA).

Malik Suleman Khan thanked RMNP for selecting his slain father for the WAN-IFRA sponsored award. He complained that despite the PKR 1Million announcement made by former Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari as compensation for the killing, not a single penny has been paid.

Similarly he reported that his father’s employer Jang-Geo group neither accommodated the family nor offered him a job, despite his having the required qualification. He hoped that the RMNP would expand its activities in near future to encourage victimized media persons in both rural and urban areas.

he President of RMNP, Ehsan Ahmed Khan Sehar, said that Pakistan is ranked 158 out of 180 countries in this year’s World Press Freedom Index and has one of the highest murder rates for journalists. He stated that there was almost no space for freedom of expression in the country, which provides a free playing field for law enforcement authorities and extremist religious and militant groups to act as they please.

President RMNP said that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had announced the appointment of a Commission for the protection of journalists in a meeting with a CPJ delegation in Islamabad, but no further action has been taken so far. No mechanisms have been developed to stop the attacks on media houses. Political parties, pressure groups and religious militant groups continuously attack media houses and journalists in an effort to dictate their policies, he added. He revealed a report that of 250 journalists from seven agencies and six frontier regions, one third have already moved to other areas and quit journalism. Journalists in FATA are working for multiple organizations – most as correspondents, freelancers and stringers. Sadly, not all have the luxury of being employed under a formal contract.

Also attending the award ceremony were Deputy Director Information Bahawalpur Division Nasir Hameed, Bahawalpur National Awami Party (BNAP) Central President Mian Ilyas Ayaz , District President PML(QA) Syed Salahuddin Ahmed Jeelani, District General Secretary PPP Bahawalpur Muhammad Ali Ahsan, Chairman Market Committee andPresident Markazi Anjuman Mian Mohd Younas, PML(N) leader Mehar Abdul Rehman Anjum, Professor Shehzad Ahmed Khan, and the presidents of Press clubs from Tehsil Sadar Bahawalpur, Tranda Muhammad Panah, Chanigoth, Mubarakpur, Khanqah Sharif, AhmedpurEast, and Samasatta.

President Ehsan Ahmed Sehar also announced that RMNP will give another press freedom award on May 3, 2015, on the eve of World Press Freedom Day.