Pakistani Journalists By Aziz Sanghur

Pakistani Journalist is a short documentary, directed, produced and written by Aziz Sanghur. Mr. Sanghur is documentary film-maker. The documentary shows Pakistan is considered one of the most dangerous countries in the world. About 100 journalists have either been murdered or died in bomb blasts or sporadic gun fire for the past ten years in Pakistan. Media people say that Pakistan is one of the most dangerous places in the world where the most number of journalists have been killed. Some died in bomb blasts, while others through the bullet. Of these, even with the government's assurances, except for 1 or 2 cases, no one has been identified nor arrested. The government has not been able to arrest anyone for these incidences. Reporters have said that when they enter conflict zones they do not get the support from their media companies. In most cases they are forced to go to conflict zones by their own companies. This is how their lives get compromised. According to investigations, reporters and their camera men in Pakistan are without bullet proof jackets, even though they represent media channels and it is their responsibility to protect them. Many journalists have said that apart from working in the media, the media companies should arrange training programs for its staff to better respond to these situations. There is a need for safety training and enhancement of professional skills -- as to how reporting is done, how are questions asked, how are investigations done? These are all the things where specialized trainings are required. In our country there are many pressure groups that target journalists. Among them re religious groups, drug mafia's, land mafia's and political parties. Ahsan Kohati is a crime reporter in a private TV channel in Pakistan and he also writes a column in a national newspaper. On the 1st of Moharram, Ahsan was covering a story about a dispute between two rival religious groups at Numaish Chowrangi, Karachi and he got between blind firing between the groups. Ahsan Kohati was shot 4 times. First bullet hit his arm, second his chest, third his stomach and the fourth grazed his neck. Saeed Sarbazi, who is the President of the Karachi Press Club. He was kidnapped by government bodies. He was released after keeping him for 4 days in torture cells. Nazeer Ahmed is a distinguished photographer from Karachi. A few years ago, while he was near the US Council Generals house and Indian Consulate covering a story of a car bomb, a cracker het him. His eyes were saved by the camera, but the finger which he used to click pictures was lost. On 18 October 2007, on the bomb explosion at Benazir Bhutto's rally, cameraman Mohammad Arif died as a result. His colleague Abid Ali was severely wounded. Abid said that 6 months after the incident, when he was recovering at home, was he informed that his colleague Mohammad Arif had died in the incident. In Pakistan, people that are supposed to give news are becoming news themselves. Sometimes they are kidnapped, in other instances they are targeted for kills and sometimes they are simply victims of bomb blasts. When they go from home in the morning, they don't know if they will make it back home safe and sound at night.