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The Interior Ministry’s National Crisis Management Cell has warned that the Taliban have been angered by their depiction by the media as villains, and could be out to bomb them. The bomb hoax at the building housing this newspaper, ‘Geo’ TV and other publications of the ‘Jang Group’ in Lahore Sunday night as well as at the nearby WAPDA building could be a warning of things to come. There is indeed growing evidence that the media is becoming a key target. The attack on the press club in Peshawar late last year indicates the threat is in earnest. Tougher security measures have since been taken at all press club buildings in big cities and at many media offices, in some cases impeding the working of professionals who depend on close interaction with all kinds of people.
The anger of the militants underscores the fact that the media has done well to expose them and their deeds. It is obviously succeeding. Public opinion has swung quite sharply against the Taliban. In Swat, and elsewhere, this has played a part in their defeat. Many who saw them as heroes have changed their minds. For this the reporters, the cameramen and the newsroom personnel who brought us accounts of brutality and injustice committed in the name of religion deserve a round of applause. Their bravery has often been quite extraordinary. We know they will continue their mission and refuse to be scared off by the latest tactics of the terrorists. Indeed the growing desperation of the Taliban shows how deeply they have been wounded. It is, however, important also for the government to recognise the contribution of the media in the war on terror and do all it can to protect it. Organisations too must safeguard those in the field as well as in offices. It is vital at this juncture that the task of exposing the true faces of the Taliban continues. Much has already been done in this respect. More still needs to be done to inflict a final defeat on them. |
Mohammed Abbasi 