Stopping journalists
By: Yunus Awan
When a Pakistani VVIP visits India, the Indian journalists are not only allowed to cover the engagements of the visiting VVIP, they are in fact invited by the relevant department to do their job. However, when a VVIP from India comes to Pakistan, and visits historical sites located in remote areas, the journalists of that area are not only stopped from covering their visit, but are treated as security risk by our authorities. On November 14, Chief Minister of Bihar Nitish Kumar visited the Katas Raj temple complex in Chakwal. On that day, he also visited the ancient city of Taxila.
We, the journalists of Chakwal district, were waiting for his arrival but we were not allowed to cover the visits of CM Bihar on grounds of security concerns. Had Nitish Kumar’s visit to Taxila and Katas Raj Temples received full media coverage, it would have been very helpful in improving peace ties between India and Pakistan. But the Pakistani security agencies kept the media at bay. We are journalists not terrorists and strongly protest against this act of the government. Our prime duty is to report and we have been barred from performing our duty.
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