Relevance of Amir Mir’s fight in India

The story of journalist Amir Mirrsquos resistance to the Pakistani Establishment needs to be narrated for its theme is relevant to India as well Free speech never comes free of cost I came to know Amir in my years at Outlook magazine for which he would file stories from Lahore on the violent fantasies of jihadis and their links to Pakistanrsquos InterServices Intelligence ISIHis courage awed Outlook For instance in May 2006 Amir drove from Lahore to Islamabad to receive the prestigious All Pakistan Newspapers Society APNS award for an investigative story he had done On reaching the venue he was told President General Pervez Musharraf would felicitate him Amir remonstrated he did not want to be honoured by the man who had subverted democracy Pressed by APNS officials he said he could take the award but also call Musharraf a ldquousurperrdquo to his face Amir was not called to the daisIn 2003 his car was set on fire soon after Musharraf had told editors at an iftaar party that Amir was an Indian agent The general wondered Why else would Amir write a piece for Outlook disclosing the whereabouts of the fugitive don Dawood Ibrahim This sounds chillingly similar to journalist Rana Ayubrsquos recent disclosure that she had been interrogated by three investigating agencies over three months about her ldquoconnections with international editors and publicationsrdquoAmir Mir insists his struggle is to safeguard Pakistanrsquos interests and its peopleIn April 2014 assailants pumped six bullets into Amirrsquos elder brother and celebrated Geo News TV anchor Hamid Mir Days before Hamid had told Amir to name the ISI as the culprit in case he was assassinated Amir did this on Geo News for which its licence was suspended Hamid survived and Geo was back on air three months later But The News the daily which the Jang Group owns along with Geo News took to binning Amirrsquos stories He quitFinding the going tough at yet another pasture Amir started in 2019 a YouTube channel Googly News TV Over the next two years he received four notices from the Cyber Crime branch of the Federal Investigative Agency FIA the Pakistan governmentrsquos paw for harassing political opponents Each of those notices accused Amir of maligning the ArmyISI the judiciary Pakistan Prime Minister Imran Khan and other state institutionsAmirrsquos reply to each of the four notices was more or less similar ldquoAccusing me of working against the interests of Pakistan is simply rubbishrdquo He would say he intended continuing his struggle to safeguard Pakistanrsquos interests and its peopleThe Establishment hit back on the morning of August 7 Two vehicles blocked Amirrsquos car from the front another from the rear Amir was whisked away to the FIA office in Lahorersquos Gulberg locality Also present there was YouTube blogger Imran Shafqat who too had been arrested After Amir had been grilled by two junior officers FIA Cyber Crime Director Babar Bakht walked in By then a gaggle of journalists had descended upon the FIA officeBakht offered a deal to Amirmdashgive an undertaking that he would cease maligning Pakistanrsquos institutions and walk out a free man Amir refused Bakht continued to cajole him their conversation punctuated by telephone calls To each caller Bakht informed that Amir was unwilling to furnish the undertaking demanded of himAround 8 pm Amir was let off An hour later the FIA issued a statement saying they were in the process of collecting fresh evidence against Amir and Shafqat for maligning Pakistan This prompted Amir and four other journalists to petition the Supreme Court for protection under Article 184 3 which defines its original jurisdictionThe petition said media outlets had sacked them under the pressure of those who had the powers to shut down their operations To earn a livelihood they started YouTube channels Yet the state has persisted in harassing them Their fundamental rights have been infringed and they could not follow the Islamic injunction to Muslims to speak truth to an unjust rulerOn August 20 a twomember bench headed by Qazi Faez Isa issued notices to the FIA and interior ministry officials Curiously the Acting Chief Justice constituted a fivemember bench to decide whether a petition under Art 184 3 could be heard in the absence of the Chief Justice who was away in America The bench ruled that the Chief Justicersquos consent was necessary It recalled Isarsquos order and constituted a threemember bench to hear the journalistsrsquo petitionAmir filed an application withdrawing his petition His application read ldquoI have reasons to believe that I will not be able to get justice because the lsquoinvisible elementsrsquohellip in the FIAhellip are far more powerful than those who are supposed to provide justice and safeguard the fundamental rights of Pakistani citizensrdquo Will the Supreme Court be shamed into actionAmirrsquos story shows Indian journalists will have to resist the Modi governmentrsquos attempts to curb their freedom Mediaowners have been disappointing on this count For instance The Asian Age refused to publish the pugnacious TV anchor Karan Thaparrsquos column only because he had referred to the violence against Muslims in Jammu during Partition Separated in 1947 Indian and Pakistani leaders are united in their contempt for free speechThe writer is a senior journalistSend your feedback to mailbagmiddaycomThe views expressed in this column are the individualrsquos and donrsquot represent those of the paper