How shrinking freedom of press in Turkey brought me closer to Pakistan


Planning was underway and we converted all the money we owned to dollars, except for Rs1000 each, in case of an emergency

Since we had decided to travel by train, we booked a six person compartment on the Tezgam Express

The sixth person in our compartment was a Pakistani gentleman in his 40s, who we struck up an interesting conversation with during the journey

Midway, we realised we had enough money to only hail a cab from the train station to the airport

We hadn’t kept any money aside for food

As the train was nearing the Lahore railway station, we were wondering if we could buy some food at the station using dollars

Our empty stomachs convinced us to go ahead and try

Upon arriving at the Lahore railway station, we bade farewell to our Pakistani travel mate, since he was supposed to get off at the Lahore station, and we at Islamabad

The smiling gentleman shook hands with each of us, gathered his luggage and stepped out

After a few minutes, we got up and decided to finally go buy food, when suddenly, the compartment door slid open and our Pakistani travel mate was standing at the doorway

Except this time around, he had food in his hand, ranging from biryani to karhai to handi

He told us he had called his family during the train ride and informed them of the Turkish brothers he was travelling with

In return, his wife prepared all these scrumptious dishes especially for us

We were deeply touched by this gesture

That day, I looked out of the compartment window to see the people of Pakistan busy with their work and thought to myself, “Pakistan is smiling at us

” It was a great feeling having an entire country, along with her citizens, smile at us

I have been living in Pakistan for almost a decade now

During the last mount of my stay, I felt Pakistan smile at me, but this time around, I could not hold my tears back thinking about how Pakistan and its citizens treated me while my country was going through one of the harshest times

Until four years back, I used to proudly boast about the economy and social development of my country

Within three to four years, Turkey witnessed a political upheaval

 Media organisations too, were pelted by black clouds of oppression

We were being scrutinised as well, as was every other organisation in this field, for criticising the government

We weren’t even permitted to cover official press meetings

Let me illustrate this by an incident I witnessed in Pakistan

The Turkish Prime Minister, Ahmet Davutoğlu, visited Pakistan in February 2015 and was invited to give a lecture at a private university

I arrived at the lecture hall long before the starting time and set up my equipment

One of the Turkish security personnel approached me and said, “You cannot cover this event!” When I asked him why, he simply shrugged and said, “This is what they ordered me to do

” Without much delay, he told me to pick up my equipment and then herded me outside the hotel

He waited with me for a long while, only to check if I would try to sneak into the hotel again

As a result, while other news agencies covered the event, I could not fulfil my press duty

Such incidents started occurring frequently and eventually peaked with a repulsive end

Under a strange pretext, which seemed more like terrorism, our media organisation – along with its news agency and newspapers – was rumoured to be taken over by a politically motivated board of trustees

March 3, 2016 The ‘trustees’ were expected to arrive after office hours that night

I could not sleep at all

I wasn’t the only one, considering hundreds of thousands of other readers could not sleep that night either

A large group of readers gathered in front of the office gates and held placards demanding democracy and justice

Soon, the rumours began to turn into reality and around 1 am, police squads and water-cannon vehicles staged themselves at the gates, awaiting to protect the trustees when they arrive

Despite the prevailing cold weather, the police used cold jet water and tear gas to disperse the peaceful crowd

It was even cold in Islamabad that night

As I was watched these events unfold live on the Internet, I was ashamed of offering myself the warmth and comfort of a pullover, whilst my colleagues were facing such brutality

I tiptoed towards the bed where my baby daughter lay asleep and kissed her gently on her forehead

I looked at her innocent face with abundant hope and utter agony

With no words to express my state of mind, I held my phone in my hand and continued to watch the brutal take-over of our media group

One after another, editors and photographers were pushed and shoved

Journalists were treated as if they were stone-cold murderers

My legs went numb and it took me over two hours just to manage to stand up

At one point in time, we used to believe in an institutional culture rather than our physical facilities

We were more focused on inner harmony and not the din on the streets

 My office in Turkey was a safe haven for me; it used to welcome me with open arms and warmth

I would love sitting with my editors, individuals who I used to admire, whose experiences I would take inspiration from

Post the take-over, all that came out of their mouths were swear words

Cigarette smoke permeated the once clean environment of the building

I was completely dejected after witnessing this

I would have liked to be in Istanbul with my fellow colleagues during this unfortunate incident, rather than watching them on a small screen, thousands of miles away

But I was not

March 4, 2016 Saturday Bad news travels fast

The next day, Kamal Siddiqi, my teacher, also the editor-in-chief of The Express Tribune, and I had a conversation regarding the incident

 He told me he was shocked to hear the tragic news and – more caring about the issue than my father – he sympathised with me and asked if he could do anything for me other than publishing this particular news

Soon after, another friend from Geo called and before I could utter a tired hello, he said, “I heard the news and I don’t know what to say…” Silence ensued when words failed to construct sentences

However, as I hung up, I felt as if I had poured my heart out for hours

My sorrows were banished by a hope and feeling of being on the right side of things

As I looked out at the lush-green sprawling Margalla Hills of Islamabad, I felt elated being on the same page as my teacher, who had taught us about the sanctity of press freedom

My friends, who are also Pakistani journalists, offered me words of consolation that soothed my heart and brought a smile to my face

Yet again, I looked out of the compartment window at the people of Pakistan, busy with their work and thought to myself, “Pakistan smiled at us



Date:12-Apr-2016 Reference:View Original Link