On July 8, 2009, late at night, around 60 persons, claiming themselves as Taliban, attacked the house of a Journalist, Mr. Rahman Bunaireeri, at Poland, Buner district, North West Frontier Province (NWFP). In the said area, the Pakistan army has been conducting operations against the Taliban since the last two months. Members of the Taliban planted dynamite around the house and blew up the house in the presence of his family. In the next twenty minutes after the blast, they remained in the area and informed Brunairees family that they had followed orders from high ranking leadership of Taliban movement to blow up the house. Furthermore, they threatened that if Mr. Rahman Bunairee, the journalist working for Voice of America, Pushto bulletin, and also bureau chief of Khyber television channel at Karachi, capital of Sindh province, does not stop the malicious propaganda against the Taliban then the entire family will be assassinated and used as a lesson for the entire journalistic community.
At that time, Mr. Rahman Buneri was in Karachi city and at the time of the blast his three sisters in laws, the wives of his three elder brothers, his father and eight children were present and all of them were held at the gun point. No one was injured as the family members were taken out from the house under custody of Taliban militants. The Taliban were having such types of dynamites which have caved in the whole house not damaging any other house in the area. The Taliban militants after cordoning off the house took the computer and took away its hard disc.
The Pakistan army in the past years has been conducting military operation in the several parts of the Frontier province (NWFP), including Buner, Swat valley, North and South Waziristan. But in recent moths, from March 2009, the government has launched intensive operations and displaced around 2.5 million people from the areas. The government is claiming that it has routed out the Taliban from the areas and people are safe to return back to their homes. But the recent attack on the house of a journalist shows that the Taliban are moving freely and exercise effective control over the areas.
The journalists in Pakistan have become vulnerable to the law enforcement authorities and militant groups. At least 15 journalists were killed in Pakistan during the past one year. Journalism indeed, has become one of the most dangerous occupations in the severely militarized country.
According to the annual report of a media research and development, Islamabad, in 2008, twelve journalists were killed and over 201 cases of abuses against the media were recorded in Pakistan. At least 118 cases of intimidation in 2008 were also recorded and reported by journalists.
The Asian Human Rights Commission urges the Pakistan government to take serious note of the incident and provide protection to the family members of Mr. Rahman, who have gone into hiding. The government should also provide an alternative residence and compensation to the victims family who have lost everything.
