Pakistan: Unsafe For Journalists? CFWIJ Condemns Ruling Party’s Move To Malign Senior Journalist Asma Shirazi

Prominent broadcast journalist and Coalition For Women In Journalism member Asma Shirazi has been hit with yet another government-backed organized troll campaign. Reacting to a column penned by Asma in BBC Urdu, the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf’s official Twitter account posted a video purportedly of a mobile phone conversation between Asma and thrice ousted prime minister Nawaz Sharif. The ruling party’s Twitter handle attempted to discredit and align Asma and accused her of “obedience” to a “certified chor [thief] and absconder”. The CFWIJ condemns the use of such rhetoric by the party, which leads Pakistan’s federal government. Such acts by a government already under criticism for encroaching on the freedom of the press, in a country known for its frequent violations against journalists, place a target on journalists’ backs.