No right to know

The writer is a freelance columnist
and former newspaper editor.
The issue of freedom of information, allowing citizens access to knowledge which should be in the public realm, has been huge in our country virtually since our inception. As citizens, we do not know what transpires at cabinet meetings, within government departments and in other official realms.
As taxpayers, we should know all this. This is our basic right. In 2002, the then military government introduced an ordinance which it claimed gave access to free information. In real fact, it in so many ways restricted it further by adding in all kinds of provisions and clauses to prevent us from learning how government really worked. In 2010, the then PPP government inserted Article 19, safeguarding the right to know for all citizens into the constitution and backed this with a draft law on the freedom to information. The law was finally past in July 2013.
Such legislation is obviously of special relevance to the media, as it is its task to bring information to people. But it is also relevant to each and every citizen since everyone needs to, and should, know what the government is doing, what decisions it is making, how it is acting and through what process decisions are being taken. This after all is the basis of democracy.
Following the 2013 Freedom of Information Act, journalists had begun filling in the relevant forms at ministries to try and obtain information on meetings and decisions taken. In many cases, they were stonewalled for days. But, rarely, important facts did come to light. The law was having an impact – and perhaps in time could have become more effective as minions at government offices became more accustomed to parting with information held close to their chests through habit. As every journalist will testify, most are extremely reluctant to give away information – even of the most harmless kind – on the record.
But all this has changed further. A new directive recently issued to all ministries by the Cabinet Division tells them not to reveal information which goes against the ‘public interest’. The words ‘public interest’ we have of course many times in the past. They can be interpreted very widely, and in a whole different set of ways. The 2013 freedom bill already prevents information pertaining to security matters or sensitive issues from being given out. In this case, the decision taken by the Cabinet Division originates from a quite different source.
We are told that citizens had begun to approach the division, seeking information on gifts and expensive presents given to top rulers by foreign visitors or during their trips overseas. When ministries refused to disclose the nature of these gifts, people went to the federal ombudsman. Following this, the Cabinet Division has decided it is best if people are simply kept in the dark. There is obviously a lot to hide. We can only wonder what these gifts presented to dignitaries are and why we are to be told nothing about them. There are of course also other issues that the government and the bureaucracy would prefer to keep wrapped in dark covers.
This illustrates in so many ways the nature of our democracy. In the past, there have been huge scandals about extravagant presents given to rulers. In many democracies, the tradition is for rulers to hand these over to the state to use for the benefit of people or simply display for the public to see. In our country, it seems they go into private homes or bank accounts.
But the issue goes well beyond this. The fact that we do not know what decisions are being made is a rather frightening thought. What then is the purpose of our democracy, and why should so much within it be veiled? If we look at our newspapers, they really tell us very little about what is actually happening within the government. The television talk shows, which give an illusion of free speech, tell us even less. To make matters worse, there is little debate – and there seems to be a kind of consensus on what the agenda for news is.
We do not move outside these boxed-in areas or ask too many awkward questions. There is almost complete alignment within the media on what is to be discussed and what is to be kept away from the public. In part, this is unconscious. Those deciding what constitutes news in newsrooms are themselves a product of a system which decides what priorities are. In most cases, these consist of statements, debates on specific issues and, yes, occasionally other matters. But there is a vast range of issues we never hear of and know nothing about.
To take a central example, much has been said by politicians and military leaders about the war being fought in our tribal areas, notably North Waziristan. But we know next to nothing about the nature of this war, what its targets are and what the situation of people still living there is.
This is a rather curious state of affairs in a country which claims a completely free press, and freedom of speech. In reality, as far as military operations go, information is available only through the ISPR and journalists gain access to areas of fighting only when they are taken along on carefully orchestrated guided tours. The fate of journalists who have tried to move beyond the laid-out lines is always uncertain and often unenviable.
In recent days, there have also been accounts from within newsrooms of more and more pressure coming from the establishment to keep certain items of news low-key, and to highlight other dimensions of what is happening in our country and in the region.
This is a familiar situation to journalists of many generations. It also indicates the extent to which our country is run from behind the black curtain of the theatre by persons who secretly pull strings, moving the puppets that dance and saunter in front of the audience. This pulling of strings is at the moment quite evidently growing stronger in the country. Our affairs are run by forces other than those that we elected through the ballot.
All this is linked to free information. The covers placed on it of course protect politicians. This is what the bar on revealing the nature of gifts is apparently intended to achieve. But we all know that even now there are other areas of life that can simply not be visited or looked into.
The working of the military, its budget and possible cases of corruption within it are simply not accessible to any of us. This state is in many ways dangerous – for citizens and for national unity. Those who have disappeared or vanished behind secret lock-ups and those who have lost their loved ones forever can testify to this.
The right to knowledge is a fundamental one for all citizens. The curbs that have been placed on it are unacceptable. We need to do more to remove them and make our country a more transparent place with windows through which citizens can look in and understand how they have been governed and how well this process works.
Email: kamilahyat@hotmail.com