The lost voice of journalism

Journalism has become a dangerous profession in Sindh. Of the 11 journalists killed in recent years, seven were from northern Sindh. Most recently, Nasrullah Gadani, a high-profile journalist, was gunned down in broad daylight in his hometown of Mirpur Mathelo. A few months ago, journalist Jan Mohammad Mahar was killed in Sukkur – the police have not yet found out who killed her and why.

The crime rate and the hype surrounding it are high in northern Sindh, where bandits roam freely and can pick and choose who they want to kidnap, release, torture and kill. Some analysts claim that these bandits have access to weapons left behind by the American forces in Afghanistan. Many of them produce videos for social media that are shared by many in shock.

How does this work? While there are several theories, there is little word coming from law enforcement officials whose sole job is to protect citizens and maintain law and order across the province. I think one of the obvious reasons for these killings is that journalists are not silent about the prevailing lawlessness. They report on it, and when their newspapers and TV channels don’t carry their stories, they publish them on social media platforms.

Take Gadani as an example. He had over 44,000 followers on his social media page. That is the reach they have in the society and perhaps that is why they are silenced. These journalists are risking their lives by speaking the truth to power – local tribal chiefs, sardars etc. – and some of them are paying a heavy price for it.

According to several people, the number plate of Gadani’s motorcycle has a phrase that challenges “bhotar”. In Sindhi, the word “bhotar” denotes a rich landlord who wears several chieftain’s caps and has political connections and uses all means to assert his rule over his territory. Since he remains loyal to the state, he is not persecuted by the state apparatus and the long arms of the law and the judicial system cannot catch him.

While the people of Sindh, especially members of civil society, are still mourning these losses, another renowned journalist, Ishaq Mangrio (1955-2024), died of natural causes at the age of 69. Like lawyers and politicians, journalists do not retire. Mangrio’s story is no different. He continued to work for Sindhi newspapers for the past few years, mostly as a researcher. He was a regular columnist for ‘Sindh Express’. In his younger years, Mangrio, like many of us, was a progressive political activist. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, he went into media and left a huge impact on the Sindhi print media.

His journalistic career spanned four decades, from reporting to writing to regular column. If one wants to read something good on any issue in Sindh or the country, his column is the best. For those of us living outside the country, Ishaq has delved deep into the issues of Sindh without playing with or stirring up the emotions of the readers.

One of his distinguishing features as a journalist was that he hailed from the southern district of Sanghar, hence he kept focusing on the socio-economic issues of the region – from Thatta, Tharparkar and Mirpurkhas to Badin, Umerkot and Sanghar, a region that is not effectively represented in the political landscape of Sindh as the provincial political scene is dominated by the northern regions.

South Sindh also remained backward, impoverished and neglected. Most of the editors, reporters and columnists in the media in Sindh come from northern regions, which we call Upper Sindh. Ishaq was a true voice for the region we call Larr.

I am not saying that his writing and journalism were limited to the southern parts of the province; I am just saying that there was a gap that he filled. With his departure, a brave, loud and clear voice has disappeared – a gap that is difficult to fill.

An interesting feature of Sindhi journalism is that it is predominantly a profession for the working and lower middle classes. It is rare for the Sindhi elite to choose journalism as a career. Many reporters who later became editors and famous writers came from the working class and left their mark on society by exposing injustices and giving visibility and voice to people in the marginalized areas. Ishaq was no exception.

Ishaq himself was a big celebrity as his family participated in the ‘Hur Movement’ against British rule in Sindh in the early 1940s. Even women of his family were imprisoned by the British for joining Pir Pagaro’s ‘Free Sindh’ movement. According to two prominent historians in Sindh, Dr Mubarak Ali and UK-based Dr Sarah Ansari, ‘The Hur Movement was the strongest resistance against British rule in its later days.’ In one of the live sessions with these historians, Ishaq sat with the speakers and brought historical notes that no one else could bring.

Ishaq’s quote on Sindh’s resistance against the British occupation in 1943 is worth mentioning: “When Mir Sher Muhammad Talpur took up arms against the British forces in 1950, he was on the run and sought refuge in Achro Thar (desert in Khairpur district) in the houses of Pir Pagaro’s Hur. This was one of the reasons why Pir Pagaro’s Hurs started an armed resistance against the British occupation that lasted almost a century.

Ishaq’s death leaves a huge void for the people of the southern district of Sindh whose voices are not being heard. This region is facing sea encroachment, water scarcity, population explosions coupled with poverty and government neglect. These factors threaten the social fabric of villages and towns. Unfortunately, Ishaq is no longer here to report and write about these issues.

The author is a master’s student in public policy at George Mason University, Virginia, USA. He can be reached at: mrajpargmu.edu