Author: Report
Publication: The Free Press Journal
Date: April 15, 2003
The photograph of the world's most
wanted man, Osama bin Laden, has adorned the front page of a leading Pakistani
Urdu-language newspaper every day since the start of American military
action in Afghanistan in October. A weekly magazine, sponsored by
an outlawed militant group, urges jihad, or Muslim holy war, against the
United States as US-led forces make swift gains in the Iraq war.
Radical Islamic newspapers and magazines
have introduced a new breed of journalism in Pakistan in recent years -
committed to pan-Islamic causes, promoting jihad and targeting the United
States, Israel and India.
Their supporters say they pr9omote
an alternate worldview to the mainstream p0ress. Their critics say
they are helping to bring radical elements in Pakistani society.
"They have little substance, are
full of conspiracy theories and contain faulty and inaccurate information,:
said Ahmed Rashid, journalist and author of the best-seller 'Taliban'.
"They are very dangerous as millions
of people who read them get a distorted view of politics and international
affairs."
Some of the publications have grabbed
a share in the mainstream market, their influence growing on the back of
the rising anti-American sentiment since the toppling of the hard-line
Islamic Taliban regime in Afghanistan.
The real war has just started,"
Sarb-e-Momin, or Strike of the Devout Muslim, said in its latest issue;
"After Palestine and Afghanistan, now Iraq will also give birth to holy
warriors. "Zarb-e-Momin, backed by the outlawed Kashmiri militant
group Jaish-e-Mohammed, does not publish pictures of human faces in line
with Islamic edicts. Instead its favourite images depict either weapons
or Muslim holy places.
"Who will free me from the clutches
of Jews?" the paper asked under a picture of Jerusalem's al-Aqsa Mosque.
Zarb-e-Momin, whose circulation is around 145,000 but whose readership
is many times higher, also quotes Islam's prophet Mohammed as asking followers
to expel infidels from the Arab peninsula.
Daily Ummat or Nation, which prints
Osama bin Laden's picture as well as a message from the Saudi-born militant,
has also carried a picture and message from Afghan warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyr
since Washington branded him a terrorist in February.
"We cannot call them criminals on
the basis of allegations," Rafique Afghan, chief editor of Ummat said.
"Even American law does not allow
this. Once they are convicted by a court, we will stop publishing
their pictures," added Afghan, who fought with Mujaheddin fighters against
the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan in 1980s. Ummat, considered
the first radical Islamic newspapers to make a niche for itself among the
mainstream newspapers, splashes stories every day about Islamic parties
and militant groups.
Khaled Ahmed, a political analyst,
said apart from a few government-licensed Islamic papers, there are more
than 100-unlicensed Islamic poublication.
Like their weapons, they don't need
a license for their publications either," he said. "Islamic parties,
militant groups and seminaries are their main sponsors." From comments
and news reports on domestic and international issues to how of offer prayers,
they cover diverse subjects. "Muslim blood is being extracted to
serve Jews' interest, " Zarb-e-Taiba, the groups magazine for students,
said in its cover story, on the destruction of Iraq.
Such Magazines inspire readers to
fight jihad with stories about Islamic heroes, promising heavenly rewards
for martyrs.
Maqsood Yousfi, Editor of Takbeer,
a right-wing weekly, said Islamic publications provide alternative views
on politics and international affairs.