Mushroom growth of dummy newspapers in Balochistan

By Siddiq Baloch

Dummy newspapers have recently become a big nuisance for development of highly responsive and responsible print media in projecting the true picture of Balochistan and its people on the wider national horizon. The government, particularly the corrupt officials in the Press Information Department (PID) and the Provincial Information Department, should be blamed for promoting the dummy newspapers in such a large scale.

There are hundreds of dummy newspapers and periodicals in Quetta alone. In order to make it easier for laymen, by dummy newspaper we mean a newspaper that is not marketed but still regularly gets officials advertisements. The corrupt and dishonest officials played the dirty role in patronizing and financing the dummy newspapers by getting a lion’s share from their ill gotten revenue. We, the indigenous journalists of Balochistan,  have lodged regular complaints off and on to the federal government, to the Federal Minister and the Federal Secretary Information, about the unjust and unfair distributions of government advertisements from Islamabad discriminating the indigenous and genuine newspapers from this backward province.

No one had paid any heed to our regular and consistent complaints against the unjust and unfair distribution of government advertisements to the genuine and indigenous newspapers. Since lion’s share of the revenue of the dummy newspapers is going to the notoriously corrupt officials, the dummy newspapers are doing a big business plundering the resources of the State with both hands.

Information Department at the Federal and Provincial level had remained the domain of the corrupt officials for decades and corruption is deeply rooted in those departments. When honest and professional officers takes over for a very brief period, there is a gang up at various level, from top to bottom to dislodge the honest man as he stops the plunder and try to plug the leakages wherever it is humanly possible. Nowadays the dummy newspapers had targeted the Director Public Relations in Balochistan making efforts to remove him from his position unceremoniously and on different pretexts. Unfortunately, the dummy newspaper owners are enjoying the support of corrupt dishonest people with the administration and they had launched a media campaign merely because the DPR is brutally honest and dealing all issues in a highly professional manner.

Since most of the dummy newspapers are owned by illiterate people, petty contractors and third rate shopkeepers with no background of journalism or its fine ethics, they are involved in a dirty propaganda against the honest and professional officer.

Since Balochistan is facing a very serious financial crisis and the Government is launching no schemes and projects for development for the past many years, there are no Government advertisement available to be placed in the newspapers, dummy or genuine. Whatever funds are available, they are in the shape of MPAs’ uplift fund or schemes handed over to BDA. The Provincial Government has no schemes to display the ads through the Provincial Directorate of Public Relations (DPR). Primarily the Provincial Government should disband the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) as it had earned notoriety in corruption diverting all its schemes to the regular provincial Government Departments. Secondly, the MPA development fund should be made part and parcel of the Provincial PSDP ending the personal and private privilege of the individual members over the public funds. The MPAs should do their real work of legislation and spare the construction of gutters and Nullah to the Government agencies.

Finally, the Provincial Chief Secretary should intervene in this matter develop a mechanism to scrutinize the dummy newspapers by conducting raids on the newspaper offices, printing press to ascertain the real story behind the dummy newspapers. We suggest that a high powered committee comprising the Commissioner, Quetta Division, Provincial Home Secretary and the Direct Public Relations to scrutinize the dummy newspapers with powers to cancel their declaration pending legal proceedings for cheating the public exchequer. It is in the interest of Balochistan and its people that their resources are protected from loot and plunder. On the contrary, the Government should patronize the genuine and indigenous Press defending the legitimate interests of the people creating mass awareness in all spheres of human activities. The Provincial Chief Secretary should take serious notice to the vilification campaign against a brutally honest officer by the corrupt and dishonest people owning dummy newspapers or holding office at any level. First of all, the dishonest officials within the Department should be snubbed strictly for patronizing the dirty campaign against the DPR.

(The writer is the editor-in-chief of Daily Balochistan Express and Daily Azadi, Quetta)