Pakistan Clamps Down on Dawn Journalist Who Wrote About Civil-Military Rift

New Delhi: Pakistani journalist Cyril Almeida who had broken the story of a rift between the country’s political and military leadership has been put on an ‘Exit Control List’ which bars him from travelling outside the country.

“I am told and have been informed and have been shown evidence that I am on the Exit Control List," Almeida, who is an Assistant Editor with the Dawn newspaper published from Karachi, tweeted Tuesday early morning.

The ECL is a system of border control maintained by the Government of Pakistan under the Exit from Pakistan (Control) Ordinance. Those persons on the list are prohibited from leaving Pakistan.

On Monday, after Army chief Raheel Sharif met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif over the issue, the PM had ordered authorities to take "stern action" against those responsible for publishing a "fabricated" story about the military and ISI.

Almeida, in the Dawn newspaper on October 6 had broken the story of an “unprecedented warning" delivered by the civilian government to the military in the aftermath of India’s surgical strikes at a meeting held on October 3 in Islamabad between the two leaderships. The story also claimed there was a “verbal confrontation" between PM’s brother and Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif and ISI chief Lt Gen Rizwan Akhtar over the Army’s support given to non-state actors like Lashkar-e-Toiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed.

In its Tuesday’s edition after Almeida was put on ECL, Dawn issued a clarification.

“Dawn would like to clarify and state on the record several things. First, this newspaper considers it a sacred oath to its readers to pursue its reporting fairly, independently and, above all, accurately. The story that has been rejected by Prime Minister’s Office as a fabrication was verified, cross-checked and fact-checked. Second, many at the helm of affairs are aware of the senior officials, and participants of the meeting, who were contacted by the newspaper for collecting information, and more than one source confirmed and verified the details. Therefore, the elected government and state institutions should refrain from targeting the messenger, and scape-goating the country’s most respected newspaper in a malicious campaign," the clarification issued by the newspaper’s editor said.