A gay kiss in China led to this in Pakistan
By Tim Craig January 29
ISLAMABAD,
Pakistan — As in many Islamic countries, it’s common to see young men
walking down the streets here in Pakistan holding hands or warmly
greeting each other with a hug. But on Friday, the local publisher of
the International New York Times decided a photograph of a man in China
giving his boyfriend a kiss on the cheek was too graphic for Pakistani
readers.
For the second time this month, Pakistan’s Express
Tribune, which partners with and publishes the international edition of
the New York Times locally, censored a front-page article or photograph.
Instead of running the photograph, New York Times subscribers in
Pakistan woke up to find a huge blank space on their paper.
“This
picture was removed by our publishing alliance in Pakistan,” a caption
stated below the 8-inch by 12-inch blank space. “The International New
York Times and its editorial staff had no role in its removal.”
The
photograph was supposed to accompany a Times story, written by Edward
Wong and Vanessa Piao, about a first-of-its kind lawsuit in China
challenging that country’s prohibition on same-sex marriage.
[The love story behind China's first gay marriage case]
The
story was published in Pakistan, but the photograph showing one of the
plaintiffs with his arm on his boyfriend's shoulder while giving him a
kiss was removed.
Kamal Siddiqi, editor of the Express Tribune,
said his newspaper has a long-standing agreement with the New York Times
that it can refuse to publish articles or photographs that “may cause
problems locally.”
“You will not see a picture in Pakistan of men kissing,” Siddiqi said. “In fact, you will not see a picture of anyone kissing.”
Earlier
this month, the Express Tribune censored a New York Times article about
attacks on progressive bloggers in Bangladesh. According to New York
Times Public Editor Margaret Sullivan, the local printer decided readers
may have found some quotes in the article blasphemous.
In 2014,
the Express Tribune also censored a New York Times article about whether
Pakistani intelligence officials may have known about Osama bin Laden’s
whereabouts before U.S. forces killed him in Abbottabad, Pakistan, in
2011.
“Even in the digital age, blank newspaper pages are a
disturbing symbol of the lack of free expression in many parts of the
world,” Sullivan wrote.
In an email to a New York Times representative on Friday, Siddiqi defended his actions.
He
noted Islamist militants and others have repeatedly targeted Pakistani
journalists suspected of “pursuing a Western agenda,” including an
attack in 2014 that killed three Express-News journalists in Karachi.
“I
am as much opposed to the censorship as you all are,” Siddiqi wrote in
the email, a copy of which was obtained by The Washington Post.
“However, as editor of the Express Tribune, which has over 200 staffers
and brings out editions in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Peshawar, I am
also mindful of the danger and the lives we can put at risk if we
decide to print some of these articles."
The security of
Pakistani’s dogged journalist community is a major concern; at least 71
of its members have been killed here since 2001, according to the
Pakistan Press Foundation. And in the past, violent mobs have formed to
protest articles, cartoons or photographs that were interpreted as being
an insult against Islam.
With Pakistan's government generally
unable or unwilling to protect journalists from such fallout, Siddiqi
said, many newspapers and television stations now resort to
"self-censorship" to avoid attacks or blasphemy charges, which are
punishable by death.
"I wish we could do a fraction of the work
that the NYT does and we hold it as the standard to aspire towards,"
Siddiqi wrote. "But please understand that the on-ground reality is very
different for us."
Despite being governed by a constitution that
is based on Islamic law, Pakistan is generally known for being less
rigid about homosexuality than other Muslim-dominated societies,
including Iran and Saudi Arabia.
In 2011, Pakistan’s Supreme Court
officially recognized the country’s transgender population,
establishing a legally recognized “third gender” that now has the right
to vote.
Homosexuality is still considered a crime here, but legal analysts say prosecutions for such offenses are rare.
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In
recent years, the BBC and other media outlets have aired stories about
the country's gay communities in major cities such as Karachi and
Lahore.
Some gay couples are now even living together, the BBC
reported. Because unmarried young men rarely interact with women, and
are known to be affectionate with each, it's easy for gay couples to
hide their sexuality, the BBC noted.
And Pakistani media outlets
do at times cover issues related to homosexuality. Even as the Express
Tribune censored the New York Times photo of the Chinese couple, it
published a story in its local editions on Friday noting that three
prominent Bollywood actors had agreed to play gay characters in an
upcoming film.
Still, a robust public debate about gay rights or same-sex marriage is unlikely to occur in Pakistan anytime soon.
In
March, Pakistan joined 42 other nations at the United Nations in voting
against granting benefits to same-sex couples who work for the world
body. In 2014, Pakistan was one of just 14 nations to oppose a U.N.
resolution expressing “grave concern” over the rights of gay, lesbian
and transgender people around the globe.
In June, two Pakistani
men near the western city of Quetta were arrested after rumors
circulated that they had gotten married in a wedding ceremony. The men
faced up to life in prison.
But they argued the wedding had been a
joke, and all chargers were later dropped, according to a local
journalist familiar with the matter.
Tim Craig is The Post’s bureau
chief in Pakistan. He has also covered conflicts in Iraq, Afghanistan
and within the District of Columbia government.
Monday, February 1, 2016
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