April 18, 2025
By Basharat Khan
QUETTA
Media or journalism has always served the crucial function in every society of investigating conditions and events, and conveying information about people’s pain, suffering, happiness, and sorrow to the public and government institutions. A press club serves as an important center for this work, where individuals from diverse schools of thought arrive to voice their concerns.
The humble beginning of Quetta Press Club
There was a time when no formal press club existed in Quetta, the capital of Balochistan. According to available information, in the 1970s, a small room near Sharah Adalat in the Metropolitan Office was designated for a press club, which marked the beginning of journalists’ journey to raise public voices.
Muhammad Yaqoob Shahwani, former Vice President of Quetta Press Club, recalls the humble beginnings. “Quetta Press Club came into existence in 1972. At that time, Balochistan’s Governor Nawab Ghous Bakhsh Raisani dedicated this land for the press club,” he tells Voicepk.net.
The initial facility was minimal, as Shahwani explains: “Initially, the press club consisted of only two rooms and two halls, which included a TV lounge and a canteen. Conditions were very limited at that time—there were few newspapers as well. In my opinion, only five to six newspapers were published in Quetta then, including Zamana, Meezan, Jang, and Mashriq.”
The journalistic community was small but determined. “The number of journalists was also very small,” notes Shahwani. “So feeling the need, elections were held here and Karim Bakhsh was elected as our first president of Quetta Press Club.”
Balochistan’s journalists say it was a difficult period, but soon they acquired a larger space where a new press club was established. This was followed by a period of journalistic flowering in Balochistan, where people from every class, caste, religion, and sect had the opportunity to raise their voices.
The rise and fall of journalism
The story of journalism’s development in Balochistan doesn’t end there. Over time, a spacious and modern press club was built, which witnessed many rises and falls. Not only politicians but government officials also frequented the club. However, recent history also includes the martyrdom of more than two dozen journalists in Balochistan, the lockdown of the press club, and police raids.
Abdul Khaliq Rind, former president of Quetta Press Club, reflects on this struggle. “We struggled for freedom of the press in the past. There was a time when democratic and undemocratic governments censored news, and we raised our voices against it,” he says.
Rind highlights how challenges to press freedom have evolved. “Press freedom issues still exist today. We used to think that pre-existing laws were obstacles to journalism, but when the PECA Act came, we realized that this was an attack on freedom of the press.”
The journalist community did not remain silent. “There were protests against it throughout Pakistan,” Rind notes, “even a three-day sit-in was held in front of Quetta Press Club.”
But the price for speaking the truth has been steep. “Journalists’ lives came under severe threat,” Rind says gravely. “In the past ten years, 40 to 45 journalists were martyred in Balochistan—they weren’t anyone’s personal enemies but were killed simply while performing their duties.”
Current threats to journalism
After the implementation of laws like PECA Amendment and the deteriorating security situation in Balochistan, practicing journalism has become extremely difficult. Now, no one listens to journalists, and they are forced to protest themselves—but their voices are not being heard, which has put the credibility and future of journalism in danger.
Journalist Zafar Baloch describes recent confrontations with authorities: “The authorities tried to close the press club through a notification, but we resisted.”
He points to troubling incidents that reflect the precarious position of the press: “It’s all clear—the way the Chief Minister came to the press club and apologized saying his name was misused, or the way the press club was raided during student protests and they were arrested.”
What’s particularly concerning, Baloch notes, is the lack of accountability: “Later, the Inspector General of Police also admitted that this was not done on his orders. But the question is, why is this happening?”
Balochistan’s journalists believe that if these conditions persist, they will be deprived of their daily bread, which raises a big question mark on the claims of journalism and democracy.