Jihadi media outlets get a free run in Pakistan

Ali K Chishti of the Daily Times in Pakistan recently posted a couple of interesting articles about the growth of jihadi media in Pakistan. The first was published on 12 January and the second on 4 February. According to Chishti, there are 18 weeklies, 40 fortnightlies and 22 monthly publications being put out by jihadi organisations in Pakistan, despite laws that should prevent their publication.

He mentions, for example, Adeel, a young editor and a student of a major engineering university in Karachi, who publishes what he describes as an Islamic magazine named Bazu-e-Mujahid, which supports the idea of a caliphate in Pakistan. Adeel told Chishti that he has over 7,000 subscribers from Karachi to New York, who support his magazine.

Al-Qaeda's media house as-Sahab, run byAdam Yehiye Gadahn and one of the most influential jihadi media outlets in the world, is another organisation that appears to operate with impunity in Pakistan. The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan runs two media companies in Pakistan, while others are run by the Afghan Taliban and Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan.

As Chishti comments: "While all sort of radical ideas and jihadi publications are going viral in Pakistan, the government seems more interested in banning BlackBerry services of foreign diplomats instead of shutting down the propaganda of jihadi organisations within the country."