PAKISTAN: Caught Between State and Non-State Actors

By Zofeen Ebrahim

KARACHI, May 5 (IPS) - "My captivity only brought honour upon me," is how journalist Suhail Qalandar sees his ordeal at the hands of kidnappers last year. He was talking with IPS over the phone from Peshawar, capital of the North West Frontier Province.

Resident editor of 'Express', a popular Urdu-language newspaper, Qalandar, 39, was kidnapped on Jan. 2, 2007 and kept in captivity for 52 days during which time he was tortured, fettered and chained. "During the nights I would be chained to the wall, making lying down very difficult. I was given stale chappatis (flat, unleavened wheat bread) with mustard oil and a tablespoon of sugar."

Recalling his traumatic experience, a little over a year later, Qalandar is firm that members of his fraternity, especially those working in the sensitive tribal areas bordering Afghanistan, need to be given extra protection.

When he came out of captivity, he recalled, his happiness knew no bounds because ''I was released without anyone having to pay the Rs five million (78,125 US dollars) ransom money".

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