美国国家公共电台 NPR After A Sensitive Story, A Pakistani Journalist Is Barred From Leaving

After A Sensitive Story, A Pakistani Journalist Is Barred From Leaving

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Being a star columnist² in Pakistan is a tricky³ business. The stuff you want to write about, like militant⁴ groups, can make the government unhappy, something one of the best-known journalists there just found out. He's been banned from leaving the country. As to why, we spoke⁵ to NPR's Phil Reeves in Islamabad.

Good morning.

PHILIP REEVES, BYLINE⁶: Good morning.

MONTAGNE: Let's start with who this journalist is.

REEVES: He's a guy called Cyril Almeida. He writes for Dawn newspaper, which is the most prestigious⁷ of the daily English-language newspapers here. He has a reputation of being one of the most astute⁸ political commentators⁹ in the country. He's read widely here. But he's also followed by South Asia watchers all over the place.

MONTAGNE: And what did he write that's landed him in such trouble with the authorities?

REEVES: Well, basically he wrote a story that's about the presence in Pakistan of militant groups who carry out attacks in the neighborhood in Afghanistan and in India. I'm not talking here about al-Qaida. I'm not talking here about the Pakistan Taliban. The authorities here have cracked down very heavily on those. This is about groups that are perceived by some elements in the security establishment to be proxy¹⁰ militias¹¹ that pursue the national interests of Pakistan in the neighborhood. So some people see them not as terrorists, but as patriots¹².

Now, Cyril Almeida's story detailed¹³ meetings between the civilian¹⁴ government, civilian leaders and the army in which senior government officials, he says, expressed concern that if Pakistan carries on allowing these groups to operate inside the country, there is a strong risk that the country will be diplomatically isolated¹⁵. The U.S., for example, has for a long time been pressuring Islamabad to crack down on the Haqqani network.

So that was what his story was about. And it drew a very strong reaction from the government, that said it was a fabrication. And the newspapers responded by saying it was thoroughly¹⁶ checked and is standing¹⁷ by the story.

MONTAGNE: Well, you know, Phil, I've read Dawn. And they do put out regular stories on such things. Why did the government react so strongly to this?

REEVES: Yes, this issue is discussed here. The government doesn't like it, but it's an open secret that these militant groups exist. And indeed, their leadership is allowed to move freely and even appear in public in Pakistan.

The reason it's really sensitive now is because there's a crisis in relations between India and Pakistan. The tensions were driven up last month when an attack was carried out in Indian-administered Kashmir, in which 18 soldiers were killed by militants¹⁸ who attacked an army base there. India accused Pakistan. Pakistan denied having any link.

But discussing this issue, the presence of militant groups who carry out attacks in Kashmir on Pakistani soil is very, very sensitive terrain¹⁹ right now and is likely to attract allegations from some quarters that you are being, you know, unpatriotic, you're betraying the country. And indeed, such allegations have been made on the internet against Cyril Almeida.

MONTAGNE: And of course he, as you said, is a star journalist and very popular. What's been the reaction?

REEVES: Well, he's got some considerable support, particularly overseas from Amnesty International and from the Committee to Protect Journalists, who say that the travel ban against him is wrong. And here, some journalists are arguing that it's actually a violation²⁰ of the constitutional right to a free press. So there's been a reaction in favor of him. Not universal by any means, but there is a reaction in favor of him. Indeed, there's a Twitter hashtag that's labeled stand by Cyril.

Whether this support will actually matter to Mr. Almeida and to Dawn newspaper isn't clear. Cyril Almeida's tweeted that he's - today that he's concerned that the government's planning to take further uglier, as he puts it, action against him and the newspaper.

MONTAGNE: That's NPR's Philip Reeves in Islamabad. Thanks very much.

REEVES: You're welcome.

1 browser   

n.浏览者

参考例句：

• View edits in a web browser.在浏览器中看编辑的效果。
• I think my browser has a list of shareware links.我想在浏览器中会有一系列的共享软件链接。

2 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

3 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

4 militant   

adj.激进的，好斗的；n.激进分子，斗士

参考例句：

• Some militant leaders want to merge with white radicals.一些好斗的领导人要和白人中的激进派联合。
• He is a militant in the movement.他在那次运动中是个激进人物。

5 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

6 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

7 prestigious   

adj.有威望的，有声望的，受尊敬的

参考例句：

• The young man graduated from a prestigious university.这个年轻人毕业于一所名牌大学。
• You may even join a prestigious magazine as a contributing editor.甚至可能会加入一个知名杂志做编辑。

8 astute   

adj.机敏的，精明的

参考例句：

• A good leader must be an astute judge of ability.一个优秀的领导人必须善于识别人的能力。
• The criminal was very astute and well matched the detective in intelligence.这个罪犯非常狡猾，足以对付侦探的机智。

9 commentators   

n.评论员( commentator的名词复数 )；时事评论员；注释者；实况广播员

参考例句：

• Sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 体育解说员翻来覆去说着同样的词语，真叫人腻烦。
• Television sports commentators repeat the same phrases ad nauseam. 电视体育解说员说来说去就是那么几句话，令人厌烦。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 proxy   

n.代理权，代表权；（对代理人的）委托书；代理人

参考例句：

• You may appoint a proxy to vote for you.你可以委托他人代你投票。
• We enclose a form of proxy for use at the Annual General Meeting.我们附上委任年度大会代表的表格。

11 militias   

n.民兵组织，民兵( militia的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The troops will not attempt to disarm the warring militias. 部队并不打算解除战斗中的民兵武装。 来自辞典例句
• The neighborhood was a battleground for Shiite and Sunni militias. 那里曾是什叶派和逊尼派武装分子的战场。 来自互联网

12 patriots   

爱国者，爱国主义者( patriot的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Abraham Lincoln was a fine type of the American patriots. 亚伯拉罕·林肯是美国爱国者的优秀典型。
• These patriots would fight to death before they surrendered. 这些爱国者宁愿战斗到死，也不愿投降。

13 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

14 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。

15 isolated   

adj.与世隔绝的

参考例句：

• His bad behaviour was just an isolated incident. 他的不良行为只是个别事件。
• Patients with the disease should be isolated. 这种病的患者应予以隔离。

16 thoroughly   

adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地

参考例句：

• The soil must be thoroughly turned over before planting.一定要先把土地深翻一遍再下种。
• The soldiers have been thoroughly instructed in the care of their weapons.士兵们都系统地接受过保护武器的训练。

17 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

18 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

19 terrain   

n.地面，地形，地图

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• He knows the terrain of this locality like the back of his hand.他对这一带的地形了如指掌。

20 violation   

n.违反(行为)，违背(行为)，侵犯

参考例句：

• He roared that was a violation of the rules.他大声说，那是违反规则的。
• He was fined 200 dollars for violation of traffic regulation.他因违反交通规则被罚款200美元。