Friday’s tragic bomb attack at a mosque in Mohmand Agency has resulted in at least 30 causalities. The death toll was confirmed to be around 23 even yesterday. Social media was ripe with discussion as to why the blast was merely given any coverage by most news channels; the same news channel that just a few days ago were giving exclusive breaking news of the odd incidents where a cow or some other sacrificial animal ran away from its owner. Many on social media pointed out that the news of the Mohmand Agency blast couldn’t even make it to the top headlines in the prime time bulletins of most channels. Most media groups deemed the arrest saga of Muttahida Qaumi Movements Khawaja Izahar-ul-Hassan and the ‘dramatics’ of SSP Malir Rao Anwar.
The question here is why the blast was given so little coverage, are people living in the Mohmand Agency not part of Pakistan? Do there lives not matter to media groups? The answer to the first question is a resounding yes but the answer to the second question seems to be no; the reason for that is hard to understand.
The trend of giving less coverage to incidents from rural areas, tribal areas and much of Balochistan is alarming and is causing unrest among the people from these areas. Media groups and bosses must reassess how most channels are currently covering such incidents in the country. The live of every Pakistani is equally important be it a citizen of Karachi, Lahore or Islamabad or some remote area of the country. The lack of coverage for Mohmand blast hints towards the insensitivity the media has developed towards events from less ‘commercially viable’ areas.
It was unfortunate to see news of Mohamnd blast being downplayed by many news channels.