Was Daniel Pearl Too Close to Uncovering Pakistani Support for Terrorism?
Sesh Rengaswamy pointed out a column written by T.V.R. Shenoy that suggests that Wall Street Journal reported Daniel Pearl may have been kidnapped to prevent him from publishing stories about the Pakistani government's continued support for terrorist groups. Shenoy writes:
...I happen to know that Pearl, though based in Mumbai, knew certain people in Delhi (I shall not be more specific than that). Through this person (or persons) Pearl gained access to a report from Indian intelligence. This report gave the lie to claims made by Pakistani authorities about clamping down on military outfits.
The column goes on to suggest that one possible explanation for the differences in editorial treatment of the Pakistani and Indian governments by the major Western press outlets may be fear of abductions and reprisals on reporters in Pakistan. Shenoy suggests that the course of events indicates that these fears may be well founded.