Attack on journalists by Hindu extremists flayed
PESHAWAR: The Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) and the Crimes Journalists Forum (CJF) NWFP has condemned attack on Pakistani journalists by Hindu fanatics in India and demanded of the governments of both India and Pakistan to take effective measures for protection of media-persons.
In a joint press statement, KhUJ President Mohammed Riaz and General Secretary Yousaf Ali said that journalists had frequently been attacked in India as well as in Pakistan, which should be a matter of serious concern for the governments of both the countries.
They urged the Indian government to thoroughly probe the incident and award exemplary punishment to the perpetrators so that such happenings could be averted in future. The KhUJ representatives said that a conference on the role of media in mounting tension was going on in New Delhi’s International Centre when some Hindu fanatics reportedly from Shri Ram Sena started chanting derogatory slogans against Pakistan and the visiting Pakistani journalists. The security persons and some Indian journalists, however, quickly moved into action and pushed the activists out of the hall. The event was being participated by five each journalists from India and Pakistan.
The time when the incident took place, senior Pakistan journalist Rahimullah Yusufzai was presenting paper in the conference.Meanwhile, the Crimes Journalists Forum (CJF) NWFP also condemned an attempt to attack Pakistani journalists by Hindu extremists in New Delhi and asked the Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to duly punish the culprits. CJF President Javed Aziz Khan and General Secretary Imran Bukhari expressed shock over the attack and said that newspersons were working for promotion of peace in the region, which was a must for its development.
The CJF hoped the Indian prime minister and other government functionaries would take the issue seriously and duly punish the attackers allegedly belonging to Shri Ram Sena after a proper inquiry. The seminar on ‘Is Media Jingoism Fanning the India-Pak Problem?’ had been organised by the Foundation for Media Professionals and some Pakistani journalists were also invited to the event.
Source: The News
Date:4/16/2009
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