Attack on journalists in Islamabad
ISLAMABAD: The journalist community took out rallies and observed black day across the country on Sunday to protest the thrashing of their colleagues at the Constitution Avenue by security forces personnel in full glare of local and foreign media.
Speakers at these rallies condemned state repression against journalists and lawyers and demanded stern action against those behind these violent incidents. The rallies and processions were staged on the call of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists against the unprovoked and uncalled for police baton-charge on peaceful journalists on Saturday who were covering proceedings of the Election Commission scrutinizing the nomination papers of aspirants of the presidential election.
In Islamabad, hundreds of journalists staged a rally from Rawalpindi-Islamabad Press Club Camp Office, which marched to the D-Chowk in front of the Parliament House at the juncture of the Constitution Avenue and the Jinnah Avenue.
Some of the journalists who were injured in Saturday’s attacks in the Federal Capital were also seen marching with their colleagues with their bandaged arms and bruised foreheads.
Leading lawyers, including Munir A Malik, Justice (Retd) Tariq Mehmood and Ali Ahmad Kurd were part of the large rally, taken out in Islamabad. Pakistan People’s Party, Pakistan Muslim League (Nawaz), Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal, Awami National Party and Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf leaders and activists also took part in the rally from Rawalpindi/ Islamabad Press Club Camp Office to the Parliament House.
Carrying banners and placards, the journalists chanted slogans against the police excesses and expressed their resolve to continue their mission of access to information, come what may.
The call for the black day rallies was given by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) on Saturday after the security forces resorted to baton-charge, stone-pelting and tear-gas shelling on them, as they gathered there to cover the Election Commission’s coverage of scrutiny of presidential hopefuls’ nomination papers.
Journalists, both male and female, old and young, actively took part in the rallies to show their unflinching commitment to their profession despite all coercive measures they faced from time to time. Braving hot weather, the media persons cried for freedom of information, as politicians who were also part of the rally but walking behind them, chanted, “Go Musharraf go, and the friends of Bush are traitors”.
PML Acting President Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, Khawaja Saad Rafique, Senator Enver Baig and Farhatullah Babar of PPP, ANP’s Information Secretary Zahid Khan, Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal’s Hafiz Hussain Ahmed and Mian Aslam, and Raza Muhammad Raza of Pakhtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party were with the rally right from its start.
Representatives of various NGOs and members of the civil society had also come out in support of media persons, who are facing various impediments in discharging their duty.
Journalists union leaders including Mazhar Abbas, Afzal Butt, Mushtaq Minhas, CR Shamsi and Sheharyar Khan spoke after the rally reached the D-Chowk in front of the Parliament House.
They rejected the IG police announcement to hold an inquiry into the gory incident and said that it would be of no use. They said that they wanted a free and unhindered access to information, which was their fundamental right.
It was also announced that a charge sheet on the government torture and aggression on journalists during the last 10 years will be issued shortly.
They noted that journalists had been facing threats, violence and some of their colleagues had lost their lives, but they would never compromise on their profession. “The civil society and lawyers are not alone in their struggle and journalists are also part of it,” they maintained.
Speakers on this occasion bitterly criticized the unprovoked and uncalled for police violence on journalists and lawyers. They demanded immediate removal from service of all those who were behind this incident against peaceful journalists who were performing their professional duties.
Secretary General PFUJ Mazhar Abbas announced that journalists all over the country would boycott the proceedings of National and the Provincial Assemblies on October 3. He also announced that journalists would not accept any invitation for Iftar-dinners or other such functions arranged by the government,
“Such violent actions by the state are not going to prevent us from performing our duties. We have survived such attacks on journalists and offices of media organizations in the past. We will not bow down to such tactics now or in the future. We have always fought for the freedom of expression and we will not give up this right that we have achieved to some extent as a result of the long struggle,” Abbas said.
Leaders of all the leading political parties, who attended the rally, were requested not to make any speech or raise their party flags or banners throughout the procession or at the assembly point in front of the Parliament House.
“The today’s peaceful and disciplined rally proves that Information Minister Tariq Azim was not attacked by journalists. There were people from within the security forces who hit him,” one speaker said.
Journalists dispersed peacefully after the Maghrib prayers.
Peshawar Bureau adds: Journalists in the nook and corner of the Frontier province staged protest demonstrations to press the government to take stern action against those involved in the violence on journalists in Islamabad and Peshawar.
The journalists rally in Peshawar was also joined by leaders and workers of various political parties, including PML-N, Pakhtunkhwa Milli Awami Party, Jamaat-e-Islami, Jamiatul Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl, lawyers and members of the civil society besides NWFP Minister for Auqaf and Religious Affairs Maulana Amanullah Haqqani.
Among the cities and towns where the protest rallies were organised Sunday included Mardan, Charsadda, Swabi, Mingora, Timergara, Lakki Marwat, Dera Ismail Khan, Landi Kotal and Bara in Khyber Agency, Miranshah in North Waziristan, and Ghalanai in Mohmand Agency.
Agencies add: In Lahore, journalists observed a black day and took out a protest rally on Sunday to condemn the police torture over journalists and lawyers in Islamabad.
The rally started from Lahore Press Club and terminated in front of the Punjab Assembly peacefully. All the participants of the rally had tied black ribbons on their arms to register their protest.
In Kasur, the journalist community staged a protest rally to condemn the police crackdown on peaceful journalists.
In Hyderabad also, a black day was observed and a rally staged to condemn the police excesses.
The protest rally led by President of the Hyderabad Press Club Khalid Khokhar and Secretary Muhammad Irfan Arain began from the Press Club and terminated in front of the Radio Station.
Protest rallies were also staged and demonstrations held in Karachi, Multan, Larkana, Jacobabad, Sahiwal, AJK and other cities and towns in far and wide of the country on Sunday.
Source: The News
Date:10/1/2007
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