Countrywide media protests against curbs, torture
HYDERABAD: Journalists throughout Pakistan on Wednesday protested against the recent media curbs, the closure of television news channels and arrests and torture of journalists in Karachi, Hyderabad and other areas of the country and called for a free media.
In Hyderabad, the journalists registered their protest outside the Hyderabad Press Club, chanting slogans against the governmentÃs media policy and demanding the withdrawal of draconian media laws.
In Sukkur, print and electronic media journalists staged a big demonstration to protest against the Karachi police action against the journalists.
Addressing the rally, the press club and the SUJ office-bearers strongly condemned the police action in Karachi. They assured the PFUJ and other media organisations of the country of their full support in their struggle.
In Khairpur, journalists observed the World TV Day on Wednesday as a black day and wore black armbands.
Journalist Muhammad Abbas announced self immolation if the channels were not restored within seven days.
Quetta: Police arrested some 30 protesting media persons here on Wednesday while they were staging a demonstration against the curbs on media and the Pemra ordinance. However, on the special directives of the Balochistan caretaker chief minister, they were released after being kept in custody at the City Police Station for over five hours.
Earlier, large contingents of police and law-enforcement agencies were deployed outside the Press Club, but journalists did not pay any heed to the police despite warnings.
The journalists took out a protest rally from the Quetta Press Club (QPC), led by QPC President Shahzada Zulfiqar and others.
Peshawar: Media persons on Wednesday crossed all the barricades to reach for a sit-in in front of the Governor House.
Led by President of the Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) Jan Afzal, General Secretary Nasir Hussain, Bureau Chief of Geo News (English) Behroz Khan, Abdullah Jan and others, the protesting journalists brought out a big rally from the Peshawar Press Club.
The media persons blocked the traffic from all sides in front of the Governor House and staged the sit-in. Addressing the protesters, the KhUJ president, general secretary and other senior journalists lashed out at the government for banning the transmission of Geo and ARY. The speakers also condemned the brutal baton-charge on the protesting journalists in Karachi.
The KhUJ has announced daily protest demonstration at 12 noon till the lifting of emergency and removal of restriction on TV channels.
Agencies add: Faisalabad: The police here on Wednesday baton-charged and tear-gassed journalists protesting against the emergency rule, leaving 10 injured, witnesses and officials said.
Two of them were seriously hurt and a number were arrested. Some 150 journalists wanted to rally outside the Press Club against the media curbs when the police took action.
“Police fired tear gas shells and mercilessly baton-charged journalists,” Muhammad Yusuf, a senior member of the Faisalabad Union of Journalists, said.
He told the reporters a tear gas shell hit a woman on the back, while another journalist received multiple injuries because of the baton-charge.
A local police official said a few reporters were arrested. He did not give the figure, but Yusuf said 16 had been taken into custody.
London: Nawaz Sharif and PML-N President Shahbaz Sharif have condemned police action against protesting journalists in Karachi on Tuesday.
In statement released here on Wednesday, they expressed sympathy with the media and lauded their struggle saying the blocking of news channels should immediately come to an end.
Source: The News
Date:11/22/2007
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