Journalist duo on protest ride arrives in city
LAHORE: Two journalists traveling on their motorcycle on a Peshawar-to-Karachi journey arrived in the city on Friday. The young duo – Salman Shehzad and Wali Afridi – are on the motorcycle journey to protest the killings of their colleagues in conflict areas.
They started their journey from Peshawar on May 26 and are scheduled to arrive in Karachi on May 30 en route Rawalpindi, Lahore, Multan, Sukkur and Hyderabad.
Talking to Dawn by phone, Mr Shehzad said 40 newsmen had been murdered in the country, most of them in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Federally Administered Tribal Area. As protest against the killings just by pen had proven to be inadequate, he decided to hit upon a new way to raise awareness and mobilisation for the protection and safety of journalists.
For the purpose, he said, he thought of a tour-de-Pakistan as first leg of his protest and sought support from the community.
Wali Afridi from Khyber Agency came forward to become his partner in the protest although various journalists’ bodies, including the Khyber Union of Journalists, did not encourage them, he said.
Mr Shehzad said he had to sell out his old motorbike to buy a new one on installments to set on the journey.
He said after completing the first leg of the tour, he planned to take his mission to other countries like Sri Lanka and others where journalists work under threats and stress.
Source: Dawn
Date:5/28/2011
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