Protesters attack Press Club, beat up staff member
Karachi – Protesters demonstrating against a private TV channel attacked the Karachi Press Club(KPC) on the night of February 29 night, wounding seriously a watchman and damaging property of the press club.
According press reports hundreds of protesters gathered outside the KPC chanting slogans against a programme aired by private TV channel “Geo”, which reportedly hurt religious sentiments of Shiite Muslim community.
About 20 protesters scaled the KPC walls and attacked the main reception of the club, breaking its window panes. The protesters got hold of the watchman, Rafiq, who was trying to block their entry, and beat him up.
Journalists present inside the club at the time of the attack took cover in a room on the first floor. After ransacking the club premises, the protesters walked away. Police reached the place of the incident but did not make any arrests.
The wounded KPC watchman was taken to the Civil Hospital for treatment, an office-bearer of the club said. The president of the club, Sabihuddin Ghausi, strongly condemned what he called a cowardly act.
“The KPC is a symbol of democracy, freedom of expression, religious tolerance and sectarian harmony. This is cognized by all the freedom-loving democratic and enlightened people of Pakistan,” he said in a statement. He said: “I urge all the democratic and enlightened people, irrespective of
their religious, sectarian,ethnic and political affiliations, to condemn this cowardly attack on this institution.”
Condemning the incident, the president of the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), Mazhar Abbas, termed the incident a shameful act. “We believe the Karachi Press Club has always remained an impartial institution, which provides equal opportunity to all segments of society to express their views freely,” he said and added “The attack on such an institution is an attack on the freedom of expression.”
The protesters tried to move towards Jang Group, the parent company of Geo television station, but a heavy police deployment foiled their attempt.
Source: The Nation
Date:3/1/2004
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