KARACHI, Oct 14: The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) and the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) have expressed grief and shock over the killing of Ameer Bux, a correspondent of daily Kawish in Shikarpur.

APNS president Arif Nizami and secretary general Muhammad Aslam Kazi noted with concern that incidents to pressure journalists, through harassment and threats on life, have become rampant in Sindh, especially in rural areas.

This situation, they said, was alarming for the functioning of the press in the country. They said that law and order agencies had so far failed to check this trend and apprehend culprits involved in such heinous crimes.

They said press freedom was essential for the successful functioning of a democratic society and it was the duty of all sections of society with a stake in democratic dispensation to ensure that newspaper persons perform their duties freely. They noted that despite the lapse of several days, the killers were still at large.

The APNS president and secretary-general urged the administration to apprehend the culprits and provide protection to journalists and reporters working in rural Sindh against such anti-social and criminal elements.

At a meeting presided over by CPNE acting convener Anwar Farooqi, similar concern was expressed over the murder of Ameer Bux Brohi and it was demanded that effective measures should be taken to apprehend the culprits.

The meeting also reviewed the violations of freedom of the press in Sindh, especially in the context of arrests of journalists on treason charges on the occasion of Gen Pervez Musharraf’s visit to Hyderabad. The meeting expressed satisfaction over the withdrawal of the cases.