October 15, 2003	Wednesday	Sha'aban 18, 1424

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ISLAMABAD, Oct 14: In a rare show of unity, journalists completely boycotted the proceedings of the National Assembly on Tuesday to record their protest against the government’s failure to arrest the killers of a newsman, Amir Bakhsh Brohi, who was murdered in Shikarpur on Oct 3.

Opposition parties also staged a walkout along with journalists and some of their leaders visited the press lounge to express their solidarity with journalists.

Leaders of the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal Qazi Hussain Ahmed and Liaquat Baloch, ARD president Makhdoom Javed Hashmi, PPP general secretary Raja Pervez Ashraf, Nayyar Bokhari, Hanif Abbassi and Farid Piracha were among those who came over to the press lounge.

The journalists refused to end the boycott despite assurances by two ministers that the government would soon take action against the alleged killers.

Information Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed sought five more days for the culprits’ arrest.

Qazi Hussain Ahmed intervened and said if the government had done nothing in 11 days what would the “powerless” minister do in five days. In response to that, the information minister left the press lounge, saying “there are a few things which cannot be disclosed”.

Later, Federal Minister for Labour Abdus Sattar Lalika also came to the press lounge to inform the protesting journalists that the prime minister had summoned the Sindh chief minister to Islamabad on Wednesday to seek details of the incident.

However, newsmen refused to end the boycott. Someone pointed out that the Sindh chief minister was already on his way to Islamabad to attend the cabinet meeting scheduled on Wednesday, therefore, the question of his being summoned did not carry weight.

Speaking on the occasion, opposition leaders condemned the incident and termed it a failure of the present regime.

They said the ministers were powerless and could do nothing to control the law and order situation. They also criticized the information minister’s remark that everything could not be disclosed to the media. Meanwhile, journalists decided that they would not report the proceedings of the assembly on Tuesday.

They asked the government to release the uncle of the deceased journalist, who was arrested so that he could be pressurized to withdraw the case.

They also demanded that the government should set up a judicial commission to hold inquiry into the incident and said the commission should be given a deadline of maximum seven days.