NEW YORK, March 16: The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday called on the government of Pakistan to appoint an independent judicial commission to investigate and report on Friday’s ‘outrageous assault’ by uniformed police on the offices of Geo TV and the daily Jang in Islamabad.
“Today’s assault on Geo and the daily Jang are a culmination of the government’s increasingly heavy-handed tactics toward the media. President Musharraf’s apology will not ring true until those responsible for such an outright attack are brought to account – even if the investigation reaches well into those surrounding the president,” said CPJ’s executive director Joel Simon.
Commenting on the issue, CPJ’s Asia Programme Director Bob Deitz said: “We see this as a continuous pattern of abuse of democratic institutions partly due to President Pervez Musharraf’s growing isolation.”
He noted that the police were destroying the property in front of Information Minister Maimed Ali Durrani and wondered “who was in control as the police refused to listen to a federal minister.”
Karin Karlekar, senior researcher and Managing Editor at Freedom House, a major watchdog organisation, condemned the attack on journalists and observed such situation in Pakistan, in large part, was due to lack of democracy in the country.
“The TV stations like Geo are on the frontline hence they become targets of government’s ire,” she said.
She said militarisation of Pakistan must be halted and the forces of democracy should be strengthened.
She lamented that US continued to support the military regime in Pakistan despite its suppression of judiciary, and the media which until now was relatively free.
"This attack on Pakistani media is unprecedented and must be condemned," she added.
