April 11, 2008	Friday	Rabi-us-Sani 4, 1429

ISLAMABAD, April 10: Journalists covering the National Assembly session staged a token walkout from the press gallery on Thursday to register their protest against reported snatching and smashing of cameras during clashes in Karachi on Wednesday.

The government expressed regrets over the incident and assured the journalists about ensuring their safety.

Information Minister Sherry Rahman said subjecting journalists to violence appeared to be part of a conspiracy to subvert the new federal and provincial governments.

She offered full support to media personnel in getting their problems solved, including implementation of the wage board award and insurance of journalists working in hazardous conditions.

She said the government would set up a special fund to provide subsistence allowance to the families of journalists, photographers and cameramen who died or were injured in the line of duty.

“I assure newsmen that the present government, being a democratic one, is different from the past dictatorial regimes and it will not allow anyone to subject them to violence, which could ultimately negatively affect the government itself.”

She condemned the manhandling in Karachi of woman journalist Lala Rukh who suffered a fractured arm.

The minister said she would propose enhanced cooperation between media organisations and the government to ensure safety of journalists and their equipment.

The minister said she would request the owners of private television channels to get their reporters and cameramen insured and the government would offer help in this regard.

She said some hidden hands and faces which had tried to disrupt peace in Lahore and Karachi must be exposed and the federal government had instructed the provincial governments to hold impartial inquiries into the incidents.