KARACHI, Oct 3: The Tuesday attempt on the life of Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) president Shamim-ur-Rehman was condemned by the journalist community and political quarters as an attempt to gag the press.
The KUJ, at its meeting at the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday, vowed to lodge its protest against the attack during the Sindh Assembly session on Thursday. The meeting was attended by the office-bearers and members of the KUJ, KPC and the Association of Television Journalists.
Mr Rehman was almost run over by a white-coloured car when he was walking towards a taxi stand near his residence.
The KUJ executive council urged the government to take punitive measures against the elements that had been targeting the media and journalists with the aim of stopping them from bringing the truth to the masses.
It flayed the government for having failed to ensure safety and security to journalists and other citizens. The KUJ asked the government to get the culprits arrested till Saturday failing which the journalist community would decide the future course of action in a meeting scheduled for Monday at 3pm.
It noted with concern that threatening telephone calls were made to the KUJ president after the union organised a rally on Monday to condemn the use of brute force against media men in Islamabad on Sept 29. The meeting noted that the fresh incident was not an isolated one, rather a part of the government’s policy to intimidate journalists.
The meeting warned that the responsibility of consequences would rest on the government if it failed to bring an end to all excesses against journalists and do away with its policy of coercion and intimidation.
The Pakistan People’s Party has also strongly condemned the attack on the senior journalist.Ms Sherry Rehman, information secretary of the party, noted that the respected political journalist had actively participated in protest demonstrations against the Islamabad incident in which many journalists, lawyers and other people had sustained injuries at the hands of police.
Speaking from London, where she is attending the party’s Central Executive Committee meeting, she said: “With each passing day the regime is becoming more open and overt in its harassment spree, and no amount of condemnation has stopped it from launching an offensive against journalists.”
Meanwhile, the KUJ chief has demanded an inquiry into the three attacks targeted against journalists in a matter of two weeks. “Earlier, a DawnTV reporter was kidnapped outside his house by the country’s intelligence agencies and harassed for his report on the suicide blast at the military base in Tarbela. The son of another journalist was thrashed outside his school to warn his father against writing “unfriendly” reports against the government.” Mr Rehman also demanded an immediate arrest of those involved in these incidents.
