PESHAWAR: Reacting to the attack on TV anchorperson Hamid Mir in Karachi, journalists in Peshawar and other cities of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held protest demonstrations on Sunday and asked the government to arrest the attackers at the earliest.

In Peshawar, the mediapersons held a protest demonstration outside the Peshawar Press Club. Holding banners and placards inscribed with demands for arrest of the terrorists, the participants shouted slogans in support of Mr Mir.

Speaking on the occasion, Khyber Union of Journalists president Nisar Mehmood said that attacks on journalists were on the rise with no serious efforts by the government to provide protection to them.

He said that mediapersons in Pakistan were extremely vulnerable and they needed proper security, but the government seemed non-serious in this regard. He said that the journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas had been facing serious threats and they could not continue their professional duties freely in the prevailing circumstances.

Mr Mehmood demanded of the government to hold inquiry into the case, unveil the real culprits and award them exemplary punishment so that no one could dare attack journalists in future. Journalist Mehmood Jan Babar, Peshawar Press Club general secretary Fida Adeel, Jamaat-i-Islami Peshawar chief Bahrullah Khan advocate and others also spoke on the occasion and condemned the attack on Mr Mir.

In Mansehra, the journalist community held a rally on Sunday to protest against the attack on journalist Hamid Mir and demanded of the government to arrest the culprits without any delay. The rally started from the press club and culminated at the same point after marching through different roads.

Speaking on the occasion, the press Club president Shahzad Jahangiri, president of TV Journalists Association Nisar Khan Swati and president of Mansehra Union of Journalists Akhlaq Ahmad said that such attacks on mediapersons could not be tolerated. They said that the government had failed to protect the life of journalists.

In Mingora, the journalists staged a protest demonstration against the attack on Hamid Mir.

Led by Swat Press Club president Rashid Iqbal, the journalists demanded of the government to provide protection to mediapersons across the country.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Iqbal said that Mr Mir had been discharging his professional duty since long, adding that it was not the first incident that a journalist was targeted, but no steps were taken for the security of journalists.

He said that Swat had been affected by militancy and the local journalists were still facing threats. He said that it was the responsibility of the government to provide protection to mediapersons.