RAWALPINDI: Armed men torched a vehicle carrying the bundles of The News and Jang newspapers near on Murree Road early on Friday.

Khalid Satti, the station house officer (SHO) of the City police station, told Dawn that a case had been lodged with the police against the unknown arsonists.

“The front part of the vehicle was damaged and the copies of the newspapers were torched,” he added.

According to the FIR, Abdul Razzaq, the driver of the vehicle, stated that he was taking around 7,000 copies of the newspapers to Islamabad when 10 men carrying Kalashnikovs and pistols intercepted him near Committee Chowk. “They took me out and torched the vehicle and fled. They were speaking in Urdu language,” he told the police.

When contacted, Jang Newspapers Group’s managing director Shahrukh Hasan said the newspapers and vehicle were burnt by those who had launched a campaign against the Geo TV.

Without naming any person or organisation, he said: “Everybody knows who is against the Jang group. All the banned outfits, extremists and others have launched a campaign against the group.”

He said the government had failed to provide protection to the media group and its workers. The arsonists torched the vehicle and left the driver to convey the message of terror to his colleagues. Earlier, such an incident occurred in Lahore last Sunday,” he said.

A Jang Group spokesman said since the attack on Hamid Mir this was the second incident of its kind. Earlier, a van carrying the Jang group newspapers was attacked in Lahore.

Attack an attempt to suppress media: APNS

The All Pakistan Newspapers Society (APNS) in a statement issued from Karachi described the looting and burning of vehicles carrying bundles of newspapers for distribution as an attempt to suppress the media. It expressed the resolve that news organisations would continue to “serve the people’s right to know.”

APNS President Hameed Haroon said the acts of violence and intimidation were an attack on the freedom of expression and were aimed at hampering the free flow of information.

“This suggests that society is becoming increasingly anarchic where there is no semblance of law and order and tolerance (is) non-existent...”

Democratic dispensation requires that the dissenting voices are not only tolerated but encouraged by the concerned segments of the society.

“It further requires that the extremist and fascist tendencies which tend to curb press freedom are completely weeded out,” said the statement.

“The task of media is to disseminate the news and report the events without fear of repression and reaction,” the statement added.

Mr Haroon also appealed to the Punjab chief minister and the province’s inspector general of police to provide adequate security to the media houses.

Published in Dawn, May 31th, 2014