LAHORE: Two journalists came under attack by unidentified men in Lahore cantonment area late on Tuesday night, drawing outrage from media organisations.

Gul Bukhari, a TV analyst, was abducted shortly before midnight and held for several hours on her way to the studios of Waqt TV, where she was to appear in a current affairs programme, her family said on Wednesday. The family said she was later released unharmed.

Within hours, the second incident took place when Assad Kharal, an anchorperson on Bol TV, was intercepted immediately after he left the airport and roughed up. But he was allowed to go after a few hours. He was taken to a city hospital and treated for injuries.

Gul Bukhari, 52, holds dual nationality of Pakistan and the United Kingdom. She also writes columns for newspapers and is a prominent human rights activist.

The vehicle she was travelling in was stopped by over a dozen unknown interceptors on Abid Majeed road (cantonment). She was bundled in an intercepting vehicle and taken away. She returned home almost six hours after the incident.

In a tweet on Wednesday evening, she thanked all “who came together in solidarity but requested that her privacy be respected”.

The two incidents within a span of two hours sent a wave of panic among the journalist community and drew widespread condemnation from professional, political and diplomatic circles. The incidents came against the backdrop of growing concerns about freedom of expression and press censorship, strengthening those fears.

Journalists, their professional bodies, civil society organisations, politicians and diplomats joined in the condemnation.

Chief Justice Saqib Nisar, however, took suo motu notice of one of the incidents (beating up of Asad Kharal) and asked Punjab’s inspector general of police to furnish a report within 24 hours.

The British High Commission also expressed concern over the abduction of Gul Bukhari and offered consular assistance. “We are very concerned at reports of Gul Bukhari’s abduction last night,” the High Commission said in a tweet. “As a dual Pakistani-British national, the British High Commission is reaching out with consular assistance.”

Mark Field, a UK Member of Parliament and Minister for Asia and the Pacific at the UK Foreign Office, expressed relief that Gul Bukhari had been released.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) expressed grave concern over the harassment and violent attack on Bol TV journalist Asad Kharal and abduction and subsequent release of The Nation columnist and Waqat TV anchorperson Gul Bukhari. In a joint statement, PFUJ president Afzal Butt and Secretary General Ayub Jan Sarhandi said the government should immediately constitute a judicial commission to investigate the two incidents.

Meanwhile, the PFUJ expressed reservations over the dubbing of some senior journalists ‘anti-state elements’ by the director general of Inter-Services Public Relations after they shared some tweets on a social media platform. It stated that the Article 19 of the Constitution guaranteed freedom of expression and every individual has the right to disagree with a particular statement, remarks, opinion and views, but it cannot be painted as ‘unpatriotic business’.

Published in Dawn, June 7th, 2018