ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry on Tuesday told the Joint Action Committee (JAC) of the National Press Club (NPC) that the security of press clubs across the country will be ensured in the light of the charter of demands presented to him by the NPC.

Mr Chaudhry said the prime minister, interior minister and the minister for information had also expressed serious concern over the recent police assault at the NPC. He added that an investigation had been ordered into the incident.

He stated this at a meeting with members of JAC led by the president of NPC Azhar Jatoi at his office. The JAC members presented him a charter of demands over the recent police assault on the NPC.

The state minister said standard operating procedures (SOPs) will be formulated to ensure police seek formal permission from the press club managements before entering the premises.

The charter of demands included strict legal action against those responsible for the attack on the press club.

It added that a high-level inquiry committee should be immediately formed to determine those responsible for the attack, consisting of journalists nominated by the NPC and other members by Ministry of Interior and the Ministry of Information.

The inquiry committee should determine the losses of the reporters, video journalists, photographers and employees of the press club who were subjected to violence by the Islamabad police.

After receiving the charter of demands from the committee, the Ministry of Interior should issue a notification of the inquiry committee within 24 hours and the committee should submit a report within four days.

The charter of demands added that like democratic countries around the world, the constitution of Pakistan guarantees freedom of the press and freedom of expression.

Press clubs and journalistic organisations are the main centres of this freedom of expression. After the recent police brutality at the NPC, it has become necessary to ensure the protection and sanctity of these basic institutions.

“To deal with such incidents, it is necessary to form a committee headed by the Federal Interior Minister, comprising the Information Ministers of the four provinces, Azad Jammu and Kashmir, Gilgit-Baltistan, the Information Secretary and the presidents of the press clubs of the federal capital and provincial capitals,” it added.

The demands stated that the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals Act includes several provisions for the protection of journalism and the journalistic community, but despite the passage of almost four years, the Journalists Protection Commission has not been established, due to which no journalist or media worker has been able to get relief.

Therefore, the Act should be made operational by completing the commission within two weeks. The protection of all press clubs should also be ensured in the TORs of the Act.

The journalist community considers parliament as the supreme authority and the spokesperson of public aspirations. Therefore, the sanctity of press clubs and unions and the safety of their members should be guaranteed through unanimous resolutions of the upper and lower houses.

Earlier, KP Governor Faisal Karim Kundi visited the NPC to express solidarity with the journalists against the police assault. The police personnel in a bid to arrest demonstrators expressing support to the protests in AJK entered the NPC and vandalised the place.

The KP governor said the press club is not only a second home for journalists but also for politicians. The police attack on journalists and cameramen performing their professional duties at the NPC is a sad incident in the history of Pakistan, which deserves condemnation.

“I demand from the government not only to take the strictest departmental action against the officials involved in the incident but also to form a high-level judicial commission to give exemplary punishment and to compensate for the damage to the broken cameras and other equipment,” he said, adding the incident had brought a bad name to the country.

Published in Dawn, October 8th, 2025