LAHORE, Jan 20: The Punjab Union of Journalists took out a procession on Monday from the Lahore Press Club to the Governor’s House to protest against the manhandling of journalists by officials of intelligence agencies.

The officials had beaten up the journalists during a function arranged in the honour of Bagum Sehba Musharraf at Alhamra a couple of days ago.

The protesters chanted slogans against the government and demanded a written apology from the officials responsible for the incident.

Punjab PUJ President Bakhtgir Chuadhry said that such incidents could sour relations between the press and the government. He urged President Pervez Musharraf to take notice of the incident and measures to prevent such incidents in future.

Federal Union of Journalists President I.H. Raashid urged the government to stop harassing the journalists and take action against the culprits.

The journalists asked the government if the officials responsible for the incident did not tender an apology, they would boycott the assembly proceedings on Jan 29 and photo journalists would also smash their cameras in front of the assembly chamber.