ISLAMABAD, June 20: Journalists covering parliament ended a three-day boycott of the National Assembly on Tuesday after the government accepted almost all their demands, including sending a fact-finding mission to North Waziristan to inquire about the murder of tribal journalist Hayatullah Khan.
Information and Broadcasting Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani announced the acceptance of the demands first at a joint news conference with a journalists’ negotiating committee and later in the National Assembly, interrupting a discussion on opposition cut motions on budget demands for grants for various federal ministries. This followed lengthy talks between him and the journalists’ committee which were also joined by Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Tariq Azeem Khan.
Mr Durrani told the news conference that he had already planned to go to Miranshah in the next few days to meet the family of the dead journalist, whose body was found last week six months after he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen, but would now take with him representatives of journalists and opposition to form a fact-finding mission.
The journalists had also demanded an increase in the government compensation for Mr Khan’s family, registration of the first information report about the incident against possible suspects to be named by the family, completion of the judicial inquiry within a month, a similar compensation for a KTN television network journalist, Munir Sangi, and recovery of a representative of Geo television in Sukkur, Mukesh Rupeta.
Mr Durrani said the government would provide additional compensation in the form of a residential plot of land or a house and consider similar compensation to Mr Sangi’s family and proceed under the Frontier Crimes Regulations in force in the tribal areas for the arrest of Mr Khan’s killers.
The journalists had demanded that a Supreme Court judge head the judicial inquiry but agreed to respect the government’s announcement that a high court judge would do it, leaving the option open to approach the Supreme Court later if needed.
Mr Durrani said the inquiry would be completed within 28 days as already notified, even two days less than 30 days’ limit demanded by the journalists.