LAHORE, Sept 17: The Punjab government on Sunday night made cable operators in the province to stop airing a private TV channel after it ‘ran a campaign’ against the provincial administration after police assaulted three journalists at Minar-i-Pakistan on Saturday night.
Reporters Wadood Mushtaq and Nazir Awan and cameraman Zahid Malik were thrashed and injured allegedly by Lohari Gate police when they visited Minar-i-Pakistan to cover a public meeting of Sunni Tehrik.
According to a PFUJ statement, the journalists were also detained for three hours in the lockup and released on the intervention of other newsmen. They were then admitted to the Mayo Hospital for treatment.
Reacting to the police action, Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi suspended Lohari Gate DSP Mukhtar and SHO Younas Shah. At night, the Punjab government asked district police officers throughout the province to make cable operators stop airing ARY after the channel condemned the torture of its reporter.
An ARY spokesman said the provincial government had no authority to do so under Pemra laws. He said Pemra intervention had been sought.
Telling their side of the story, police said the journalists had misbehaved with personnel on duty when they were told to take their vehicle to another entrance as the route (in contention) was reserved for the ST procession only.
“The gentlemen riding a car made it a point of their ego and entered into a verbal brawl with police which led to their thrashing,” a Ravi division police official said.
He said on the report of the journalists, the Lorry Adda police had registered a case and launched investigation.
CONDEMNATION: Journalists will stage a demonstration in front of the Punjab Assembly on Monday (today) to lodge a protest against `torture’ of their colleagues.
Federal, provincial and Lahore journalists’ bodies condemned the police torture of the journalists during discharge of their duties.
The office-bearers of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Punjab Union of Journalists and All Pakistan Newspaper Employees Confederation, in a joint meeting held here on Sunday, adopted a unanimous resolution, asking the government not to make the country a police state.
In a press statement, the office-bearers of Lahore Press Club termed the torture `terrorism’.
PPP leader Asif Ali Zardari also condemned the torture and demanded action against guilty policemen.