KARACHI: Various organisations of journalists and newspaper employees have strongly condemned the illegal detention of a Dawn staffer by Rangers personnel on Sunday.

Dawn Subeditor Syed Hassan Ali Shah was detained, harassed and grilled for an hour after he tried to capture with his cellphone a scene in which three children aged between eight and ten years were being punished by three Rangers jawans holding sticks in their hands outside the Jinnah Courts, the temporary headquarters of the Rangers.

In their separate statements, the Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ), the KUJ Dawn Unit, the Karachi Union of Journalists (Dastoor), the Herald Workers Union (HWU) and the All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation (Apnec) strongly condemned the Rangers personnel’s highhandedness and urged the federal interior minister to initiate an inquiry into the matter.

Karachi Press Club president Imtiaz Khan Faran and Secretary A.H. Khanzada also condemned the treatment meted out to the journalist and demanded an inquiry into the matter by the interior ministry.

The protesting organisations also questioned an unannounced ban being enforced by the Rangers on taking photographs of any scene in front of the Rangers headquarters even by media personnel.

KUJ president Khursheed Abbasi, vice-president Zaheer Ahmed Khan and General Secretary Hasan Abbas described the treatment meted out to the journalist as ‘inhuman’ and demanded that the Rangers personnel responsible for intimidating and keeping him in illegal dentition be brought to book.

The KUJ Dawn Unit also demanded action against the Rangers personnel.

KUJ (Dastoor) president Mohammad Arif Khan and acting general secretary Rizwan Bhatti also condemned the Rangers personnel for detaining and grilling the Dawn journalist.

Apnec and HWU leader Shafiuddin Ashraf condemned the illegal detention of the journalist and demanded an inquiry into the matter.
Source: Dawn
Date:4/6/2010