ISLAMABAD, June 20 2006: Thousands of journalists observed a ‘black day’ on Monday and staged demonstrations and boycotted coverage of government activities throughout the country in protest against the killing of newsman Hayatullah Khan who was kidnapped last year following his investigative reports on the death of an Al-Qaeda operative. Mr Khan was found dead on Friday, handcuffed and shot in the back of the head. His body was dumped near the town of Mirali in North Waziristan, where he was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in December.
In addition to boycotting the proceedings of the National Assembly’s budget session, journalists demanded that the government fix a deadline for the judicial commission tasked to investigate the circumstances leading up to the journalist’s kidnap and killing. Opposition members joined a rally in front of the Parliament House where speakers termed Mr Khan’s killing an attack on the freedom of the press. They demanded that the judicial commission be headed by a Supreme Court judge, the compensation announced for the family of the slain journalist be increased, an FIR be registered against the agency being accused by the journalist’s family of kidnapping and killing him and the political agent of the Waziristan Agency be suspended.
Journalists boycotted the Foreign Office’s weekly briefing. Foreign office spokesperson Tasnim Aslam did not only readily agree to call off the briefing but also suggested that Fateha be offered for the departed. She said: “The death of a young Pakistani journalist is a great loss and it has touched all of us.” Proceedings of the Punjab Assembly were also boycotted, with journalists holding a protest rally and demanding that Mr Khan’s killers be arrested without delay. They held intelligence agencies responsible for the killing. Opposition legislators attended the rally.
Protest demonstrations were also staged in Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Vehari and Faisalabad. Observing a black day, journalists stayed away from the session of the Sindh Assembly in response to a protest call given by the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and the All Pakistan Newspapers Employees Confederation. Shortly after the House offered Fateha for the departed, journalists walked out of the press gallery and staged a sit-in at the main gate of the Sindh Assembly building. They demanded that the killers of Mr Khan and slain journalist Munir Sangi be arrested without delay. The demonstration was attended by opposition members.
Sindh Home Minister Rauf Siddiqui came to the protesting journalists and assured them that the High Court would investigate Mr Sangi’s killing. PFUJ secretary-general Mazhar Abbas criticised the government for failing to get Mr Khan, who was kidnapped in December last year, rescued. He said protest demonstrations by journalists following the slain journalist’s kidnap cut no ice with the then information minister who sought to portray the abduction as an outcome of some personal feud.
Journalists also staged a sit-in in front of the US Consulate and the Governor House following a protest PFUJ meeting at the Karachi Press Club. They raised slogans against the United States and the government. Protest demonstrations were also held in Sukkur, Nawabshah, Jacobabad and Mirpurkhas. A protest demonstration was also held in Quetta where journalists, wearing black armbands, criticised Federal Information Minister Mohammad Ali Durrani for trying to defend state institutions whose inefficiency, they said, stood exposed by Mr Khan’s killing.
Journalists in Peshawar also protested against Mr Khan’s killing. Meanwhile, the International Federation of Journalists condemned growing violence against media workers in Pakistan. A press statement issued on Monday says: “The IFJ fully supports the Pakistani media workers in their protests against increasing violence against them, and calls on the authorities to ensure those responsible for these attacks on press freedom are brought to justice.”
Source: Dawn
Date:6/20/2006
