Journalist unions held demonstrations in various cities and towns and hoisted black flags on press club buildings.

The call for protests was given by Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Council of Pakistan Press Clubs against the killing of Online news agency’s bureau chief Irshad Ahmed Mastoi, reporter Abdul Rasool and accountant Mohammad Younis. They were gunned down inside their office in Quetta on Aug 28.

Mr Mastoi was general secretary of the Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ).

In Quetta, the press club was locked at 9am and a protest camp was set up outside where media workers stayed till evening.

Wearing black armbands and holding black flags, the protesters raised slogans against the government and security agencies.

Around 60 press clubs in districts and tehsils of Balochistan also remained closed.

Press clubs in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi and other cities and towns in Sindh, Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained closed for four to five hours.

Talking to this correspondent on phone from Islamabad, PFUJ president Afzal Butt condemned the killing of the three media workers. He criticised security agencies for their failure to arrest the killers.

He expressed concern over persistent attacks on media personnel in Balochistan and other parts of the country. Leaders of various political parties and office-bearers of Balochistan High Court Bar Association visited the camp in Quetta to express solidarity with media workers.

The protesters were addressed by BUJ president Irfan Saeed, Media Action Committee chairman Shahzada Zulfiqar and Quetta Press Club president Razaur Rehman.

They criticised the government for having failed to protect media workers.

They called for setting up a judicial commission to investigate the murder of the three media workers in Quetta.

DAWN

CPPC Convener Arshad Ansari held an emergency meeting with the presidents of other press clubs of the country in a conference call. They pledged that the CPPC would resist the illegal decision to suspend the licences of Geo News, Geo Entertainment and Geo Tez.

Those who discussed this alarming situation included National Press Club President Shaheryar Khan, Karachi Press Club President Farhan Ahmed Khan, Peshawar Press Club President Nasir Hussain, Quetta Press Club President Raza Rehman, Skardu Press Club President Nisar Abbas, Okara Press Club President Munir Chaudhry, Rajanpur Press Club President Engineer Amjad Farooq, Faisalabad Press Club President Shahid Ali, Chaman Press Club President Noor Zaman Khan, Badin Press Club President Tanveer Ahmed, Hyderabad Press Club President Ishaq Mangreo, Khuzdar Press Club President Ayub Baloch, Kohat Press Club President Fazl Mahmood and others.

Addressing the meeting, Arshad Ansari said the journalists community would not tolerate any attempt to snatch the freedom of press. He said the decision of private Pemra members had put the jobs of thousands of workers of the Jang Group at stake and this would be resisted at all costs.

He said the ban on any media house, including Geo, was not acceptable and the CPPC would launch a movement to foil any such attempt.Meanwhile, the CPPC has decided to ban the entry of private members of Pemra into the press clubs of the country. The CPPC office-bearers said this decision had exposed the Pemra designs against the independent media. They urged the owners of other media houses to remain united at this critical juncture. They warned that other media houses might face the same situation if they didn’t stand united at this crucial point.

The News