Noorani was sent abusive messages and threats by a retired brigadier of the Pakistan Army Tarik Niazi on Twitter and Facebook. The account used by Brigadier (retd) Tarik Niazi is a known account which he usually uses to run different campaigns and spread messages.

Tarik Niazi in his threatening and abusive message said that he was in Islamabad and invited the journalist to meet him to settle scores. However, some sources say that Niazi often stays in Canada and initially belongs to Rawalpindi.

The journalist’s complaint to FIA also discusses three threatening calls made between 2310 hrs and 2336 hrs on April 12, 2014 on his home mobile number. The mobile number used to make threatening calls 0333-1212346 was also given to the FIA with all relevant details.

Identifying and tracing any person using a cell number is quite easy and now it is up to the FIA to investigate, arrest all criminals and also inform the general public about the matter as some circles also insist that all these attempts to harass journalists could also be a move to malign and defame the institution of the Pak Army by some vested interests.

It should be noted that Noorani received threatening calls a day after Editor Investigations of The News Ansar Abbasi received a threatening email. Ansar complained to the FIA immediately but no official of the agency contacted the senior journalist despite the passage of almost 48 hours.

The News

Received from “Khaki Power” via the email address “khaki@safe-mail.net”, the message clearly said: “This is not a reminder but a serious suggestion”.The Interior Ministry as well as the FIA Cyber Wing have been formally informed of this threatening message.

The e-mail received at 11:42 am at Abbasi’s official address ansar.abbasi@thenews.com.pk reads: “This is not a reminder, it is a serious suggestion. Behave yourself and weigh the pros and cons of your words. Sometimes its hazardous to bite the hand that once fed it.

“Skeletons can fall out of anyone’s closets miraculously from the heavens and effectively ruin a ‘journalists’ career. And we all have skeletons. Good day.”

It is for the authorities to find out if this message from the unidentified “Khaki Power” has been authored by some frustrated soul unhappy with the work of Ansar Abbasi, by a pawn of the security agencies, by some disgruntled elements within the military establishment or by someone who wants to smear the name of the Pakistan Army.

However, the fact is that this e-mail has been received by Ansar Abbasi within a few days of his writings in The News and Jang where not only he was among the first ones in the media to have disagreed with the recent controversial statement of the Army Chief General Raheel Sharif but had also exposed General (retd) Musharraf and how he had hurt the institution of the Pakistan Army.

Ansar Abbasi had warned that General Raheel’s statement would lead to misunderstandings between the civilian and the military leadership.

He had also observed that the army chief’s statement would be exploited by those elements, including General Musharraf and his men, to fuel the fire and lead the country towards yet another martial law.The senior journalist also differed with the view that General Musharraf’s trial should be treated as the trial of the institution of the Pakistan Army.

Unfortunately, the social media is grossly misused in Pakistan but there is no law to check the crimes and wrongs done through this medium of communication. Although in this case the e-mail and other relevant details have been forwarded to the FIA Cyber Wing, the agency has hardly solved or caught anyone in such a case before.

The News