HYDERABAD: Senior journalists described veteran newsman Hussain Naqi as the name of resistance and a rebel at a reception in his honour held at the local press club here on Monday.

Veteran journalist Abdul Aziz Malik said Hussain Naqi always fought for rights and the truth though he had to face a tough time. He supported Zulfikar Ali Bhutto during Ayub Khan’s martial law, but then Bhutto sent him to jail. He said the rulers expelled him from Sindh due to his bold stance and speaking the truth. Mr Naqi published newspaper Punjab Punch though it was quite difficult during Ayub’s martial law, he added.

“I remember when Z.A. Bhutto was attacked in Sanghar, I wrote a sentence in Punjab Punch. ‘If anything happens to Bhutto, the River Indus will flow with blood’. This is the motivation of Naqi. After this the paper was banned,” he said.

He said Naqi spoke for downtrodden masses, farmers, and oppressed people. “There is no journalism nowadays unfortunately.” There was no reading of books anymore; without devouring books, how anything could be written, he said, adding that Naqi perused books and wrote marvellously.

He said Faiz Ahmed Faiz was the editor of Pakistan Times and Mian Iftikharuddin Jagirdar could not dare see him without his permission through his secretary.

“Who could ask Faiz Ahmed Faiz, Ahmed Ali Khan, I.A. Rehman and other giants to interfere in editorials etc? I saw that journalism and today’s one,” he said.

Slamming the policies of the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government, he said they were demolishing houses in the name of clearing encroachments without any planning for settlement of the affected people in winter season. He said journalists were so weak today that they could not get their incorrect electricity bills rectified. “How can they resolve the issues of others?” he asked.

Sharing unforgettable experiences of his life with journalists from the beginning of his professional life to date, Hussain Naqi mentioned dark periods of General Ayub, Z.A. Bhutto and dictator Ziaul Haq. He also focused on current scenario of the country. He said Faiz Ahmed Faiz was the first prisoner of the country in history when he was arrested in 1948 because of his writings. He called for unity of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalist (PFUJ) to get their demands met.

“When journalists are divided, it means that journalism has been marred. They will be used by others because of their divisions. I heard there are five PFUJs today,” he said.

Journalist Sohail Sangi said had to undergo difficulties to get the rights of the needy. He said he was a great thinker and had many fans.

Journalist Ali Hassan said Naqi always fought against heavyweights like Z.A. Bhutto, Zia, Ayub and others because of his bold and honest nature.

Dawn

Speaking at a three-day training and safety workshop for media organized by Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) here Wednesday, he said media is playing a valuable role for elimination of crimes from the society. He said impressive performance of media people and free media policy in Pakistan are helping in introducing positive trends in Pakistan. He told that the Regional Police Training Center Hyderabad was the largest police training of Pakistan area-wise and steps are being taken to further improve it. He said a big garden could also be developed on the land of this police training center at Gunjo Takker Hill which would beautify the area and provide recreational facilities to area people. He sought cooperation of journalists in this regard.

He said interaction sessions of under-training cops with media professional would help them in better understating community police concept. He said that we are improving the standard of police training, so that they could perform better job and deal with any kind of situation without the support of rangers. He welcomed PPF for arranging this important training workshop at his police training center. He offered arranging lectures on safety of media for the members of Hyderabad Press Club (HPC).

PPF Media Training Coordinator Nasim Shaikh said PPF has started a series of safety and training workshops in different parts of the country, which would not only train them to cope with safety and security challenges while carrying out their day to day professional activities, but also improve their relations with police and civil defence departments. She said PPF is arranging these trainings in collaboration with Free Press Unlimited. She appreciated the efforts of RTC Hyderabad and said that such steps will result in changing attitudes of police and media people.

Hyderabad Press Club general secretary Mansoor Marri said PPF is doing a wonderful job regarding safety training of journalists as presently security is one of the major issues faced by media in Pakistan. He welcomed the offer of Brohi and appreciated RTC for facilitating safety and security training for journalists.

Mansoor Mari appreciated the training effort said that such steps will build better relations between police and journalist and help them in doing their jobs more effectively and more importantly, more securely.

The participants of workshop were first asked to share their safety and security related issues they faced during their duties.

Fahim Babar, a TV reporter, while sharing his experience said that his team was once trapped in a firing incident and there was no way out. A crime reporter, Imtiaz Ali discussed his experience of investigating the murder case of the son of a sessions judge. He shared how he was threatened by different authorities and how it affected his mental health. Amjad Islam Amjad, another participant shared a recent incident where a mob surrounded the HPC building. He said that, ‘the angry mob was declaring us the agents of the West and throwing things towards our building. ‘Our lives were on stake.’

The stories were helpful to highlight the major safety and security issues to journalists. The issues, as highlighted by Nasim Shaikh, included risk assessment, stress management, tackling the mob, protection of evidence and how to deal with trauma. Everyone at the workshop was hopeful that this three days workshop will help journalists to tackle safety and security issues during their jobs.

The police instructor, Ikram Gujjar briefed the journalists about civil disturbance. He stressed for astrong coordination between journalists and police. He said that ‘everyone should know his/her limits. Police should know how it should work and so do the journalists.’ He further briefed the participants about police work procedure. He emphasized the need for journalists to maintain a safe distance from incident place, specifically during bomb blasts and cross firing. He asked journalists, ‘you should always assure your identity prominently and try not to dissolve among mob. The step, if taken, will help police to differentiate journalists from mob.’

The chief law instructor, Ali Gohar Langah informed the journalist about Pakistan Penal Code (PPC) sections which police use to disperse mobs. ‘When five or more than five people gather at some place for the common interest violating government ban, police uses PPC’s section 146, 147 and 148 to disperse them,’ the instructor told. He further said that police cannot open fire on mob unless started by the mob and that too upon District Commissioner or Magistrate’s instructor in his/her presence.

A mock bomb blast scene was also established inside RTC where police instructors practically briefed the journalist about dos and don’ts. They were kept on safe distance and told how to ensure their safety. The instructor requested journalists to always prioritize their safety and let first police clear the area.

Pakistan Press International

The working journalists under the banner of Hyderabad Union of Journalists on Monday staged a protest demonstration here in front of Hyderabad Press Club on Monday night against the bomb attack on the office of Aaj TV. The demonstrators led by President HUJ Junaid Khanzada strongly criticised the attacks on television news channel.

Among others, senior journalist Lal Rehman Sammu, Member FEC of PFUJ Hameed-ur-Rehman, General Secretary HUJ Javed Channa, Treasurer Nasir Shaikh, Qaseem Qureshi, Mansoor Mari, Saleem Mallah, Iqbal Qureshi, Irshad Channa, Shakeel Pathan, Muhammad Ali, Yasir Rajput, Umair Rajput, Syed Sajjad, Muhammad Shahid, Imran Malik, Muhammad Adeel and Danish Pirzada were also present on the occasion.

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