Month: May 2013

Posted on

Criticise but do not manipulate, Altaf warns media

KARACHI: Criticising TV anchorpersons in a vehement tone, and accusing them of spreading outrageous propaganda against the Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM), the party’s chief Altaf Hussain warned them of dire consequences.

“You have the right to criticise, but not manipulate or spread lies against the sons of those who created Pakistan,” hesaid referring to mediapersons, in a telephonic speech to his party workers at a sit-in outside the Election Commission offices on Tuesday night.

Altaf subsequently retracted parts of his statements and apologised to mediapersons if he had hurt their feelings.In his earlier speech he warned the media that if they did not mend their ways, somebody from his organisation of millions of people might lose his cool. “If that person does something bad to one of you, don’t blame the MQM or Altaf Hussain,” he said.

Hussain claimed that the media was clearly biased against his party, portraying them in a bad light. Using an old Urdu proverb, the MQM chief said, “The dogs bark when caravans move. I want to tell the mediapersons that they can criticise the MQM as much as they want but honestly.”

”We all know about favouritism and manipulation. We have been running the party for the past 35 years. You are like our kids, our children, you can’t teach us politics,” he said.“Are you going to teach us the ethics of journalism? You boys!”

He warned the media to quit playing games with the MQM and said if the MQM ran out of patience, then neither the anchors nor the owners of the media houses would find a place to hide.

Later, addressing the MQM Rabita Committee meeting Altaf Hussain felicitated Nawaz Sharif saying that he accepts the mandate given to his party by the people. He urged all parties to respect each others’ mandates.

He said he was sorry if his remarks had hurt anyone including media persons. He also called off the sit-in outside the ECP offices until after a meeting of the Election Commission officials that will decide on the fate of NA-250 scheduled for Sunday.

Source: The News

Posted on

Journalist thrashed by PPP activists

HYDERABAD: Armed activists of the PPP allegedly roughed up and injured the Hyderabad bureau chief of daily Awami Awaz, Imtiaz Chandio, and his brother Irshad Chandio at Fateh Chowk on Monday. They were also held hostage for one hour.

Imtiaz Chandio told Dawn that he and his brother were covering a sit-in organised by the PPP against the alleged rigging by the MQM candidate for NA-219, when the PPP activists prevented him from covering the protest and used harsh language and beat them up.

He said that when he complained to PPP leaders Ghulam Rasool Kalhoro and Liaquat Shahani present at the sit-in, they took no action and expressed their helplessness.

He said they were held hostage for one hour and allowed to leave the place after some photographers and cameramen intervened.

Source: Dawn

Posted on

Seven Pakistani journalists honoured at Newseum memorial re-dedication

WASHINGTON: The funeral toll pierces the hall like the dying shriek of each of the 82 journalists whose names were read out at a memorial re-dedication at the Newseum in Washington on Monday. Seven Pakistani media men were among those honoured.

Pakistan, ‘one of the deadliest countries in the world for journalists,’ saw another seven journalists killed in 2012 in relation to their work. On Monday, their names were read out and their pictures were flashed on a screen as they were accorded space on the Newseum’s memorial wall – built to honour journalists killed in the line of duty. The wall so far features 2,244 journalists from across the world, killed over the years.

Names of Pakistani journalists, including Rehmatullah Abid, Mukarram Khan Atif. Abdul Haq Baloch, Razzaq Gul, Abdul Qadir Hajiza, Saqib Khan and Mushtaq Kund who were killed in 2012 were read out.

The keynote speaker on Monday’s re-dedication was journalist Richard Engel, the only Western correspondent to have covered the entire Iraq war and the Arab Spring. He spoke about his kidnapping in Syria, an ordeal he and his production crew had to suffer for five days Engel also remembered colleagues Marie Colvin and Anthony Shadid, both of whom who were killed while covering the conflict in Syria.

As many as 88 journalists were honoured on Monday. 82 of them had died in 2012, while six other journalists who had died and were brought to Newseum’s notice in 2012 were also honored.

The Newseum is a 250,000-square-foot museum of news situated in Washington DC, USA. It also has a journalists memorial which pays tribute to reporters, photographers and broadcasters who have died reporting the news. The names of 2,244 individuals from around the world are etched on the glass panels of the soaring, two-story structure. The memorial is rededicated each year to add the names of journalists who lost their lives on the job in the preceding year. Adjoining the memorial are photographs of hundreds of those journalists, and electronic kiosks containing data on every honouree.

Source: The Express Tribune