They said attacks on TV channels are actually attacks on freedom of the press. They said the incidents on the one hand were defaming the country in the world while on the other hand were exposing the inability of the government over controlling the sabotage activity. They demanded of the government to stop the attacks on television channels and get orders of the court implemented by Pemra.

They also urged the Pemra to respect the orders of the court and not to adopt any discriminatory attitude towards Geo TV and end the intra channel rivalries. Certain elements wanted to achieve their nefarious designs and were bent on damaging the press freedom, they pointed out and added that silence of the government over such disgusting acts was raising many questions.

Meanwhile, Central Secretary Information, JUP-N, Dr Muhammad Yunus Danish, termed the attacks on Geo News as terrorism against the media. He demanded the government to take immediate action. He said there have been continued attempts to curb the freedom of the Press, while the government was posing as a silent observer instead of getting the verdicts of courts imposed.

DAWN

About 150 rioters came in separate groups, gathered around the Geo offices, and pelted the building with stones, breaking the expensive glass panes of the building. Journalists and other staff present in the building were terrorised as the vandalism continued for hours.

The police were not present when the attack occurred, as the cops deployed to protect the property frequently remain absent. This is insulting for the government. The police come and then leave despite the fact that the Jang/Geo Group management had informed the authorities that their office building is on the route to the sit-in venues and participants frequently resort to stone-throwing on the Geo building because of the provocative speeches by the PTI chief Imran Khan.

Prior to his Azadi March and during the sit-in Imran Khan has said several times that their protest was peaceful and not even a plant pot would be broken. Although no plant pot has been broken but the expensive glass panes of the eight-storey building of Geo have been broken with impunity.

The News

The IFJ has also called for apologies from the Pakistani politicians and government after an horrific week of media-targeted violence. In ongoing demonstrations organized by PTI and PAT against the government, the IFJ has also noted that both the state and the opposition directly targeted journalists and media workers in a concerning series of retaliations against media workers who were attempting to report on the protests.

Pakistan’s police forces directly attacked the media including journalists and staff from ARY News, News One, AbbTakk News, Dunya TV, Dawan News and JAAG TV at one of the demonstrations on August 30.

Several media workers were injured during the police onslaught. Police were also engaged in manhandling journalists, pulling out camera operators and other media workers from DSNG vans and beating them with batons. Police also smashed cameras and DSNG vans of several channels as well as journalists’ vehicles.

In his letter to Nawaz Sharif, IFJ President, Jim Boumelha, said the aggressive behaviour of security forces was “totally unacceptable” and “grossly violated the media’s rights to report and the citizens’ right of information, as expressed explicitly in Pakistan’s constitution”.

Security forces also failed to intervene for the safety of journalists on a number of occasions when the demonstrations showed intolerance towards the media, Mr Boumelha said.

The IFJ has called the leaders of PTI and PAT to account saying: “At the time, when they have to bear the attacks from unknown groups, it is extremely worrying that even responsible political parties and the state’s security agencies assault media and journalists”.

On September 1, over 800 PTI and PAT protesters stormed the PTV building in the early afternoon, holding a number of staff hostage and forcing management to shut down the transmission of PTV News and PTV World. They also stole weapons from security guards manning the building and damaged a number of PTV vehicles. There have also been reports of violence and manhandling against PTV staff.

On August 30, anti-government demonstrators attacked the office of Pakistan’s leading TV channel Geo News in Islamabad. Protesters were on a march toward the Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s House, when the crowd of angry demonstrators gathered outside the Geo News office, pelting it with stones. Some stick-wielding protestors reportedly also attacked the satellite van of Geo News as the staff in the building struggled to escape. No one was hurt in the incident but the building was damaged in the onslaught.

Similarly, journalists of Geo TV were forced to leave the venue of sit-in protest after he was abused and his microphone was snatched away. Journalists were among media workers who locked themselves in the Digital Satellite News Gathering (DSNG) van after PTI / PAT cadres started kicking on the van and warned to leave within minutes on August 15. On August 16 also, journalists were attacked again and forced to flee the rally venue.

Mr Boumelha said in his letters to PTI and PAT: “As political parties aspiring for democratic rule in Pakistan, your commitment to democratic values, human rights, and the freedom of expression should be unconditional and demonstrative.”

The IFJ reminds Pakistan’s leaders and opposition that democracy cannot prosper without vibrant media giving platform to pluralistic opinions.

International Federation of Journalists

Khan said police beat him with clubs outside the parliament building and accused the media of stirring up the protests. He was returning to the Express Tribune newspaper offices after covering marches by opposition parties calling for the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to resign.

Three people were killed in the weekend clashes. Pakistan Press Foundation said it has received reports of at least 28 journalists injured, some by police who also allegedly attacked their vehicles, while reporting on the security forces teargassing and shelling protestors.

Islamabad police did not return calls or emails requesting comment.

Medics at Polyclinic Hospital treated Khan for head injuries. He was transferred to a private clinic after authorities ordered the arrest of any protestors with minor injuries at the hospital, according to the Express Tribune.

Pakistan has been in turmoil since mid-August when tens of thousands of protesters led by Imran Khan, a famous former cricket player, and cleric Tahir ul-Qadri flooded into the capital Islamabad, accusing the government of corruption and election fraud. Violence escalated over the weekend, stoking fears of army intervention in the coup-prone nation.

Thomson Reuters Foundation

Business Recorder

They were also surprisingly familiar with the locations of key offices and the central newsroom and news studios located within the labyrinthine building of the state-broadcaster, which is a veritable maze for newcomers.

PTV officials told Dawn that the intruders also harassed station employees vandalised several offices on different floors.

A security official deputed at PTV Headquarters told Dawn around 9:30am, approximately half an hour before the station was stormed; a bearded man approached the security room adjacent to the building’s main gate and issued an ominous warning.

“Be ready. We are coming for you in a little while,” the security official quoted the unidentified man as having said.

“I thought he must’ve been some sort of over zealous protester, trying to harass us, the official said, adding that just after 10am, when hundreds of protesters stormed the building, he was forced to change his opinion.

Upon entering the premises, a team of individuals made straight for the MCR, where they asked technicians to first remove all news tickers that were relaying news of the state broadcaster’s occupation by protesters, at the time.

Following this, the men, who appeared to be from both PTI and PAT, asked them to cease transmission.

“A layman cannot possibly understand the technicalities of transmission so well; they knew exactly what they had to do,” an MCR technician told Dawn, adding that it was surprising that they managed to find the MCR with such ease.

In order to ensure that PTV went off the air, certain individuals among the occupying group asked the staff inside the broadcast facility to deactivate the satellite uplink, while keeping uplink and downlink monitors active, the MCR technician said.

“In my near-30 year career, this is the second time I’ve seen the army deployed at PTV Headquarters,” he said, referring to the coup staged by former military ruler Pervez Musharraf in October 1999.

“This time around, I don’t how long the army will state here, because their presence is felt to be necessary for as long as these anti-government sit-ins continue,” he said.

PTV World Controller Mohammad Owais Butt told Dawn that it was a stroke of good luck that after taking over the MCR, the protesters did not seek to come on-air and make a statement against the interests of the state.

“We were afraid that they might force us to air their own propaganda, but thankfully, they seemed content with interrupting our transmission,” he said.

DAWN

According to eyewitnesses, nearly 400 PTI and PAT workers stormed the PTV building, across the road from the main entrance to the Pakistan Secretariat. The attack came soon after demonstrators were repulsed from the secretariat compound.

But the occupying force was dispersed without incident by a contingent of army and Rangers personnel, who arrived on the scene within an hour of the state-TV being taken off-air.

Transmission was restored shortly after noon as the occupying force dispersed peacefully, shouting pro-army slogans and hugging military and paramilitary personnel who arrived at the scene.

This is the first time that PTV’s transmission went blank since October 12, 1999, when former military ruler retired General Pervez Musharraf took power in a bloodless coup after toppling the government of then-Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Eyewitnesses told Dawn the protesters were carrying PTI and PAT flags and shouting slogans in favour of Imran Khan and Tahirul Qadri. PTV Senior Controller Asmatullah Niazi blamed the district administration for what he called their failure to protect the state broadcaster.

PTV employees had been facing a hard time, as their office was located right on the edge of the red zone and was at the centre of the anti-government protests, which have raged on in the capital for over two weeks now.

“Despite the army’s deployment in aid of civil authorities, how could the administration forget to deploy security around this key national institution,” he said.

Mr Niazi said that PAT workers who stormed the building instructed staff manning the channel’s transmission to stop broadcasting “useless content” and asked them to broadcast speeches by Dr Tahirul Qadri.

DAWN

“Violence and destruction of private property and government buildings are not acceptable means of resolving political differences,” said US State Department’s spokesperson Jen Psaki in a statement issued hours after protesters briefly occupied PTV headquarters in Islamabad on Monday. “We strongly oppose any efforts to impose extra-constitutional change to the political system.”

The State Department’s statement reminded Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and Pakistan Awami Tehreek workers that while “peaceful protest and freedom of expression are important aspects of democracy,” violence was not.

“We continue to urge all sides to refrain from violence, exercise restraint, and respect the rule of law,” said Ms Psaki, adding that the United States had “been carefully monitoring the demonstrations in Islamabad” and wanted all parties to resolve this dispute through dialogue.

Meanwhile, The New York Times urged the Obama administration to ensure the democratic process in Pakistan continued uninterrupted.

“The United States, preoccupied with crises elsewhere, has shown little urgency in trying to calm the situation, even though Pakistan’s stability is crucial to regional order — especially as American troops withdraw from Afghanistan,” the newspaper said in an editorial.

DAWN

Protesting journalists led by President of Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) Nisar Mehmood, Vice President Mohammad Naeem and President Peshawar Press Club Nasir Hussain severely criticised use of force against on duty journalists.

Holding banners and placards, they said that this has now become a routine and the government should take steps for journalists’ protection immediately.

No ban on media would be accepted because media freedom has been achieved after a long struggle. They demanded of the government to announce a judicial commission for probing into Islamabad incident and those found guilty must be booked and punished exemplary. Later the protesting journalists dispersed peacefully.

The nation

But as protesters surged forward for the umpteenth time, pelting police with stones and whatever they could lay their hands on, fresh orders made their way to the uniformed contingents of policemen deployed at the venue.

“I was standing on the sidelines, filming the protesters being beaten up when I heard the cry ‘media walan nu maro’ (beat the media people),” Samaa cameraman Khurram Fayyaz told Dawn.

Khurram was one of the first to be attacked. He recounted how, after an initial scuffle that saw his camera broken, he managed to escape in the direction of DSNG vans parked near D-Chowk.

At least 28 mediapersons bear the brunt of police high-handedness “I took refuge in a Dunya TV van, but the driver refused to help and the pursuing policemen caught up with me. They pulled me out of the van and let me have it,” he said as he showed us his back, which was black and blue with baton marks.

Khurram’s head was also bashed in and he was bleeding profusely as he was brought to Pims. He suffered a concussion and needed eight stitches to close the wound.

Samaa TV’s Ajab Khan was also attacked in the melee early on Saturday morning. He was shifted to the Polyclinic. When Dawn tried to reach him, a close friend answered his cellphone and said Ajab had been shifted to Shifa Hospital for a CT scan of his skull, which was badly injured.

Aamir Saeed Abbasi, a Samaa TV reporter, was beaten while trying to rescue fellow cameraman Awais Qazi. Qazi was also filming police beating protesters when he was attacked.

The Waqt TV team came directly in the line of teargas shelling. Cameramen Atif Yousaf and Imran Iqbal, DSNG operator Muhammad Zahid and their driver Jameel Kiyani all fainted from excessive teargas inhalation and only recovered hours later.

Over half a dozen DawnNews cameramen and reporters were also targeted by the police in their high-handed rampage against mediapersons. Hasnain Raza, Assignment Editor at DawnNews’ Islamabad desk, said cameraman Kashif Abbasi’s arm was broken; Noshad Abbasi was baton charged and also received injuries from teargas shells that hit him directly, while reporters Yasir Malik and Samar Abbas were also affected by tear gas.

“Ishfaque Hussain, who had been called in from the Peshawar bureau, was hit with plastic pellets and rubber bullets, while cameramen Imran Chaudhry and Mansoor Ahmed were also assaulted while covering police brutality against PTI and PAT supporters,” he said.

Express News’ Amir Alam, who was carrying his injured cameraman Majid Shah with one arm and flashing his press card with the other, was also attacked.

“The police just pelted us with stones,” he said. He was then beaten severely with batons and received injuries to the head, knee and hands. Express News cameraman Usman Afzal and driver Bakht Zameen were also hurt in clashes with police on Sunday.

Aaj TV’s Rana Tariq was lucky to escape following a near-deadly dose of teargas. But his fellow cameramen Haroon Khurshid and Ghulam Ali were not so lucky. They were surrounded by police and severely beaten as well.

ARY News cameramen Asif Abdullah and Iqbal Zeb and Dunya TV staffers Syed Essa Naqvi, Hassan Ayub, DSNG engineer Adnan and cameraman Anjum Fatemi were also injured in Sunday’s violence against journalists in the Red Zone.

Most of these mediapersons were rushed to the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences on Sunday morning. Tahir Imran, a journalist who was at Pims when mediapersons were first brought to the hospital, offered some hope.

“One of the cameramen, Noshad, told me that he was rescued by an official of the Islamabad police, who pleaded with the men beating him to stop.”

DAWN