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

“Only two out of 50 murder cases of journalists could be resolved in recent years in the country,” he said while speaking at the concluding session of a four-day workshop titled “Safety and Security Training for Journalists”, organized by PPF in collaboration with Free Press Unlimited at a local hotel.

PPF’s chief consultant Kamila Marvi said: “Women in the field of journalism have more exposure to society, as they have to work in the field where they face more sexual harassments.”

A representative of Hyderabad Press Club, Faheem Siddiqui, suggested that a committee comprising at least two female should be formed in every press club to tackle issues of sexual harassment, where every female journalist should report in case she faced any such problem.

Citizens-Police Liaison Committee’s (CPLC) Assistant Chief Shabbar Malik said: “We should never take a threat as a joke because it could be very dangerous to us. Such a threat should immediately be reported to a nearby police station and you should get information about the criminals who are threatening you by getting help from intelligence agencies or CPLC.”

Clinical psychologist belonging to Karwan-e-Hayat, Muhammed Idrees, said that sparing time from one’s busy and strenuous life to enjoy with family and friends was highly important for the refreshment of mind.

He said life is so busy these days that people usually do not get time to improve their mental health which could result in a mental disorder. “There are many ways to get relief or minimise your mental stress and these include exercise, listing your problems and find their solutions.”

Criticising the media for highlighting severe injuries cases, Idrees said that such exposures could lead to anxiety and depression in the society.

Bytes for All’s Manager (Research), Faheem Zafar, said that leaving digital equipments unsecured, specially mobile phone, was the most vulnerable device as it could be easily traced and through which your complete information could be looked into.

“Journalists are the mirror of society and they have to tell the truth, so there could be many possible enemies who could penetrate their digital accounts to get their personal information and misuse that,” he observed.

Zafar said there are several software and applications which could help encounter cyber threats, such as Spybot. This software could help in leaving no trace to be located by others, while Firewall would tell you what is entering your computer and what is going out of it without getting notice of it,” he added.

He said Chrome and Firefox are reliable browsers, therefore, using Internet Explorer should be avoided, while in e-mail services Hotmail and Yahoo are the most vulnerable services, although Gmail is relevantly better. The manager said opening website with writing https in browser is more secure rather than http which is insecure.

A trainer of Bytes for All, Farhan Hussain, said Facebook privacy settings must be checked from time to time as they very often change it without giving any notification, expose your private things and posts.

“In case there is a threat from cyber crimes to you or somebody is bothering you on mobile, which is usually faced by females, then FIA could be contacted as they have a cyber wing to deal with these kinds of troubles which is very effective and efficient,” he said.

A former master trainer and commandant of Federal Civil Defence Training School (FCDTS), Sarfaraz Ahmed Jafri, said: “Readiness of mind has a key importance for a person at the time of emergency or disaster to apply safety measures and rescue his own life and, if gets chance, others, as well.”

He said there was no alternative for a human life, therefore, it was always necessary to save it first. “Disaster or emergency mostly occur suddenly so, one should always be prepared for that and keep a first aid kit with him at home and while travelling away.”

Jafri said at the time of emergency one is required to check ABC (airway, breathing and circulation) of the victim. “Apply direct pressure to the wound and wash it thoroughly, however if something for example shrapnel or bullet shell penetrates body, it should not be pulled out because bleeding would be uncontrollable if it was pulled out.”

Senior trainer, Sub-Inspector Gul Awan said nobody should come closer to the crime scene or try to touch things around but law-enforcement agencies, because everything, if placed as it was right after the crime, could tell about the criminals through forensic evidences, and the threat of a secondary blast was always looming there. You may cover it closely after the police had completed their investigation.

“Always keep a way out first in your mind before entering any mobbed area. Do not try to run during crossfire but take shelter behind something solid or lay down straight because it is difficult for targeting a person lying down from a distance,” he said.

A DSP, on the occasion, said law-making was direly needed in the society as we were still following slavery-era law (British) in which direct FIR was reported without prior investigation which meant that now the accused could only get bail through court.

Principal of Police Training College, SP Javed, lauded the initiative taken by PPF for educating journalists about crime scene.

FCDTS’s senior trainer Altaf Hussain Dada, PPF’s Sr. Co-ordinator Musawir Shahid, Co-ordinator Naseem Akhter Shaikh, representatives of Hyderabad Press Club, Khuzdar Press Club, Quetta Press Club, Larkana Press Club Mirpurkhas Press Club and Nawabshah Press Club and local media people were also present on the occasion.

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