Tag: Safety of Journalists

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Press Council of Pakistan to ensure safety of journalists, says chairman

ISLAMABAD: Chairman Press Council of Pakistan (PCP) Raja Muhammad Shafqat Abbasi on Wednesday vowed to protect the journalists for their right of freedom to access information.

Addressing a consultative meeting of journalists and lawyers organised by Intermedia for “Attacks against Journalists” here, he said the mandate of Council was to receive the complaints and to enforce ethical code of practice to develop good media practice in the country.

He said that the government, civil society, media organisations and political parties should evolve strategy to combat extremism, terrorism and militancy in the society, which had endangered freedom of press.

The chairman said murders of the journalist indicated the challenges faced by them, especially in areas where law and order situation was bad. Attacks on the media persons are not only condemnable but also tantamount to causing interference in the free dissemination of information.

Replying to a question, he said that it required prevention mechanism and action to address some of the root causes of violence against journalists with immunity. He has further stated that “under Article 19 and 19-A of the

Constitution of Pakistan, freedom of press and right to access of information has been granted. Under sub-section 1(i) of the Press Council of Pakistan Ordinance, the freedom of Press is to be preserved.

He said that the PCP had ensured to act as a shield to freedom of press or against any sort of interference in the proper functioning of the press.He expressed the hope that the government and media would benefit from vision of PCP members and the Council will prove to be an important component to strengthen media.


Pakistan Press Foundation

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TV channels’ rating race puts lives in harm’s way

Pakistan TV Channels

By: Syed Ali Shah

QUETTA: The hollow-cheeked father of the slain television cameraman, Imran Sheikh, bursts into tears while narrating the ordeal of his family. Imran Sheikh was killed in the line of duty during the recent bombings in Alamdar road area of the provincial capital along with Saifur Rehman of Samaa TV and Iqbal Hussain, a photographer of the NNI.

“I always thought that he would take me to my last resting place. But that was not to be,” Naseer Sheikh said in a broken voice. He said he was very happy when Imran got job as a cameraman at Samaa TV, and added that he never thought his son was in such a dangerous profession.

Imran’s two orphaned daughters, two-year-old Amna and one-year-old Hafza, were playing with dolls when we were offering fateha for the departed soul. As a father, he doted on them. “Once he came out of his house at midnight to purchase things for his daughters,” Ejaz Ahmed, an old colleague of Imran, said with tears in his eyes.

“It pains me when they speak of their father,” Kamran Sheikh, the girls’ uncle, said. Living in a mud- and brick-walled house of two rooms, the family has lost its sole breadwinner. The house is located in remote Muslim town area. Despite the growing incidents of looting in the area, Imran used to go to his house late in the night after completing his work.

Imran had been working in Samaa TV since beginning of 2008. He was considered to be one of the most talented cameramen in the city. “Ironically, Imran used to advise us to avoid going to dangerous spots,” Shehzad Anwar, a DawnNews cameraman, said.

“‘Please cover explosions from a distance and zoom in the visuals,’ he used to tell us,” Shehzad remarked.

Imran died when the second explosion hit the Alamdar road area on Jan 10. TV channels reported his death which was followed up by the news of Saifur Rehman’s killing. He worked as reporter for the same channel.

Saif was initially missing and the authorities confirmed his death four hours after the explosion. The intensity of the blast had damaged their bodies and faces and they could not be easily recognised.

“They are all such cruel people that they are not showing my son’s face to me,” Naseer Sheikh was quoted as blurting out at Imran’s funeral.

Over 24 journalists have fallen prey to bullets and bomb blasts in different parts of violence-plagued Balochistan over the past six years. The murderers are still at large and the authorities appear helpless.

While reporting on such heinous crimes, journalists live through a deep sense of insecurity. Many media organisations, whether print or electronic, don’t train cameramen or reporters to report from a safe distance.

Over 26 journalists were injured during different suicide attacks, bomb explosions and firing because they had not been instructed to avoid standing on the crime scene after its clearance by law-enforcement personnel.

Many of us know by now that one blast may be followed by another one and the second one is often more deadly than the first.

Two cameramen, Ejaz Raisani and Arif Malik, were killed in the same incidents. The rating race between the channels puts lives of reporters, cameramen and DSNG staff in peril.

A lesson should be learnt from the story of Imran Sheikh, Saifur Rehman and Iqbal Hussain. The families of the deceased are the worst sufferers.


Pakistan Press Foundation

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Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran workers ‘harass’ media persons

ISLAMABAD: Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran (TMQ) chief’s indefinite sit-in against the current government entered the fourth day today with a large crowd still sitting at Jinnah Avenue, while some participants reportedly misbehaved with women media persons.

Reportedly, the crowd count was around 20,000 when Dr Tahirul Qadri began his speech. The protest site wore a populated look.

As Dr Qadri took the stage, some people misbehaved with media persons particularly with women journalists belonging to a private TV channel. After the journalists complained to their concerned media houses and the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Minhjul Quran organisers announced that those who indulged in such acts were not members of Minhajul Quran and blamed the incident on miscreants who were “out to disrupt the long march”.

Female journalist Nosheen, speaking to a private TV channel alleged that she identified the people who misbehaved with them and that they were volunteers of TMQ.

PFUJ former president Mazhar Abbas said that he had received messages from a female journalist alleging that some men in the TMQ procession had harassed her.

The TMQ chief and his followers had been continuously expressing their irritation toward the media for saying that the crowd did not number in millions. The TMQ chief claimed that millions of people comprising men, women and children had reached Islamabad and were participating in the long march. It was also witnessed that a few people inside the crowd chanted slogans against senior TV anchorperson Hamid Mir for being biased and partial towards TMQ.

Hamid Mir in a message published in the social media wrote, “Both supporters and opponents of Qadri bashing media we are only with the supremacy of constitution the only consensus document.”

The Parliamentary Reporters Association and other organisations of journalists have strongly condemned the harassment of journalists covering the long march by the workers of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. In a statement, the Parliamentary Reporters Association Interim President Siddique Sajid demanded from Dr Tahirul Qadri to take strict action against the workers and security guards present in the long march venue who manhandled the journalists, particularly female journalists. He also demanded that the journalists should be freely allowed to perform their professional duties.


Pakistan Press Foundation

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Journalists condemn killing of colleagues in Quetta blasts

Peshawar journalists protest

PESHAWAR: Journalists in the provincial metropolis on Friday staged protest to condemn the killing of media men in the deadly blasts in Quetta. The protest was jointly arranged by Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ) and Peshawar Press Club (PPC) on the call of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists.

Three journalists working for Samaa television including Saifur Rahman Saif, Imran Sheikh and Mohammad Iqbal were killed in the Quetta explosions, which claimed around 100 lives. The demonstration was led by KhUJ, PPC office-bearers and other senior journalists.

The speakers on the occasion condemned the government and the owners of media houses for taking no steps for the protection of journalists. They said the camera and DSNGs of the media houses were insured, but no life insurance of the reporters and media workers could be arranged.

They demanded the media owners to adopt and implement standard operation procedures for the protection of journalists and save them from the mass killing in the name of “breaking news” and race for taking leads.

Our Bahawalpur correspondent adds: On the call of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the Bahawalpur Union of Journalists (BhUJ) staged a demonstration to condemn the Quetta blasts in which two journalists were killed.

Several other journalists, including a Geo cameraman, with others were injured in the blasts. The journalists led by PFUJ founder member A Majeed Gill and BhUJ president Muhammad Ameen Abbasi gathered outside Farid Gate and chanted slogans against the killings. They were carrying banners and placards inscribed with slogans against the government. The protesters were wearing black ribbons and holding banners inscribed with slogans condemning the killings of journalists.


Pakistan Press Foundation

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Three media professionals killed, three injured in bomb blasts in Quetta

Pakistan Press Foundation

Three media professionals were killed and three others injured in bomb blast in Quetta, the capital of the restive Balochistan province of Pakistan. The journalists were reporting on an explosion that had occurred about a few minutes earlier, when the second bomb exploded, killing and injuring many, including the journalists.

Lashkar-e-Jhangvi, a militant group has claimed the responsibility for blasts which were targeted at the Hazara Shiite community.

Imran Shaikh, cameraman for “Samaa TV”, Saif ur Rehman, reporter for the same television station and Mohammad Iqbal photographer of NNI news agency were covering the scene of the suicide bomb blast when the second blast occurred, killing them on the spot. was critically injured in the blast and died later in a local hospital.

Iqbal’ s brother Muhammad Hasan, porter of Independent News Pakistan news agency; Acne Roger, cameraman for “Geo TV” and Ather, satellite engineer for “Samaa TV” were injured in the blast. The condition of Roger is stated to be in serious but stable condition. Satellite vans of number of television stations were also damaged.

A reporter of “Samaa TV” told PPF that the suicide bomber came to the basement of a building of snooker club in an area inhabited by the Hazara Shia community and blew himself up at about 9:00 PM. A few minutes his car which was parked outside the building was blown up remotely.

Police said that more than 100 kg of explosives were used in the car bomb. Over 100 persons were killed and more than 200 injured in the blasts.

Shaikh is survived by his wife and two daughters, Rehman leaves behind his wife and three sons while Iqbal was unmarried. The management of Samaa TV announced Rs.1million and one year salary for each bereaved family. The Government of Pakistan has also announced Rs.1million for the bereaved families.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and journalists from all media organizations strongly condemned the killings of journalists. PFUJ staged a countrywide protest on 11th January 2013.

Pakistan Press Foundation

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At least 93 lives lost in Quetta explosions

Quetta twin blast

By: Saleem Shahid

QUETTA: As many as 81 people were killed and 121 injured in suicide and car bomb blasts in Quetta’s Alamdar Road area on Thursday night. Earlier in the afternoon, 12 people lost their lives when a bomb went off near a vehicle of the Frontier Corps at Bacha Khan Chowk.

A cameraman and a reporter of a private news channel, a computer operator of a news agency and nine police personnel, including two senior police officers, were among the dead, while 10 army and FC personnel were injured in the blasts.

A majority of the people killed in the Alamdar Road blasts belonged to the Hazara Shia community. The banned Lashkar-i-Jhangvi has claimed responsibility for the blasts. “Eighty-one people have been killed and 120 injured, including 10 army and FC personnel, in two blasts,” Hamid Shakeel, Deputy Inspector General of Police, told Dawn.

The death toll might go up because the condition of several injured people was serious, he added.

Police sources said that the first blast took place in a snooker club on Alamdar Road when people were busy playing the game. Several people were killed or injured in the blast. “A man entered the snooker club and a powerful blast took place,” they said, adding that it appeared to be a suicide attack.

Police, workers of Edhi Trust and media teams rushed to the place soon after the first blast and started taking the injured to hospital.

A second blast took place 10 minutes after the first blast outside the snooker club when a large number of people, police and rescue workers gathered there. A majority of people were killed and injured in the second blast.

Five police personnel, including a senior police officer, and three media men also lost their lives in the second blast. Reporter Saifullah Baloch and cameraman Imran Shaikh belonged to Samaa TV, while computer operator Mohammad Iqbal worked for NNI.

Some other media men, who reached the site to cover the first blast, were also injured in the second explosion. Imran Shaikh was the third Samaa cameraman to have lost his life in the line of duty. Earlier, Ejaz Ahmed Raisani and Malik Arif had been killed in bomb blasts.

Police said that an explosive-laden car parked at the roadside was used in the second explosion. Both the blasts shook the entire provincial capital. “The building which housed the snooker club was destroyed completely, while over 50 shops and nearby houses were badly damaged,” eyewitness Khalil Ahmed said.

Two rescue workers were also killed in the blast, he added. Soon after the second blast, power supply was disrupted in the area as wires snapped. “Bodies littered a large area,” another eyewitness Banaras Khan told Dawn, adding that several media men were missing. A DSNG of Geo TV was damaged in the second explosion. A cameraman received injuries while other staffers remained unhurt.

Rescue workers and security personnel faced difficulty in collecting bodies and in shifting the injured to hospital. An emergency was declared at Civil Hospital and the Combined Military Hospital. Most of the injured and bodies were brought to CMH. The condition of at least 10 of the injured was stated to be critical.

“The death toll might increase,” hospital officials expressed fears. Meanwhile, a spokesman for Lashkar-i-Jhangvi told media from an unknown place that his organisation had carried out the two explosions. Capital City Police Officer Zubair Mehmood confirmed at a press conference the killing of 81 people and injuring of 121 in the two blasts.

“A doomsday scenario was at the blast site. Bodies were lying everywhere.” Mr Mehmood said that nine police officials had lost their lives. Earlier in the afternoon, at least 12 people, including an FC soldier and a child, were killed and over 60 injured in a bomb blast before the night-time carnage shook the city.

The bomb was planted close to a parked vehicle of Frontier Corps at the crowded Bacha Khan Chowk. The blast rocked the entire city several other FC men were injured in the blast, Balochistan Home Secretary Akbar Hussain Durrani told Dawn, adding that the condition of at least five people was serious.

Among the injured were two women and three children. Frontier Corps officials confirmed that one soldier had been killed and 10 others injured in the blast. “We have lost one soldier in the blast and another is in critical condition,” a spokesman said.

An Afghan national, who hailed from Spin-Boldak, a border district of Afghanistan, was also killed in the blast.

The banned United Baloch Army has claimed responsibility for the blast. Its spokesman Mureed Baloch told newsmen that the blast was in revenge for Mashkay, Awaran and Bolan operations launched by FC. The area where the blast took place is a populated and busy commercial junction where thousands of people come for shopping and doing business in Baldia Plaza.

“Thousands of people were busy shopping and in doing business in Baldia Plaza and in the Bacha Khan Chowk when the blast took place,” said eyewitness Mehmood Khan, who owns a shop in the area. Police sources said that the bomb planted with a time device in a bag close to the FC vehicle went off at 3.10 pm, killing at least 10 people on the spot and injuring over 60.

Police and FC personnel cordoned off the place and took the bodies and the injured to Civil Hospital, where an emergency had been declared. Two injured, including the FC soldier, died in hospital as they had received multiple wounds.

“The target of the bomb blast was the vehicle carrying FC men and a checkpost in the area,” said Capital City Police Officer Zubair Mehmood. He told reporters that it was a time device. “We have collected evidence from the site and investigation is in progress,” he said.

Bomb disposal squad personnel said that 20 to 25 kg of explosives had been used in the blast. Hospital sources said that 11 bodies and over 40 injured were brought to the Civil Hospital. Some of the injured had been shifted to CMH, Quetta. “We are trying to save lives of seriously injured people,” hospital officials said.

Most of the people killed in the blast were vendors and shopkeepers selling old clothes, rings, soup and other edible items outside Baldia Plaza. Two Naib Tehsildars, who came from the Taunsa town of Rajanpur district in Punjab, were also killed.

Eight of the 12 dead were identified as Naib Tehsildars Ghulam Sarwar Qaisrani and Inayatullah, Mazuddin, Ziaul Haq, Fazal Ahmed, Sher Ali, Akhtar Mohammad and Tamour Shah.A man selling fruits on a pushcart had reportedly seen a white bag near the FC vehicle and informed the paramilitary force’s personnel before the bomb exploded. However, he remained safe, sources said.

The FC vehicle and about a dozen other cars and motorcycles were destroyed in the blast. About two dozen shops were damaged while windowpanes of several buildings and offices in Baldia plaza were smashed. In 2004, an army truck was hit by a cycle bomb, killing 12 people, including security personnel.

In Sept 2010, a suicide bomber claimed over 30 lives during an Al Quds rally at Bacha Khan Chowk.


Pakistan Press Foundation