The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), a New York-based independent watchdog body, has voiced serious concern over the attack on senior journalist Hamid Mir in Karachi on Saturday, amid escalating incidents targeting journalists in Pakistan, and called for bringing the perpetrators to justice.
“Full prosecution of the perpetrators of such crimes is the only answer to reversing this history,” Bob Dietz, the CPJ’s Asia programme coordinator, said in a statement. “Police must act swiftly and decisively in this and all cases that have been building up for years in Pakistan,” he said, adding that Pakistan’s media must use their capabilities to pursue their own investigations, as well as press the government to take action.
On March 28, gunmen sprayed the car of another senior journalist Raza Rumi. He escaped serious injury, but his driver was killed in the incident.
Also, Mir is reported to be in a serious condition with wounds to his abdomen and pelvis, but is expected to survive.
