Journalist union denounces attacks on Gul, Kharral

LAHORE: Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) on Wednesday expressed grave concerns over the harassment and violent attack on news analyst Asad Kharal and abduction of columnist Gul Bukhari in Lahore.

While anchorperson Kharal was attacked by ‘masked men’ near Allama Iqbal International Airport in the wee hours of Wednesday, Bukhari was ‘abducted’ in Lahore by ‘unknown persons’ on Tuesday night. She, however, was ‘released’ after several hours following an uproar on social media after her abduction.

“[Both incidents have] similar patterns and indicates the involvement of ‘unknown persons’ behind these incidents,” the PFUJ statement said.

In a joint statement, PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Ayub Jan Sarhandi said that the police have failed to arrest culprits. They demanded the government to constitute a judicial commission to inquire these incidents.

The PFUJ leaders called upon all human rights organisation to take notice of such targeted attacks carried out by the ‘unknown persons’. Moreover, the union made an appeal to the Supreme Court to take suo motu action against the ‘unknown actors’ who are “trying to suppress freedom of expression provided under the constitution”.