Islamabad police thrash journalists on Press Freedom Day

• CJP takes notice of incident 

ISLAMABAD: Islamabad Police on Thursday used force to stop the protesting journalists from marching towards parliament.

The journalists belonging to local and foreign media outlets were participating in a rally to mark the World Press Freedom Day. According to media reports, the police stopped the rally at D Chowk, which was followed by a “clash” between the police and journalists.

The journalists were marching towards the parliament to present their charter of demands. Following the “clashes”, they, however, staged a sit-in in the area which made the chief justice of Pakistan, Justice Mian Saqib Nisar, to take a notice of the incident. The CJP ordered the capital administration, police and the advocate general to present reports explaining the incident.

On the other hand, journalists alleged that police “did not even spare female journalists and resorted to violence against them”.

World Press Freedom Day was proclaimed by the UN General Assembly in December 1993, following the recommendation of UNESCO’s General Conference. Since then, 3 May, the anniversary of the Declaration of Windhoek is celebrated worldwide as World Press Freedom Day.

On the other hand, Leader of Opposition in Senate Sherry Rehman strongly condemned the assault on journalists on World Press Freedom Day in the federal capital.

Speaking on a point of order in Senate, she criticised the attitude of the police towards journalist in the federal capital. She said that the media had won a freedom of expression after a long struggle.

The Leader of the House in Senate Raja Muhammad Zafarul Haq also condemned the police action against journalists, saying that the government believes in ensuring freedom of expression and the House will be informed about the latest situation on Friday.

Furthermore, Senate chairman directed Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum Aurangzeb to inform the House about the situation.

Similarly, Senators Pervaiz Rashid and Mushahidullah Khan also condemned the police action against the journalist’s rally and said that the community was facing many challenges while performing their duties.