Journalists gathered outside the Karachi Press Club to protest the killing of journalists, torture, forced dismissals, non-payment of wages, and the arrest of those responsible for the murder of journalist Jan Muhammad Mahar and the Khuzdar Press Club President Maulvi Muhammad Siddique Mengal.
The protesters demanded that the government take action against those responsible for the violence against journalists.
Speaking at the protest, Karachi Press Club Secretary Shoaib Khan lamented that the World Press Freedom Day began with the murder of the president of the Khuzdar Press club, which is a message of terror threat for the journalists.
He said that the killers of journalist Jan Muhammad Mehr are still at large, and the state has failed to arrest them. A large number of media workers have been pushed into unemployment, and journalists are facing severe economic difficulties.
Karachi Union of Journalists President Ejaz Ahmed said that the federal and Balochistan governments should take control of terrorism in Balochistan and immediately arrest the killers of the president of the Khuzdar Press Club, who was martyred in a bomb blast on Friday. Pakistan Association of Press Photographers President Jamil Khan said that World Press Freedom Day is dedicated to the people of Palestine and Gaza where media people face death and injury while covering the atrocities of Israeli forces.
Former Karachi Press Club President Imtiaz Faran said that the message of World Press Freedom Day is that journalists should be given freedom, job security, and protection of life and property.
Former KUJ President Syed Hasan Abbas, citing the example of coverage of the Gaza crisis, said that even the European media was not free anymore. Journalist AH Khanzada said that an attempt was being made to silence the global conscience today. "We ask developed countries, why are you silent? Israel is bombing hospitals, elderly, women, and children, but if someone speaks out against Israel, action is taken against them."
Published in The Express Tribune, May 4th, 2024.
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