Quetta bombing: Fallen mediapersons, human rights activist remembered

Journalists protest the death of two of their colleagues; Civil society mourn killing of Irfan Ali.

ISLAMABAD: Human rights activists and journalists from the twin cities called for better security arrangements to prevent loss of innocent lives across the country.

Condemning the recent spate of terror attacks in Quetta a dozens journalists protested over the deaths of two of their colleagues in a bombing in Quetta and demanded media house owners to invest in their employees’ safety.

Journalists gathered in front of the National Press Club in Islamabad on Friday and voiced their concerns over the lack of protective gear as well as the absence of life insurance for journalists covering potentially-dangerous news stories.

They demanded justice and compensation for the families of the two journalists — SAMAA TV’s reporter Imran Sheikh and cameraman Saifur Rehman — from the provincial and federal authorities. The two journalists had fallen victim to the second bomb blast at Quetta’s Alamdar Road on Thursday during the coverage of the first attack at the same site.



SAMAA TV Islamabad Bureau Chief Tahir Rathore said the media owners should unite on a one-point agenda.

“Owners must formulate a code of conduct whereby journalists should be made to protect their own lives first and then go after the news,” Rathore said.

Federal Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira also joined the journalists briefly. Kaira said compensation is not a solution or alternative for the perils that reporteres and cameraman and other media staff face in covering life-threatening assignments.



“A permanent system must be established to help them,” he said.

Kaira offered to sit down with journalists as soon as possible to discuss issues related to a journalist victim fund, the Employee Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) registration and the Wage Board Award for journalists.

NPC General Secretary Shehryar Khan said it is shameful that camera equipment is insured, but the cameramen are not. The journalists condemned the Balochistan government for its failure to announce any compensation for the families of the HR activists.

Separately, Insaani Huqooq Itehad and other human rights organisations and activists gathered in Super Market for a candlelight vigil to condemn the incident and pay homage to Irfan Ali, a human rights activist, who had rushed to the scene of the first blast and became a victim of the second.

With candles lit up and posters in their hands, the emotionally charged group chanted slogans demanding government action and justice for the 115 people that lost their lives.

“Shame on the government, where is the justice?” was one of the slogans being chanted. Many who were friends and had worked with Irfan could be seen holding posters of his picture with text reading, “Another human rights activist silenced”. Some were holding candles and silently weeping, with wax dripping over their hands.

“I have no words, our heads hang in shame. Everyone who remains silent is responsible for these deaths,” said Dr Ambreen Ahmed.

Many from the Hazara community were also present at the vigil. With their heads bowed in sorrow, one member of the group came to the front of the crowd to inform everyone present, “We have no place left to bury our dead, please have mercy on us. Why is the media silent? ”. Fatima Khalid, a mother-of-two from the Hazara community, urged the media to speak out.

Shahzad Ahmed, a close friend of Ali’s, ended the vigil with a thoughtful note for the media and the state. “The first step is to name the extremist groups who commit these heinous crimes and take the responsibility.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 12^th, 2013.