Karachi Press Club (KPC) President Fazil Jamili, Secretary Aslam Khan and the executive committee have expressed serious concern regarding the violence against journalists and the vandalism of media houses’ vehicles and DSNGs during the coverage of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) rally at Bagh-e-Jinnah.
In a statement issued by the KPC, they noted that during the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister’s visit to Karachi, journalists were attacked in the conflict between PTI workers and police at the rally, which is a direct assault on press freedom.
The violence against journalists, cameramen and DSNG operators, as well as damage to media houses’ vehicles during the uproar, is highly condemnable and regrettable, they said. They pointed out that targeting journalists while they are fulfilling their duties is also contrary to democratic values. They demanded immediately identifying the individuals involved in the incident and taking strict legal action against them, as well as immediately compensating media houses for the financial losses incurred by them.
They stressed that journalists perform their duty of impartially keeping the public informed, and such incidents foster a sense of insecurity within journalists. They demanded that the Sindh government and law enforcement agencies take effective and practical measures to ensure the safety of journalists.
