Journalists seeking justice
Report: (Irfan Athar Mangi) Pakistan is considered among the countries that are considered dangerous and unsafe for journalists in terms of restrictions on expression. In Pakistan, journalists are killed even while performing their duties and it becomes difficult for the heirs of such slain journalists to get justice.
According to Freedom Network’s ‘Annual Impunity Report’ 2022, in 96% of the cases of killing of journalists in Pakistan between 2012 and 2022, the accused did not receive any punishment.
It would not be wrong to say that journalism is in a state of chaos, with daily threats, violence and threats to life. Nawab, Mir, Wadira, Chaudhry does not like to hear anything against him, be it a thief, dacoit, land grabber or any influential person, if you spread news against him, you have to pay the price.
The end of Dakoraj in Sindh has not been possible even today. It is not a new thing to kidnap any businessman or wealthy person and collect millions of rupees from him. The sound was silenced forever.
The murder of journalist Jan Muhammad Maher took place on the night of August 13 at around nine o’clock when he was returning home from KTN News Sukkur Bureau.
Unknown armed men opened fire on them on Queen’s Road in Sukkur area. It has been reported that bullets were fired indiscriminately, hitting him in the neck, head and stomach, while the windows on both sides of the vehicle were shattered. He was shifted to the hospital with serious injuries, but according to the doctors, he died due to excessive bleeding.
The Sindh Police has started an investigation into the murder of journalist Jan Mohammad Mehr, who lost his life in the firing of unknown persons in Sukkur city. In which no major progress has been made even after a month has passed, the case of the incident was registered three days after the murder in the complaint of the brother of the victim, in which 11 accused have been named and so far only two accused have remained. The accused could not be arrested.
Sindh Interior Minister said that the inquiry will be completed on merit and the media will be regularly informed about the progress of the investigation.
Source: News Lens
In connection with the financial support of the surviving relatives of the martyred journalist, a check of one crore rupees will also be given to the heirs by the government of Sindh, but the question remains the same whether these incentives can be a substitute for the money of this journalist or any number of journalists who were killed. Do their killers go after just a few days of protest and then turn into a long silence.
According to Aziz Shehryar Maher of John Muhammad Mehr and KTN reporter Anas Ghangharu, three facilitators have been arrested in the murder of John Muhammad Mehr. While J. came. JIT has not made any progress till now. In the ongoing dacoity operation in Kutch, the facilitators of the killers have been arrested after they escaped from where they had taken up residence. When we spoke to the local police in this regard, they said that four suspects have been arrested in the operation of raw robbers who had given shelter to the facilitators of John Mahmoud Mehr. Further investigation is going on, still the killers named in the FIR have not been arrested.
Similarly, in August, another journalist, Asghar Lund, was killed by firing a pistol outside his own house (Ahmedpur) on the night of August 8.
On August 7, 42-year-old Ghulam Asghar Khand, a reporter of the Sindhi daily newspaper ‘Sabah’, was shot dead by unknown persons in Ahmedpur area of Khairpur district. Tawana said that “We ourselves had filed an FIR in which these accused were named.” One of the accused involved in the murder had escaped while one is arrested, now the case will go on in the court.
One fateful morning of the year 2022 when journalist Atharmatin left home to drop his children off at school but did not return alive.
According to SP Police Gulbarg Tahir Noorani, Athar Mateen was going home after dropping his children from school. Meanwhile, two people on a motorcycle tried to stop him. Athar Mateen did not stop, he resisted and hit the robbers with the car. As a result of which the Dodakus opened fire on them, as a result of which they died. According to SSP Maruf Usman, the incident of Athar Mateen happened in North Nazimabad, one bandit was killed in a police encounter in Sindh and one is still in jail while talking to his wife about this. It was said that it has been one and a half years and the hearing of the case has not taken place.
Athar Mateen has been associated with journalism since 2005. He has done MA in Political Science. Before Samaa, Athar Mateen also worked with Aaj TV and ARY News. At that time he was a senior producer at Sama
The president of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Prince Zulfikar, says that the killers of journalists are not caught at first or remain absconding. and the accused are acquitted by the court.All the journalists who have been killed have not received justice so far.
Khalil Nasir, president of KJ Dastur, says that if a journalist is killed or such an incident occurs, the senior members of the press club do the possible help to the journalists and their families. The rest of the justice is from the court. We can only help.
اIFJ Report
According to the IFJ report, a total of nine journalists have been killed in Pakistan from August 2022 to 2023. In the year 2022, five journalists Hasnain Shah, Ziaur Rehman Farooqui, Iftikhar Ahmed, Mohammad Younis, Sadaf Naeem lost their lives. After that, prominent journalists like Arshad Sharif, Ajay Lalwani, Asghar Khand and John Muhammad Maher were also killed in target killing.
In Pakistan, 96 percent of journalists’ murder cases have gone unpunished.
Freedom Network’s report on the killing of journalists in Pakistan on October 27, 2022, states that 53 Pakistani journalists were killed in the country between 2012 and 2022, but only two of the 53 cases of murder have convicted the perpetrators. went In the remaining 96% of the cases, the slain journalists and their bereaved families did not get justice.
Regarding the non-punishment of the accused, SP Altaf Hussain says that the police are given 14 days for investigation, within which they prepare everything and present it in the court, while the courts have unlimited time. The cases have been going on for ten years. Then the biggest problem is that when the witnesses appear in the court, they are present in the same place. When a witness appears in the court, the accused threaten to kill him and insult him.
He said, “A person comes to testify in the morning. When the day is about to pass, the case is given a further date. The statement of the witness is not recorded. This is how it takes a lot of time. After four appearances, the witness also likes to come to the court.” It doesn’t. There are many bugs in our system that need to be fixed. If the statement of the witness is taken in time and the case proceeds, it can be easy”.
According to Supreme Court lawyer Iram Mehmood, the case depends on evidence, investigative process and witnesses. Our police investigation system is not very efficient due to which the criminals get away. Actually the case is fought in the court which is the text of FIR. They come, but in cases of murder and destruction or such incidents, dear relatives also move back so that they do not get harmed, they move back. If the evidence is presented in the court, justice will be given.
Source: PPF