Sindh govt announces probe into attack on KPC, arrest of journalist

KARACHI: The Sindh government on Wednesday assured the protesting journalists of conducting a comprehensive inquiry into the incident where armed men barged into the Karachi Press Club (KPC) last week, saying protection of journalists and their workplaces is the ultimate responsibility of the provincial government.

“The Sindh government and the Pakistan People’s Party believes in the sanctity of the press clubs and would do everything to preserve it. Our Chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari and Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah have taken notice and asked to assure you that these incidents would be thoroughly investigated”, the Works and Services Minister of Sindh Syed Nasir Hussain told the protesting journalists at the Karachi Press Club.

Nasir Hussain also condemned the humiliation of senior Journalist Nasrullah Chaudhry who was presented in the court with his face covered by a ‘rag’, saying this attitude with the working journalists is unacceptable and it would also be investigated.

In addition to the provincial minister, adviser to CM on information Barrister Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui, Sindh Secretary Interior Abdul Kabir Qazi as well as dozens of political and social leaders, representatives of civil society, lawyers, labourers and people from different walks of life visited the Karachi Press Club to express solidarity with the protesting journalists and attended their protests against the attack on KPC and arrest of senior Journalist Nasrullah Chaudhry.

Senior lawyers from Bar Associations and political parties assured the Karachi journalists of representing them in the courts free of charge as they believe in freedom of expression while the leaders of PPP, PML-N, MQM and JUI-F pledged to raise the issue in the Parliament.

The newsmen across the country held protests in solidarity with the Karachi journalists while the city’s journalists continued their protest camp attended by hundreds of journalists and members of civil society and political parties. The former President of Supreme Court Bar Association Yasin Azad, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz Sindh President Shah Muhammad Shah, former Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair, MNA Khel Das Kohistani, JUI-F Leader Qari Usman, Mehfooz Yar Khan of Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) leaders, senior lawyer Javed Chattari as well as senior journalists attended the protest camp.

Former Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair severely criticized the Sindh and the federal governments.