Journalist ‘picked up’ in Karachi

KARACHI/LAHORE: A senior journalist associated with Aaj News has reportedly been picked up by ‘unidentified’ men from Karachi’s Nazimabad area, Geo News reported on Monday.

Journalists associations, including the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND), as well as the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan have strongly condemned the incident.

According to a report, the missing journalist, Nafees Naeem, was at a grocery shop near his house, when the incident happened, the administration of the private news channel said. Eyewitnesses claimed that some ‘unidentified’ persons in plain clothes arrived in a police mobile and picked Nafees up. His whereabouts are still not known.

Nafees has been working as a senior assignment editor at the private news channel, whose administration has strongly condemned the disappearance of the journalist and termed it against the law.

The administration said that legal action could have been taken against him if he had, for argument's sake, done something against the law. “No law allows any institution to act in such a manner as to pick up someone forcibly without any FIR or charges against him,” it said. The channel also demanded Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah, and Chief Minister of Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah take notice of the incident and ensure Nafees’s immediate recovery.

Zone West police chief DIG Nasir Aftab told The News that the police are also looking for missing journalist and have also requested other relevant departments to inform them if any department has picked him up.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has strongly condemned the alleged disappearance of the Karachi-based journalist Nafees Naeem, working as senior assignment editor, who was picked up and bundled in a police van by some ‘unidentified’ plain-clothes men.

PFUJ President Shahzada Zulfiqar and Secretary General Nasir Zaidi condemned the incident and demanded immediate release of the disappeared journalist and asked the authorities to arrest the culprit involved in the incident.

The PFUJ leadership urged the Sindh government and police to take immediate measures for the safe release of Nafees and make all-out efforts for the safety and security of journalists and media workers, otherwise protests would be launched against such incidents.

Meanwhile, the Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AEMEND) also condemned the enforced disappearance of the journalist and demanded the authorities take action and ensure his immediate release.

According to the AEMEND, Pakistani journalists have been facing kidnapping, murder, forced disappearances and harassment which are a matter of concern and shame. They said such illegal steps not only tarnish image of the country but also add to the impression that journalists are facing immense difficulties in performing their duties.

The AEMEND demanded the prime minister, interior minister, Sindh chief minister and other concerned authorities act and immediately constitute a probe committee.

Karachi Press Club (KPC) office-bearers also strongly condemned the abduction of the senior member of the club. “A countrywide protest would be held if he is not released immediately,” reads a statement issued by KPC’s secretary press and information committee. “The circumstantial evidence suggests that he was picked up by security officials.”

Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) President Kazim Khan also strongly condemned the enforced disappearance. The CPNE chief asked the Sindh chief minister under which law the journalist was picked up, adding that such disappearances didn’t happen during Benazir Bhutto’s era. He said dictatorship-like government could not be tolerated. He also demanded the authorities immediately release the abducted journalist.

Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has also strongly condemned Nafees's enforced disappearance by some ‘unidentified’ plainclothesmen in Nazimabad area of Karachi and demanded his immediate release. The journalists must not be threatened or harmed for discharging their duties and the perpetrators must be held accountable, the HRCP demanded in a statement issued on Monday. In a late-night development, the journalist’s family lodged a kidnap case with Gulbahar police against unknown men.