Unidentified armed policemen in uniform and civvies kidnapped, tortured and robbed the Geo News Karachi Bureau Chief Faheem Ahmed Siddiqui in the Shahra-e-Noor Jahan police remit. According to Faheem Siddiqui, he was hailed by a police mobile near Sakhi Hassan Chowrangi as he was driving to work on Saturday afternoon. Expecting a normal security check, Siddiqui complied and stopped his jeep. He added that the cops in plain clothes then pulled him out of his car and began to beat him. The men covered Siddiqui’s face with a cloth, bound his hands and took him away towards an undisclosed location in his own car. Faheem told Geo News that besides the two men (who were in plain clothes) the rest of them were in uniform and seemed to be fresh recruits.The men flanking him on either side in the back of his SUV armed with Kalashnikov rifles continued to beat him and abuse him as well as Geo News. Siddiqui said, adding that he was driven around blindfolded.Siddiqui said he was finally left with his hands tied in Manghopir near the Hub Dam. His abductors left him in the deserted area and took away Siddiqui’s licensed weapon, three mobile phones and all the documents and electronics that were present in his car. This is not first case of such violence, A few weeks ago, a journalist in Balochistan was murdered in his home; before that, there have been numerous other killings of journalists all over the country. In all, 56 journalists in Pakistan have been killed since 1992 according to international monitoring groups.In some cases of violence against journalists, criminal mafias and political elements appear to be responsible; in others, the hand of terror outfits cannot be ruled out. The purpose, of course, is to silence voices and prevent the truth from emerging. The state has essentially failed in its duty to offer journalists the security they need to pursue their profession without fear of death. The current state of affairs has meant that fewer media professionals are willing to risk exploring stories which may be of huge public interest, but bringing them into limelight may put lives in jeopardy. Government organisations do not help matters either. Media advisories, something Pakistani newspapers have been familiar with since the earliest days of the country’s inception, continue to come in, in essence acting as a warning against what can be written and what should be avoided when it comes to certain issues. Restricting freedom in this manner inflicts more harm than good. Journalists, whether they operate in remote parts of the country or in mega cities, essentially have no protection.
pk.shafaqna.com
Journalism under threat: Silencing the sane voices
