KARACHI: Nearly 200 journalists held demonstrations in front of the Governor House in Karachi on Friday to protest the “violation of the sanctity of the historic building of Karachi Press Club”.
More than a dozen armed men intruded the building housing the Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Thursday night and harassed media personnel, in addition to documenting various parts of the building through short clips, KPC's management said in a statement.
According to Secretary Press Club, Maqsood Yousufi, the club apprised additional IG Karachi, Dr Amir Sheikh of the incident who promised to investigate the matter at the earliest. Thereafter, Senior Superintendent Police, Pir Muhammad Shah, visited the club and informed members that “some people belonging to an intelligence agency had mistakenly entered the building to arrest a person who was probably hiding in a nearby building”.
Speaking at the floor of the house, provincial minister for information, Murtaza Wahab endorsed the statement, adding that “location gadgets had brought officials into the club by mistake”.
However, these statements failed to appease journalists who continued their protests outside the KPC on Friday afternoon. Addressing the media, President Press Club Ahmed Khan Malik said that the club’s sanctity was violated. He added that law enforcement agencies had never entered the building even when Generals Zia ul Haq and Pervez Musharraf were ruling the country.
“I would like to remind the politicians that it was the same press club where the Movement of Restoration of Democracy (MRD) was formed during the Zia era. It’s the same place where Kulsoom Nawaz held the first gathering after the arrest of her husband, Nawaz Sharif, in the wake of the October 1999 military coup. If the federal and provincial administrations cannot protect this place today, politicians will not find a platform to save democracy tomorrow,” Malik said.
Yousufi, on his part, added that those who forcibly entered the KPC building should be identified and “stern action must be taken against them for violating the sanctity of this sacred institution”.
The protesting journalists later marched towards the Governor House where they staged a sit-in. They were joined there by Wahab who assured them of a free and fair inquiry into the incident. “We are with you journalists and will conduct an inquiry to identify those responsible for causing the incident,” he said.
Governor Sindh, Imran Ismail also met the media and assured them of an impartial inquiry, following which the protests were called off. “I will also apprise Prime Minister Imran Khan about the incident,” Ismail said, adding that stern action would be taken against all those involved in the incident.
Chairman Senate, Sadiq Sanjrani, also ordered the Sindh government to submit a report on the incident. “Once the report is furnished, we will ask the interior minister about the incident,” he said after President of the National Party, Senator Mir Hasil Khan Bizenjo, informed the house about the episode.
KPC is the oldest press club of the country and was established in 1958. The armed intrusion of the building was also condemned by journalists across the country, prompting the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists to point out in its statement: “If such elements or any institution consider that journalists will back out from their struggle for a free media and right to expression, they are sadly mistaken. Let it be very clear to all that journalists will not be browbeaten and continue to resist all such actions aimed at curbing the freedom of expression in the country.”
