ISLAMABAD: A journalist and former chairman of Pakistan’s media regulatory body, Absar Alam was injured by gunmen in Islamabad on Tuesday.
Alam worked for Pakistani media for years before serving as head of the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) in 2015-17.
In a video shared on social media, said he was attacked while on a walk outside his house. “The bullet has hit me in the ribs and stomach,” he said. “This is my message to those that orchestrated the attack on me: I will not lose hope and neither these tactics scare me.”
He was moved to a private hospital in Islamabad where his condition is stable.
Soon after the attack, Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said in a tweet he had ordered an investigation.
“Ordered IG (Inspector General) Islamabad to conduct an inquiry and arrest the person involved in the firing as soon as possible,” Rashid said.
The inspector general, Qazi Jamil ur Rehman, formed a special team to investigate the incident.
“Team has been directed to use all scientific and forensic methods to trace the accused involved in the incident,” Islamabad police said in twitter post.
Information Minister Fawad Chaudhry condemned the attack and said that as police had been asked to immediately investigate the incident, the details will be shared with the media.
Alam has been a critic of the government and military.
“Such incidents are an open challenge for (state) institutions,” National Press Club secretary general Anwar Raza said in a statement after the attack.
Senior opposition politicians, including Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) vice president Maryam Nawaz and Pakistan Peoples Party chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari also condemned the incident.
