Pakistan journalists slam crackdown on press club, govt orders inquiry

Islamabad: Journalists across Pakistan have criticised the federal government for a crackdown on a press club in the national capital by police and the thrashing of journalists, even as Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi ordered an inquiry into the incident.

The Islamabad police attacked the National Press Club (NPC) on Thursday while dispersing a protest by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Awami Action Committee (JKJAAC).

TV footage showed policemen armed with batons attacking journalists on the press club premises.

Dawn reported a statement by Naqvi that he had taken notice of the “unfortunate” incident and demanded a report from the Islamabad inspector general of police.

“Violence against the journalist community cannot be tolerated under any circumstances,” he was quoted as saying.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) president, Afzal Butt, held a press conference alongside Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry at the National Press Club, reported Dawn.

Butt said that during the police raid, when the press club’s office-bearers tried to intervene and resolve the matter, they were “beaten and tortured”.

“They even arrested two people, who were later released,” Butt added. He announced that the PFUJ had called an “emergency session”, where “we will consult and chalk out our demands about what the government needs to do to prevent what the police did today.

"We will also decide our course of action and announce it after the meeting.” For his part, Chaudhry said he condemned the incident and apologised for it.

“Please consider this when you hold your meeting,” he said, assuring that he was also ready to meet them again after their meeting.

Chaudhry’s office also issued a statement unconditionally apologising for the incident, adding that it happened “suddenly”.

“Some people from the [JAAC] were protesting [and] some of their people had manhandled police personnel,” the statement read. “When they tried to arrest these people, the police chased them. The police came to the Press Club to arrest the protesters who misbehaved with [officers].” The statement added that Chaudhry had ordered an internal inquiry into the incident.

Journalist bodies held another press conference at the NPC later, where Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists President Tariq Virk said journalists across the country stood united after the police raid at NPC.

He alleged that “Islamabad police personnel had not come to the press club on their own accord but were sent here”.

PFUJ President Butt also said it was one of the “darkest days in Pakistan’s history” and added, “The attack on the National Press Club was an attack on media freedom.” He announced that a “black day” would be observed across the country on Saturday.

In a joint statement, the PFUJ, Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors and Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors termed the police raid at the NPC “terrorism”.

They also demanded immediate action against those “involved in the incident”.

The Lahore Press Club also issued a condemnatory statement, demanding from Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif that police personnel involved in the raid be immediately suspended and arrested.

Meanwhile, Information Minister Attaullah Tarar called the incident “regrettable” in a statement, vowing that a comprehensive investigation would be carried out. Journalist Shiraz Gardezi, who is associated with Geo News and also the senior joint secretary of the NPC, shared an account of the raid.

Gardezi said the JKJAAC — which has also been holding demonstrations in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir — had issued a call for a protest at the press club. “As soon as the demonstration began, they (police) surrounded the protesters,” he narrated.

Gardezi, who was at the NPC to cover the protest, said police stopped them from doing so. “Because they were torturing, beating and dragging people,” he alleged, adding that they even tried to snatch mobile phones and cameras from some of the journalists.

The incident also sparked outrage on social media as journalists decried the assault.

In a post on X, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) “strongly” condemned the “assault on journalists by Islamabad police” at the National Press Club.

“We demand an immediate inquiry and those responsible be brought to book,” the rights group wrote in a post on X.