Pakistan: Journalist abducted and killed

May 22nd, 2012

The body of a Pakistani journalist has been found, one day after he was abducted. Razzaq Gul, a reporter with the Express News in southern Balochistan, was found dumped near his home in Turbat on Saturday, having been shot 15 times. On Sunday, journalists in Quetta gathered to protest the murder. According to the Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ), Gul was the 21st journalist to die in the area. Pakistan Press International claims six journalists have been deliberately targeted and murdered in Balochistan in the last four years.

Pakistan: Twitter restored after temporary block

May 21st, 2012

Pakistani authorities have restored access to micro-blogging platform Twitter, after temporarily blocking it because of messages deemed “offensive to Islam”. The ban, which came into force on Sunday (20 May) shortly after Interior Minister Rehman Malik said there were no plans to block Twitter, seemed to be the result of a competition on Facebook to submit images of the Prophet Muhammad. The ban was lifted about eight hours after it was imposed, and the chairman of The Pakistan Telecommunications Authority (PTA) Twitter was blocked after it refused to remove inflammatory and blasphemous content.

Pakistan: Three journalists beaten by police

May 17th, 2012

Three journalists have been beaten by police officers in northwest Pakistan. Sher Ali Khan from TV station News One, Siraj Ali of Geo News, and Shabir Ahmed from Pakhtunkhuwa News daily were targeted by police officers while trying to cover a demonstration in the Charsadda district of Khyber-Pakhtunkhuwa province. As police attempted to disperse protesters with batons, the journalists began filming the clash. Police then turned on them, beating them and snatching their cameras in an attempt to destroy their footage. All three of the reporters sustained injuries from the attack, with Khan being admitted to hospital.

Pakistan: Journalist killed by kidnappers

May 15th, 2012

The dead body of a kidnapped Pakistani journalist was discovered in Karachi last week. Tariq Kamal was kidnapped on 6 May, along with his friend Fawad Sheikh, who was also murdered. Kamal was visiting a dangerous area of Balochistan for an exclusive report when he was kidnapped. The journalist’s family received a call from him informing them he was going to be killed by his captors. His kidnappers later contacted his family to inform them that Kamal and Sheikh were killed because they were police informants.

Balochistan: Urdu-language TV stations suspended

February 3rd, 2012

Urdu-language television stations available via cable were suspended in Quetta and other parts of Balochistan province on Wednesday, after the Cable Operators Association received threats from nationalist groups. Babark Khan, president of the Balochistan Cable Operators Association, told the Pakistan Press Foundation (PPF) that he received a threatening letter in writing from the Baloch Student Organisation on 31 January calling for the transmission of Urdu-language television stations to be halted and threatening consequences. The fraught region has faced separatist insurgency carried out by Baloch nationalists, who claim their grievances have been paid little attention by Pakistan media.  

Pakistan: Journalist shot dead in mosque

January 18th, 2012

A senior reporter was shot dead in a Pakistan mosque yesterday. Mukarram Khan Atif, a correspondent for Washington-based Deewa Radio and a reporter for the Pakistani television station Dunya News, was shot by two unidentified gunmen during evening prayers. Atif was shot in the chest and head, and was taken to Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar where he was pronounced dead on arrival. Another reporter, Rasool Dawar, claimed to have received a phone call from Ehsanulah Ehsan, the spokesman for banned militant organization Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan, who claiming responsibility for the attack.