Islamabad [Pakistan]: The Supreme Court of Pakistan on Monday slammed Islamabad Police IG Qazi for atrocities on journalists and remarked that the shooting and torture of media persons show ‘lawlessness’. The remarks came from Justice Qazi Muhammad Amin during the hearing of a suo moto case regarding the harassment of journalists in the country, Samaa Tv reported. The court also slammed Police forces for not making rapid actions in apprehending the culprits who shot Absar Alam in Islamabad. “Islamabad Police IG Qazi should make sure that those who attack journalists are arrested, Justice Qazi said. “The IG it was his failure if the suspects have not been arrested,” he added. Pakistan is surfacing an increase in the attacks on journalists. Senior journalist and former Chairman of Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (PEMRA), Absar Alam, was shot in Islamabad. Meanwhile, at least 10 journalists were murdered and several others threatened, kidnapped, tortured and arrested in Pakistan on trumped-up charges while discharging their responsibilities in 2020 alone, according to the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) Media Freedom Report. No action has been taken against those responsible for torturing and killing journalists and it seems that such persons enjoy impunity. In other recent developments, Hundreds of journalists in Pakistan gathered outside the Parliament House on Sunday to protest against the proposed ‘Pakistan Media Development Authority’ (PMDA) law. Meanwhile, the journalists affiliated with different news organisations and press associations have termed the new media law in Pakistan as ‘against article 19’ of the Constitution of Pakistan, which guarantees freedom of speech and expression to the people. They also informed that “the proposed legislation would not only deprive journalists and media organizations of the press freedom but would also deprive civil society, students, lawyers, teachers, law-makers, trade unions, political, religious activists and in fact 220 million population of the country of their basic rights,” The News International reported. Despite being a democratic state, Pakistan continues to suppress free speech in digital spaces, stopping its citizens from participating in the working of the state by depriving them of a resourceful channel for vocalizing their concerns.
