PFUJ condemns violence against Dunya News team by LDA staff

by Shamsul Islam Naz

ISLAMABAD:The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) has condemned the torture by the security guards of the Lahore Development Authority on a Dunya News team at the behest of its director-general and other senior officials and demanded immediate arrest of all those responsible for the incident.

According to reports reaching the PFUJ Secretariat, LDA security guards misbehaved, manhandled and inflicted torture on the Dunya News team who sustained severe injuries on Friday.

A Dunya News producer present at LDA building had reportedly tried to stop the guards from thrashing a woman, an ex-employee of the authority who had come there with a Lahore High Court order for the redressal of her grievance. But the unruly guards thrashed Dunya News producer, a lady reporter and damaged their cameras for covering the event.

Not only this, they also snatched the camera from the cameraman and broke it completely.

On this occasion a complaint was also lodged with the guards in charge and the police but the police made lame excuses and did not register the FIR of the incident. Even after the medico-legal report of the senior producer of Dunya News, Taha Siddiqui, whose one rib was also fractured, the police did not register an FIR.

Condemning the incident as unfortunate, the PFUJ said this incident had once again exposed the tall claims of the Punjab Government and its functionaries that they believe in rule of law, tolerance, democracy and good governance.

Elaborating, the PFUJ said that this is almost 13th incident in the Punjab in a row in which media persons were beaten up by government functionaries, lawyers, doctors and others and none of the offenders have been brought to justice which was encouraging intolerance in society, especially against media persons.

The PFUJ further contended that as per CrPC and other enabling provisions of law, it is the duty of the police, prosecution branch of the Punjab to ensure punishment to perpetuators of the said crimes, but not in a single case punishment has been given in terms of Pakistan Penal Code.

Such an indifferent attitude and non-prosecution of offenders was encouraging the tendency of manhandling and torture on media persons in Punjab, the PFUJ argued.

The PFUJ demanded immediate arrest of all the accused involved, and warned that if accused involved in this incident were not brought to justice within 24 hours, the PFUJ would be constrained to give a call for country-wide demonstrations to press for its just demand.