Benazir, PFUJ condemn police action
By our correspondent
ISLAMABAD: Leader of the Opposition Benazir Bhutto has strongly condemned the brutal lathi-charge of Punjab Police on the senior staff members and journalists of The News here outside the FIA office on Monday.
Benazir, who flew into the federal capital on Monday evening, made a telephone call to Mariana Baabar and enquired about her health. Mariana Baabar, along with chief reporter of The News Shakil Shaikh and Rana Mubashar, was beaten by by the police outside the FIA office.
In the lathi-charge of police on the protesting journalists, Ms Baabar sustained a serious blow on her ribs, while Shakil Shaikh and Rana Mubashar also had bruises on the shoulders. Benazir said the government in its efforts to impose a fascist rule in the country was bent upon muzzling the voice of the independent press. She assured her party's unflinching support to the press in its fight for the protection of freedom of press. She said it was the duty of every democratic force in the country to support the Jang group to save the country from one-man rule.
She warned the government to refrain from intimidation and harassment of the national press. She pointed out that without a free and independent press, no democratic society could exist. She said the government's action against the press was undermining the country's image.
She asked the Supreme Court to take suo moto action against the chief of Ehtesab Bureau. President of Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists Abdul Hameed Chapra, Senior Vice-President of PFUJ C. R. Shamsi, President and General Secretary of Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) Prevaiz Shaukat and Faraz Hashmi expressed serious concern over the police action against the journalists and employees of the Jang and The News.