TV reporter Ashiq Ali Mangi has been murdered in the southeastern district of Khairpur in yet another sign of the growing dangers for journalists in Pakistan, Reporters sans Frontières (RSF) has reported. Employed by the privately-owned television station Mehran, Mangi was gunned down as he rode to the local press club in Gambat on a motorcycle on February 17.
Sources told RSF that Mangi’s murder could have been ordered by a former police officer whose alleged links with criminal groups had been exposed by the journalist.
He was shot a day before the authorities prevented journalists in the district of Swat from marking the first anniversary of journalist Musa Khankhel’s murder. The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) said the Swat authorities imposed an immediate curfew to prevent any commemoration of Khel’s death.
RSF also joined the Khyber Union of Journalists and the Tribal Union of Journalists in calling for the immediate release of freelance journalist Muhammad Rasheed, who has been held incommunicado by the military since early January.
“Violence against journalists is disturbing, especially when members of the security forces are implicated,” Paris-based RSF said. “We offer our condolences to Mangi’s family and colleagues and we call for a proper investigation into his murder. A responsible government cannot accept its failure to protect journalists. It must work to end the impunity for crimes against the media. It would be intolerable if the local and national authorities allowed this killing to go unpunished.”
It added, “The government must also explain Rasheed’s arbitrary detention and heed the call by several Pakistani organisations for his immediate release. As they have pointed out, no law allows the authorities to hold someone for such a long time without bringing charges. Even if government security agencies believe this journalist has done something wrong, they must proceed in a legal manner.”
Abducted by the Taliban on December 29 and released six days later, Rasheed is believed to have been arrested shortly thereafter by the military at a checkpoint at Mirzael and then taken to Peshawar. The military refuse to confirm or deny that they are holding him.
Journalists have meanwhile staged several protests in the past few days. Journalists who cover parliamentary sessions in Islamabad stage staged a walkout on February 18 in a show of dissatisfaction with the national and local authorities. And many journalists and press clubs issued a joint statement Monday condemning a physical attack on Muhammad Husain Khan, a reporter for the newspaper Dawn, in Hyderabad.
