May 24, 2024
By Xari Jalil
LAHORE
Ghotki journalist Nasrullah Gadani, who lived in Mirpur Mathelo, and was shot by unknown assailants as he was travelling on his motorcycle towards town, continues to fight for life in critical condition in Karachi’s Aga Khan Hospital.
The incident had taken place on May 21, in the village of Korai Goth, around 12 to 15 kilometers from Mirpur Mathelo. Eye witnesses say the unidentified attackers were waiting for him on a motorcycle and when Gadani appeared, they shot him multiple times in the torso, seriously injuring him.
The villagers who had witnessed the incident rushed a profusely bleeding Gadani to the government hospital in Mirpur Mathelo. However due to the severity of his condition, doctors in the emergency wing provided initial first aid and then referred him to Rahm Yar Khan’s Shaikh Zayed Hospital on the Punjab side. Later however the journalist’s condition was declared too critical and the Journalist Protection Commission & Media Practitioners said that they pushed the government to bring him to Karachi. The doctors at Shaikh Zayed Hospital also recommended that Gadani be airlifted to Karachi.
Ultimately Gadani was airlifted and taken to Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi.
Sindh: A Dangerous Place for Reporting
The question is why are journalists in Sindh being attacked on such a large scale? Sindh comes as one of the most dangerous place to report from. Deaths and abductions of journalists over the years proves this point.
Only last year Jan Muhammad Mahar was killed while on his way to work – again by unidentified assailants. This time again, Gadani was shot with the intention of being killed.
Vice President Ghotki Press Club Imran Asif told Voicepk that Gadani received multiple bullets in his abdomen. “We cannot say which of his news stories resulted in this shooting,” says Asif. “The fact is he reported on so many issues and so boldly that it could have been any of them. From the bandits in the kachha region, to the local feudals, and from the city administration to the provincial government, Gadani did not mince his words criticizing anyone. He has always stood for the right thing to do – to stand by the people’s issues.”
Meanwhile Secretary for the Commission for Journalists Protection Fahim Siddiqui says that they are urging the government to
“There has already been a law approved by the Sindh Assembly, but still there are increasing number of attacks on the journalists working in Sindh, especially in the smaller towns, villages, tehsils, etc. And these attackers enjoy impunity. None of them are arrested,” he says. He refers to the case of Jan Muhammad Mahar and says the killers have not been caught even after weeks and weeks of protests by the family as well as the journalist community of Sindh.
“This is a result of writing the truth about someone. That it when the people get uncomfortable and lash out. It is the journalist who gets the raw deal,” says Imran Asif.