November 20, 2024
Staff Report
LAHORE
Police in Karachi were combing through footage of surveillance cameras to identify suspects who shot at a reporter outside his office on November 19.
The journalist, Nadeem Ahmed, sustained a bullet wound in the leg in the shooting and underwent surgery at the Liaquat National Hospital on November 20. According to hospital doctors, his condition is stable following the surgery. His colleagues said the unidentified gunmen who were driving a Vigo pickup truck had a verbal spat with the reporter over their rash driving on the road. Nadeem Ahmed had told the occupants to slow down their vehicle which was spewing dust around other commuters. The car followed Nadeem Ahmed to his office of 92 News TV channel, where he worked as a senior reporter. The occupants fired at the reporter as soon as he parked his motorcycle and sped away in their vehicle. The injured journalist was taken to the hospital.
Police sources said they were viewing footage of surveillance cameras installed around the Bahudarabad locality where the shooting took place to identify the alleged shooters as well as ownership of the vehicle. No case was registered with the police till the filing of this report.
Taking note of the shooting, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah directed police to investigate and arrest the attackers. Sindh Home Minister Zia-ul-Hassan Lanjar also sought a report from the SSP East and directed the police to keep the journalistic community abreast of the investigation into the incident.
International media watchdogs have termed Pakistan as the most dangerous place for journalists for the past two decades. A total of 151 journalists and media workers have been killed in Pakistan between May 2000 and August 2024.
The year 2024 has also proved one of the deadliest for journalists in Pakistan, with multiple targeted killings – six casualties of media practitioners, including a YouTuber – and 57 violations recorded besides the provinces doing little to ensure combat impunity for crimes against media and its practitioners, according to Freedom Network Impunity Report 2024.
The report also notes that the federal and Sindh provincial laws aimed at protecting media professionals have yet to be able to combat impunity for these crimes.
The annual report reveals alarming statistics – 11 assassination attempts, including six murders of journalists and a digital media practitioner, happened between November 2023 and August 2024. At least 57 violations, including threats, assaults, and legal harassment, were also recorded during the reporting period. “Despite the enactment of Sindh Protection of Journalists and Other Media Practitioners Bill 2021 and the federal Protection of Journalist and Media Professional Act 2021, both the federal and Sindh governments have failed to enforce these laws, leaving journalists vulnerable without any use of the legal framework protections,” Freedom Network Executive Director Iqbal Khattak said while launching the special report on eve of International Day to End Impunity (IDEI) falling on November 2.
“The lack of political will and resources to enforce special laws for the protection of journalists is keeping the situation dangerous for journalists in Pakistan,” he said. “Without robust and functioning safety mechanisms, these laws will remain ineffective, and the lives of media professionals will continue to be at greater risks,” Khattak said.
According to the report, in the year in review, Sindh was top of the list where most violations were recorded (37% or 21 out of 57 cases including three murders) followed by Punjab where 23% violations (13 cases) were recorded. Islamabad was the third most dangerous area for journalism in the year with 21% violations (12 cases). Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was fourth with 12% (seven cases including murders of two tribal journalists) while Baluchistan recorded 3.5% violations (two cases).
TV journalists faced the brunt of these cases – 30 in total which amount to 53% followed by print media with 35% cases while digital journalists 10% and radio journalists two % faced different kinds of threats during the reporting period. Among the journalists who faced these threats also included nine percent women journalists.The report also identified threat actors allegedly involved in these cases. These included government authorities (47%) followed by political parties (12%) and miscellaneous identified actors (16%). Unknown actors stood at 25%.