Islamabad, (Samajweekly) Despite multiple attacks on Pakistani journalists, the issue did not make it to the federal cabinet’s agenda during its first 62 meetings between September 1, 2018 and January 30, 2020, according to a watchdog report.
In the report released on Friday, the watchdog group, Freedom Network said that in this period, seven journalists and a blogger were murdered, six mediapersons were kidnapped and 15 nominated in different legal cases, reports Dawn news.
Additionally, 135 “violations” against media persons were also reported, it added.
According to the report, Freedom Network had filed a request with the government in February “to seek official information on how many times the issue of growing number of murders, attacks and intimidation of journalists was taken up by the cabinet”.
The government provided the information only last month.
Commenting on the development, the watchdog’s Executive Director Iqbal Khattak said it was “alarming that the highest governance forum in the country remained oblivious to the aggravated levels of violence against journalists and other information practitioners, including murders and attacks”.
He urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to “urgently materialise his promise” to table a bill ensuring the safety of journalists and information practitioners.
