Geneva, 16 August 2023: Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) expresses its serious concern over the murder of two Pakistani journalists within a week and the global media safety and rights body (www.pressemblem.ch/pec-news.shtml) demands justice for the bereaved families of Jan Mohammed Mahar and Ghulam Asghar Khand.
Pak media outlets reported that Mahar (50), a senior reporter for Kawish Television Network and a Sindhi newspaper, was shot dead by miscreants in the Sukkur locality on 13 August, just one day before Pakistan’s 77th Independence Day. Two motorcycle riders attacked the scribe as he left the office in the evening for home in his car. Mahar was shifted to a nearby hospital, where he succumbed to injuries.
Ghulam Asghar Khand, reporter associated with a Sindhi newspaper.
A week back, another reporter of Sindh province, Ghulam Asghar Khand (45), was murdered by unknown assailants in the Khairpur locality. Associated with a Sindhi newspaper Sobh, Khand was attacked by the gunmen on 7 August as he was taking a rest at Ahmadpur guest house. He died on the way to the hospital. Khand reportedly exposed the unethical practices of some individuals in his locality and earned enmity.
“Jan Mohammed Mahar is the 33rd journalist to be killed this year across the world. We demand a fair probe into both the murders of Mahar and Ghulam Asghar Khand so that the culprits can be booked under the laws,” said PEC president Blaise Lempen, adding that often the investigations in Pakistan are delayed to give impunity to perpetrators, and he hoped for a swift probe into assassinations of the scribes.
PEC’s South Asia representative, Nava Thakuria, informed that Pakistan earlier lost journalist Imtiaz Baig to assailants in Punjab province on 4 May. Its northern neighbor Afghanistan witnessed the murder of two radio journalists (Husein Naderi and Akmal Nazari) on 11 March. India recorded the killings of Shashikant Warishe on 7 February and Abdur Rauf Alamgir on 26 June. Similarly, Bangladesh reported the murders of Ashiqul Islam on 9 January and Golam Rabbani Nadim on 15 June.