PFUJ recalls November 3, 2007 emergency as Pakistan’s darkest day
November 03, 2025: PFUJ recalls November 3, 2007, as Pakistan’s darkest day under Musharraf, urging protection for journalists and the abolition of laws threatening press freedom.
JournalismPakistan.com | Published 11 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
ISLAMABAD: A leading TV journalist who was shot at least three times in Karachi said Thursday he “felt threatened” by intelligence agencies in the days leading up to the attack.
The shooting of Hamid Mir, host of current affairs show “Capital Talk” on top-rated channel Geo, has led to a bitter row between the broadcaster and the military. The defense ministry has demanded Geo be taken off the air for broadcasting claims by Mir's brother that the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) agency was behind Saturday's attack.
Mir is still recovering in hospital but his brother Amir Mir read a statement from him on Thursday evening saying intelligence officials had visited him a few days before the shooting to tell him his name was on an unspecified “hit list”.
“I insisted that they should let me know about the people who had prepared this hit list, but they did not reveal that,” Mir's statement said.
“I told the intelligence officials who came to my house that in present conditions I feel threatened by the ISI.”
No-one has claimed responsibility for shooting Mir, who escaped another assassination bid in 2012 when a bomb was found attached to his car.
The Pakistani Taliban said they were behind that attempt and vowed to target Mir again.
The Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR), the media wing of the armed forces, denied the allegations against the ISI at the weekend, saying they were baseless, and condemned the attack on Mir.
Mir said he told Geo management about threats against him. He said the threats came from “state and non-state elements”.
The media campaign group Reporters Without Borders said Mir had told it on April 7 that the ISI was “conspiring... to cause me harm”.
A veteran journalist who interviewed Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden soon after the 9/11 attacks, Mir is probably Pakistan's best-known media figure.
He is known for speaking out against the Taliban and for his willingness to challenge Pakistan's powerful military, particularly its activities in southwestern Balochistan province, where it is accused of rights abuses.
“ISI is annoyed because of a program of Capital Talk during the long march of Baloch missing persons leader Mama Qadeer Baluch,” Mir's statement said.
“I am also aware that ISI is annoyed because of my criticism on secret agencies role in politics.”
The defense ministry's complaint about Geo accused the channel of a “vicious campaign libelous and scandalous in nature”, saying they were trying to undermine an important state institution.
On Thursday Sheikh Ijaz, the secretary general of Cable Operators Association of Pakistan, told AFP that transmission of Geo had been blocked in some residential areas managed by the military.
But he said there had been no general order from the Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PEMRA) to interrupt the channel's transmission.
The row comes at a delicate time for Pakistan's civilian-military balance, with former army chief general Pervez Musharraf on trial for treason.
The country has been ruled for more than half its life by the military, most recently under Musharraf, and the armed forces still hold great influence.
But Pakistan's freewheeling private media, liberalized by Musharraf, has increasingly shown itself willing to challenge the military, once considered off-limits to criticism. - AFP
November 03, 2025: PFUJ recalls November 3, 2007, as Pakistan’s darkest day under Musharraf, urging protection for journalists and the abolition of laws threatening press freedom.
November 02, 2025: PFUJ urges Pakistan’s federal and provincial governments to end Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists and ensure their safety and press freedom.
November 02, 2025: Impunity for crimes against journalists deepens worldwide as Pakistan reports a 60 percent surge in attacks and weak enforcement of safety laws.
November 01, 2025: Pakistan Press Foundation reports 137 attacks on journalists in 2025, highlighting rising threats, legal harassment, and censorship on the International Day to End Impunity.
November 01, 2025: A viral Samaa TV clip featuring MNA Sher Afzal Marwat’s crude remarks and Talat Hussain’s laughter raises questions about the declining ethics of Pakistani television.
October 31, 2025: Police foiled a plot to kill DawnNewsTV journalist Tahir Naseer in Rawalpindi after arresting suspects hired for Rs200,000. Naseer says threats followed his reporting.
October 31, 2025: CPJ calls on Pakistan to bring Imtiaz Mir’s killers to justice after the journalist was allegedly murdered by a banned militant group in Karachi.
October 30, 2025: The PFUJ has condemned a fabricated drug case against journalist Matiullah Jan, calling it an attempt to silence him and urging authorities to quash the charges immediately.
November 03, 2025 Global journalist unions condemn the Indonesian agriculture minister’s lawsuit against Tempo, calling it a threat to press freedom and demanding that the case be withdrawn.
November 02, 2025 Independent outlet All About Macau to halt print and online operations amid rising pressure, financial strain, and legal threats, sparking press freedom concerns in the city.
November 01, 2025 Belarus court jails journalist Siarhei Chabotska for extremism and defaming the president, highlighting Minsk’s ongoing crackdown on press freedom.
November 01, 2025 Mexican journalist Miguel Angel Beltran was found murdered in Durango. CPJ urges authorities to ensure justice amid rising violence against journalists in Mexico.
November 01, 2025 UNESCO survey finds one-third of media lawyers cannot effectively defend journalists due to threats, limited resources, and lack of specialization.