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 5 years ago
Join our WhatsApp channel
ISLAMABAD—Daily Dawn has been left red-faced after it mixed up identities of a former Senator from Balochistan and an inmate serving sentence in Guantanamo Bay since 2004.
Nazli Rafat Jamali, daughter of former Senator Mian Saifullah Khan Paracha, was livid with the newspaper for the mix-up. In a letter to the editor on Wednesday, she said she would not have “expected Dawn to let such an error go undetected.”
On March 9, Dawn published an article by Saifullah Paracha, who has been incarcerated at Guantanamo Bay since 2004—the oldest prisoner at the detention camp, where he has been held without charge. Before that, he had been kept at Bagram Air Force Base in Afghanistan for more than a year.
However, a letter by Dr. Ashiq Hussain Cheema on March 14, commenting on the incarceration and misery of Saifullah, took him for the 88-year old former Senator Saifullah.
Interestingly, the letter extolled the services of senator for Balochistan. “The senator was always concerned for the development of Balochistan. As a senator he would ask the federal government to launch schemes for the improvement, processing, and packaging of fruits and the introduction of freshwater fish varieties (carps) and dairy goats in the province. My colleagues at Pakistan Agricultural Research Council and myself visited Balochistan several times in his regard.” As the US and Taliban have reached an agreement, Dr. Ashiq demanded that the senator may be released along with Dr. Aafia Siddqui.
Ms Jamali gave a complete background of her father. “My father, former Senator Mian Saifullah Khan Paracha, lives a retired life in his home in Quetta at 14-A Zarghoon Road. He holds a degree in engineering from Berkeley and was a contemporary of Zulfiqar Ali Bhutto at the university. He was elected to the Senate from Balochistan twice; served as a provincial minister under two governments.”
Currently, according to the letter, the former senator “runs a free diagnostic lab in Quetta” and is “a patron of the Islamic School orphanage and serves on the board of Lady Dufferin Hospital.”
Ms. Jamali is at a loss “how anyone would confuse him with Saifullah Paracha, the alleged Al-Qaeda operative who was caught in money laundering and is still serving his sentence in Guantanamo Bay.”
Apart from publishing the letter, Dawn said it “regrets the mix-up.”
It is not the first time Dawn has mixed identities. In the past, the paper mixed up the ruling Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) with the banned terrorist outfit Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
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.