Four years later, no justice for slain journalist Ijaz Mengal's family

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 13 February 2018

The family of slain journalist Ijaz Mengal has waited four years for justice as his killers have not been apprehended. The ongoing threats against journalists in Khuzdar highlight a dangerous environment for media professionals.

Summary

KHUZDAR – Four years after the cold-blooded murder of journalist Ijaz Mengal, the killers remain free and his family awaits justice.

Ijaz was gunned down on February 14, 2014, in Khuzdar, Balochistan when on his bike on the RCD Road.

His elder brother, Riaz Mengal, an ex-president of Khuzdar Press Club and a senior journalist told JournalismPakistan.com that police and the provincial government had done nothing significant to arrest the murderers.

Khuzdar has been termed a graveyard of journalists where eight media persons have been killed in as many years.

Riaz was kidnapped in October 2007 because of his work. He, however, managed to escape after 56 days in captivity. He continued to receive death threats and later had to flee his home town along with his family.

Riaz regretted that none of the journalists’ killers in Khuzdar has been arrested. "Our families remain in constant fear," he said.

He pointed that after his brother’s murder, the family received threats not to bury him in Khuzdar. “We had no choice but to bury him in interior Sindh.”

KEY POINTS:

• Ijaz Mengal was murdered on February 14, 2014, in Khuzdar.
• Police and provincial government have made no significant arrests in the case.
• Riaz Mengal, Ijaz's brother, emphasizes ongoing threats to journalists.
• Khuzdar has seen eight journalists killed in the past eight years.
• Families of journalists continue to live in fear despite the lack of justice.