Journalist flogged during Zia era says situation even worse today

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 13 May 2017

Iqbal Jaffri remarked that conditions for journalists have deteriorated, with violence against them on the rise. He spoke at an event organized by the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists.

Summary

ISLAMABAD – Press freedom hero Iqbal Jaffri, flogged during the days of Dictator Ziaul Haq, said Saturday the situation was even worse today.

“In those days they flogged journalists, now they shoot them,” he said at an event at the National Press Club.

The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists organized the event named Day of Determination.

The Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) had asked unions across the country to mark the day by organizing special events.

On 13 May 1978, four journalists courted arrest at the offices of Musawaat newspaper. They were Nasir Zaidi, Masood Ullah Khan, Iqbal Jaffri, and Khawar Naeem Hashmi.

They were protesting the closure of the newspaper. The four were produced before a summary military court and sentenced to imprisonment and a flogging.

At Saturday’s event, union leaders spoke about the sacrifices rendered for press freedom. President PFUJ Afzal Butt, Acting President RIUJ Nasir Hashmi, and Shakeel Anjum, President of National Press Club and made speeches.