November 8 raid: Karachi Press Club rejects security agencies' contention

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published 7 years ago

KARACHI – The Karachi Press Club has condemned and rejected the contention of security agencies that the November 8 raid on the club was the result of a misunderstanding.

The club sees it as an “unprecedented action” and “another sequel of an ongoing campaign to subdue the press on the part of state and anti-state elements.”

According to a KPC media release, it contacted the Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) immediately after the incident but the military’s media wing denied any involvement, holding the counter terrorism department of Karachi Police as being responsible.

The release said that the Karachi police high ups blamed the military intelligence, admitting that the former only provided back up support to the agency during the raid.

KPC said that in an attempt to cover up and diffuse the countrywide protests against the raid, the security agencies arrested a senior journalist Nasrullah Khan from his residence in the wee hours of November 9 accusing him of financially supporting the family of a suspected militant.

“The KPC rejects the way a journalist or even a common citizen of Pakistan is picked up without warrants, and instead of producing him in a court of law as per legal requirements, is kept incommunicado and under illegal detention.”

The KPC said it would not be cowed down by these unconstitutional acts as it has faced the tyranny of several dictators in the past.

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