Religious protesters attack Dawn and Jang photojournalists

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 22 November 2017

Two senior photojournalists were attacked by religious protesters during a clash with police in Islamabad. The incident has drawn condemnation from the Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists.

Summary

ISLAMABAD – Two senior photojournalists representing leading newspapers were beaten up by religious protesters as they covered their clash with police.

Muhammad Asim of Dawn and Jahangir Chaudhry from Jang sustained minor injuries as a crowd with staffs attacked them. They also attempted to snatch their cameras.

The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists (RIUJ) condemned the incident and regretted that police at the scene did nothing to protect the photojournalists.

The union’s President Mubarak Zeb Khan said this was an example of the lawlessness in the federal capital. He warned if any such incident occurred again, they would start countrywide protests.

Hundreds of protesters have been camping at Faizabad for over two weeks now, blocking traffic and causing inconvenience to public. They are calling for the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid for allegedly amending the Khatm-e-Nabuwat clause in the Election Act 2017.

Photo courtesy: World Tribune Pakistan

KEY POINTS:

• Muhammad Asim from Dawn and Jahangir Chaudhry from Jang were attacked.
• Protesters attempted to snatch the journalists' cameras.
• The RIUJ condemned the incident and criticized police inaction.
• Protesters have been blocking traffic at Faizabad for over two weeks.
• They demand the resignation of Law Minister Zahid Hamid.