Vanished Voice: Former Dawn editor exposes collective negligence in Imran Riaz's disappearance

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 4 July 2023

Former Dawn editor Arifa Noor highlights the collective failure in addressing Imran Riaz Khan's disappearance. She emphasizes the importance of journalist safety amidst political negligence.

Summary

ISLAMABAD—Arifa Noor, a former resident editor of Dawn, has called the disappearance of journalist Imran Riaz Khan a "collective failure of our employers and press representatives."

In her weekly column in Dawn, Arifa maintained that the PDM government would be remembered as the one under whose watch Imran Riaz went missing. The journalist has been missing since May 11.

The columnist said irrespective of how one differed with the views and biases of Imran Riaz, nothing justifies his disappearance. "A journalist is missing. He is a journalist and he has been missing for nearly two months now. This is all that matters; his views, his professionalism or even his biases are irrelevant. Journalists can be good or bad, professional or unprofessional, but none of this justifies a disappearance."

She wondered if the PDM government would pay attention to this issue and hoped that the issue of Imran Riaz's disappearance "might be remembered for longer than the IMF negotiations."