The Indian Journalists’ Union (IJU) strongly condemned the brutal attack on Faheem Siddiqui, Bureau Chief of Geo News, a widely watched Pakistan TV Channel, in Karachi on Saturday. Several journalists working with the channel came under physical attacks in the recent times.
According to reports, the assailants abducted Faheem Siddiqui and abandoned him on the outskirts of Karachi after badly beating and robbed him of his possessions, including three mobile phones and a licensed pistol. The assailants, who were in police uniform and armed with heavy rifles, accosted him while he was driving to office and dumped in a vehicle, which looked like a police van and drove away.
In a statement here on Tuesday, Indian Journalists’ Union president S N Sinha, vice- president Ambati Anjaneyulu and secretary-general Amar Devulapalli expressed concern over escalation of attacks on journalists by the State and non-state players in the Indian sub-continent. “The Government Pakistan should investigate the case swiftly and bring the attackers to book and give adequate security to Faheem Siddiqui,” they demanded.
The IJU leaders expressed their solidarity with the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), the representative union of Pakistan Working Journalists, in its fight against attacks on journalists and freedom of expression. (NSS)