Journalists belonging to the tribal areas in general and Khyber Agency in particular have been bearing the brunt of militancy and military operations against the militant organisations.
There is no end in sight to the agony of the journalists covering happenings in the Khyber region as their harassment continues even after they shifted to settled areas, complained a number of newsmen while talking to The News.
Nasrullah Afridi, a correspondent for an Urdu daily, was killed in a recent car bomb attack. Most people say he was killed for not bowing to the pressure of a militant organisation. He left behind a widow and five children, including some mentally-challenged ones.
There is nobody to take care of his family except the deceased’s young son, who is a student. They pointed out that Fazlullah Shinwari, a reporter of a private TV channel, was beaten up in the Khyber Agency in 2010 by unidentified people. No action was taken against the perpetrators.
Qazi Rauf, another journalist from the Khyber Agency, was also beaten up severely in Bara Tehsil of Khyber Agency in the past. Recently, Saleemur Rehman Afridi, a reporter with a private radio channel, was arrested by the Peshawar Police and allegedly tortured.
As a journalist, Saleemur Rehman mostly covered the subject of governance and didn’t file stories about the war on terror because he was of the view that being in the Khyber Agency he didn’t want to suffer.
A number of other journalists in Khyber Agency and other tribal areas have been threatened and had to shift to Peshawar and other cities to avoid harm.
No comments:
Post a Comment