Islamabad (TNS) In Islamabad, police enter the Press Club to arrest Kashmir Action Committee protesters, torture journalists, break cameras, PFUJ protest, Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry’s unconditional apology for the incident, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has ordered an internal inquiry. According to the details, some protesters were protesting outside the National Press Club against the violence in Azad Kashmir. When the police reached there, some protesters went inside the Press Club, and the police also forcibly entered the National Press Club to arrest them. During this, Islamabad police officers not only arrested the protesters but also tortured the journalists and club employees inside and broke a photographer’s camera while the police officers also vandalized the cafeteria. Meanwhile, the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE), Association of Electronic Media Editors and News Directors (AMEND) and Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) in their joint statement condemned the police raid on the Islamabad Press Club. The journalist organizations termed the police violence on club employees, photographers and video journalists as terrorism and demanded immediate action against the officials involved in the incident.
The joint statement said that the raid on the Islamabad Press Club is a continuation of the ongoing actions against journalists, the series of character assassination, putting them under pressure and suppressing their expression of opinion should stop. Journalist organizations said that every option of resistance and constitutional and legal struggle will be used at every level of action against journalists. Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club along with Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry against violence and vandalism against journalists by police personnel, President PFUJ Afzal Butt said that we saw martial law, emergency and emergency plus, such incidents did not happen even in that era. Today’s incident is not an ordinary one but the worst incident in the history of Pakistan. Federal police personnel entered the Press Club and damaged property, entered the kitchen and broke utensils, during which they continued to torture the photographers and video journalists present there. The PFUJ President further said that an emergency meeting has been called against the unfortunate incident, and that the future course of action will be discussed in consultation and government action against the police personnel involved in the violence. On this occasion, Federal Minister of State for Interior Talal Chaudhry said that we offer an unconditional apology for this incident. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has ordered an internal inquiry in this regard. Talal Chaudhry further said that some people from the Kashmir Action Committee were protesting, and the police personnel chased them to the club to arrest them. It should be noted that today is the fourth day of the strike called by the Public Action Committee in Kashmir, while the communication system was also suspended during the shutter-down and wheel-jam strike in the region. This strike was called by the Jammu Kashmir Joint Public Action Committee (JKJAAC) for not accepting its demands. During this, different groups held simultaneous demonstrations and accused each other of inciting violence during peaceful protests. The deaths occurred near Neelum Bridge in the afternoon, when a peace rally led by Muslim Conference leader Raja Saqib Majeed clashed with JKJAAC protesters.
The federal government and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir government later invited the protesters to resume talks to defuse the ongoing unrest, during which three policemen were killed on Wednesday. During the shutter-down strike, the communication blackout paralyzed Azad Kashmir as the Joint Public Action Committee (JPAC) remained adamant on its demands. Last week, during negotiations with the JPAC and federal ministers, a deadlock had emerged over the conditions related to elite privileges and reserved seats for refugees. Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi visited PIMS Hospital where he visited the injured personnel of Islamabad Police and Azad Kashmir Police in Azad Kashmir. 31 personnel of Islamabad Police and 12 personnel of Azad Kashmir Police are undergoing treatment at PIMS Hospital. Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also directed the Chief Commissioner and IG Islamabad to take special care of the personnel of Azad Kashmir Police. He said that peaceful protest is the right of everyone, but no one will be allowed to take the law into their own hands. He further said that some evil elements are trying to disrupt the peace of Azad Kashmir on the behest of the enemy, and their nefarious objectives will never be allowed to succeed. Mohsin Naqvi said that the hearts of Pakistanis beat with Kashmiris, the government is always ready to solve the problems of Kashmiri brothers. Earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, taking notice of the situation in Kashmir, appealed to the citizens there to remain peaceful. He said that ‘the government is always ready to solve the problems of our Kashmiri brothers.’ The Prime Minister had also ordered a transparent investigation into the unpleasant incidents that took place during the protests.
