The Minister of State in the Interior Talal Chaudhry and Islamabad IGP Syed Ali Nasir Rizvi ensured the media separately on Friday by investigation into the recent actions of the police against journalists of the National Press Club (PNJ).
IGP Ricevi was addressed to the media outside the High Court of Islamabad when it was asked for Blank Point, who authorized the police to use violence against journalists.
“The investigation team will examine the video surveillance images and will arrive at the bottom of the issue,” said the IGP, assuring journalists that an investigation has been launched in the incident.
Meanwhile, Chaudhry answered the media questions at the National Assembly Fair. He stressed that the government was not on board with the police who had burst into the press club.
Read: Islamabad Police Storm National Press Club
However, he argued that “this incident had no connection with a restriction on freedom of expression”.
“The democratic and constitutive system of Pakistan is incomplete without a free press,” he added.
Chaudhry had rushed to the National Press Club after the incident yesterday (Thursday). “The government is resistant to the media. The officials would be brought to justice,” he said.
Federal Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi also took note of the attack and asked for a detailed report from the Islamabad IGP.
Finding the incident “unacceptable”, the minister said that violence against journalists can in no way be tolerated.
Storm npc police
Islamabad police staff stormed the capital’s NPC on Thursday evening, damaging goods and submitting journalists to violence in an unprecedented decision that triggered an indignation toll.
Eyewitness said that armed police suddenly entered the press club premises, vandalized of equipment and physically attacked several journalists. They said that a number of media professionals were injured in the assault.
Journalists organized a strong protest outside the NPCs after the incident. Members of political and social organizations have also joined the demonstration. Protesters demanded immediate and strict measures against police staff and agents involved to ensure that such incidents are prevented in the future.
Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) strongly condemned the attack, with the president of the organization, Afzal Butt, calling it “direct assault against freedom and freedom of expression of the press”.
He announced that all media organizations would organize joint consultations to decide on a collective line of conduct. “It must be the last incident of this type,” he said.
