By Ashrafuddin Pirzada
BARA: Journalists of Bara Press Club on Saturday announced a complete boycott of police coverage after alleged misconduct and violence by Counter Terrorism Department (CTD) personnel during the coverage of a protest rally.
According to details, an emergency meeting of the Bara Press Club was held under the chairmanship of its president Muhammad Saleem Afridi, where participants strongly condemned the incident that occurred during a protest organized by the Awami National Party (ANP) a day earlier.
The meeting was informed that during coverage of the protest, a CTD officer, along with his team, allegedly pointed guns at four senior journalists of Bara Press Club — former president Munir Khan Afridi, vice president Jahanzeb, former president Kamran, and senior journalist Qazi Muhammad Rauf.
Participants said that journalist Qazi Muhammad Rauf was allegedly subjected to physical violence, thrown to the ground and beaten with rifle butts. They also claimed that the journalists’ vehicle windows were smashed and the reporters were forcibly taken away in their vehicle, threatened with serious consequences, and later released.
The journalists further stated that their identity cards and vehicles are still in police custody, which the press club described as a highly condemnable act.
The meeting unanimously decided that Bara Press Club would boycott coverage of all police institutions until the concerned CTD officer is suspended and a transparent inquiry into the incident is conducted.
Bara Press Club also appealed to the press clubs of Jamrud and Landikotal, as well as the Peshawar Press Club, journalists across Khyber district and other media organizations in the province, to express solidarity and join the boycott against police coverage.
The press club urged the Chief Minister of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, the Corps Commander Peshawar and elected representatives to take immediate notice of the incident, suspend the officials involved and ensure protection for journalists to prevent such incidents in the future.
