LARKANA: Some unidentified assailants shot dead a senior journalist Shan odhor in Badha area of district Larkana of Sindh province, prompting a strong condemnation from the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Khurshid Abaasi as they termed it heinous act against media.
The 40-year-old Shan odhor was a reporter of News Channel Aab Tak and had also worked for ARY TV and Sindh TV in past.
According to report, the Shan Odhor was shot by some unidentified assailants on December 31, 2013 night as he was on way to his home. He received bullets in his neck and was shifted to hospital with critical injuries where expired in early morning of 1st day of New Year 2014.
The PFUJ President Afzal Butt and Secretary General Khurshid Abaasi condemned the killing and termed it heinous act against media. They said that Shan’s murder exposed the government’s failure to safeguard the lives of journalists.
“Pakistan has been declared 3rd most dangerous country of the world for media persons, a large number of journalists have been killed since 2001 while performing duty of reporting but the security organizations have miserably failed to nab the culprits and provide safety to media persons,” they said in a joint statement.
Strongly condemning the latest target killing of Shan Odhor in Larkana, the PFUJ secretary general Khurshid Abbasi said that “Journalists’ community has been shocked by the target killing of a colleague on eve of New Year. Government has failed to protect the lives of journalists. If government had taken any notice of the target killings of journalists in past, such incident can be avoided. The PFUJ will fight for the security of journalists at all platforms.”
On call of PFUJ, affiliated unions organized protest demonstrations in respective cities. In Islamabad, Federal Capital, Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists staged protest outside PFUJ secretariat. A large number of journalists from twin cities were present; they chanted slogans against government failure to provide security to media. They demanded to apprehend culprits in earliest and provide relief to victim family.
In Gujranwala, the President PFUJ Afzal Butt attended the protest demo organized by Gujranwala Union of Journalists (GUJ).
Addressing the journalists, the President PFUJ said that “Journalists in all over Pakistan are shocked by the news of attack on colleague on very 1st day of New Year. The killing of journalist is a brutal attack on media. Pakistan already has been declared as one of the most dangerous countries of the world for journalists. The murder of Journalist Shan Odhor hints some serious threats ahead for journalists.”
The PFUJ President Afzal Butt urged the government to trace assailants immediately, government must take appropriate steps to arrest the culprits and produce the evidences before court for speedy justice to restore the confidence of media community on government claims for ensuring security for media persons.
