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Journalists barred from entering parliament

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Violating the orders of senior authorities, the police and security personnel on Friday stopped several journalists from entering Parliament House to cover the 10th session of the Senate.

Policemen standing at Parliament House’s outer gate not only stopped journalists from entering, they also abused them.

“We will break your legs. Who the hell are you? You know what we can do with you... we can arrest you,” said the policemen. The aggrieved journalists unanimously boycotted the Senate’s proceedings and decided not to report the proceedings. The police and security officials at the outer gate have always created trouble for journalists and other visitors.

National Assembly (NA) Speaker Chaudhry Amir Hussain, Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro, Information Minster Sheikh Rashid Ahmed and other senior government ministers and functionaries had in the past ordered the police to treat journalists with respect and assured the journalists that they would not be troubled in future. The police and security personnel have disobeyed their orders and have continued to pester journalists.

The problem on Friday started when the policemen stopped several journalists from entering Parliament House. The journalists did not have their security passes, which are provided by the Press Information Department before every National Assembly and Senate session.

The government allowed journalists without security passes to enter Parliament House’s main gate only if they contacted the PID’s duty officer from Gate 5 and asked him to deliver their passes there. There was no way to contact the duty officer from the main gate, as he was in Parliament House throughout the proceedings. After boycotting the proceedings, the journalists gathered near Gate 1 and protested against the police officials and government. The Senate was adjourned till Monday at 5:30pm and the journalists planned to protest in front of Parliament House at 5:15pm. The Senate session was adjourned because of the condolence resolution for Labour and Manpower Minister Mian Abdul Sattar Lalika who died of a heart attack on Friday morning. The house did not conduct any business because of the Federal Cabinet member’s death. Senate Chairman Muhammadmian Soomro formed a 3-member committee of senators Reza Rubbani, Musahid Hussain and Tariq Azeem to investigate the manhandling of journalists by the police.

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