Another journalist has been assassinated in Pakistan. A senior journalist named Jan Muhammad Mahar was attacked by unknown armed men in Sukkur, when he was leaving for home from his office in the night between 13 to 14 August.
Attacks on journalists in Pakistan are nothing new, we have countless examples from Arshad Sharif to Khurram Shahzad. Recently, on the list of the world’s deadliest places to be a journalist by Reporters Without Borders (RWB), published in 2022, Pakistan falls between fragile Somalia and troubled Myanmar.
A UNESCO report, titled Observatory of Killed Journalists, indicates that six journalists were killed in Pakistan last year. Five of these are known to have been shot, while one died in an accident.
The reasons for such assassinations are varied: powerful people become angered by critical coverage, corrupt public officials seek to suppress whistleblowers, reporters stray into dangerous environments, and journalists being injured or killed in random acts of violence and even accidents caused by dangerous situations.
Not far ago, a local journalist was shot dead in Sindh’s Khairpur and now in the nearing town Sukkur, another senior journalist was shot dead.
Mahar was taken to Civil Hospital and later rushed to a private hospital in a serious condition. However, he succumbed to his wounds while surgery was being performed.
The motive behind the attack could not be ascertained immediately. Police said that an old enmity could be the reason for the murder which will be investigated. Whatever the reason may be behind the assassination, but it is the responsibility of the police to resolve the case and arrest the culprits who opened fire on the busiest road of Sukkur and fled easily.
Though the Sindh government, currently stands dissolved after the Sindh governor signed the summary of Assemly’s dissolution, but Chief Minister Sindh Murad Ali Shah should ensure that this case is resolved.
The implementation of the Protection of Journalists and Media Professionals bill should be ensured so that lives of the working journalists can be protected. Policymakers must adopt and regularly follow well-informed, integrated, and coordinated strategies.
