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ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Human Rights Dr Shireen Mazari has demanded immediate arrest of the criminals behind the attack on Punjab Assembly lawmaker Syeda Maimanat Mohsin, more commonly known by her pseudonym Jugnu Mohsin’s convoy in Okara over a political rivalry.
In a social media post, Dr Shireen Mazari termed the incident “absolutely unacceptable” and demanded that the perpetrators be arrested.
Shocking and condemnable. Culprits must be caught and dealt with strictly under the law. Absolutely unacceptable. This is terrorism. https://t.co/mXqpj1U3sz
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) June 7, 2021
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan also condemned the attack on Mohsin. “HRCP strongly condemns the attack on journalist and writer Jugnu Mohsin. We are relieved that she is safe. The perpetrators must be brought to book immediately.”
HRCP strongly condemns the attack on journalist and writer Jugnu Mohsin. We are relieved that she is safe. The perpetrators must be brought to book immediately.
— Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (@HRCP87) June 7, 2021
Jugnu Mohsin was attacked by armed assailants in Okara over a political rivalry on Sunday evening, police said. According to the FIR, Mohsin was returning from the Jhujh Kalan area in Okara after a rally when armed men waylaid her vehicle and opened fire on it. The suspects then fled the scene, while hurling threats at the MPA.
Okara District Police Officer (DPO) Faisal Shehzad told Dawn.com that the attack occurred around 30 minutes after she left the venue where the rally was held. He said that it was a politically motivated incident in which supporters of the MPA were also attacked by their opponent’s group.
The DPO said the police had arrested two suspects, adding that the main accused in the case, identified as Yaseen Dhandha, would also be apprehended soon.
Punjab Police PRO, in a statement, said that the main accused, Dhandha, along with six unidentified accomplices, intercepted the MPA’s vehicle and opened fire, piercing its glass window. He said police have registered the case and arrested two suspects, identified as mukhtar Sikandar and Sultan Yasin.
Earlier, Jugnu Mohsin had submitted a resolution in the Punjab Assembly, condemning attacks on journalists and rights activists in the country.
Speaking in the assembly on June 4, she revisited the history of violence against the media persons, saying “What is happening to journalists and rights activists here is nothing new. We have fought long and hard for whatever little freedom we enjoy,” she said.
Mohsin also spoke about the recent attacks on Absar Alam and Asad Ali Toor and banning Hamid Mir’s show. “Being a journalist myself with a 30-year experience and since my husband Najam Sethi has been attacked, arrested and disappeared on a number of occasions for his constitutional right to freedom of expression, I know what it feels like so,” she had said.
