ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s journalist community has announced to observe a nationwide Black Day on Friday following what they described as an unprecedented act of police violence at the National Press Club (NPC) Islamabad. Black flags will be hoisted at press clubs across the country, while protest rallies will be organized to condemn the attack, which leaders said was nothing short of an assault on press freedom.
The announcement came after police personnel stormed the premises of the NPC, allegedly manhandled its office-bearers, assaulted journalists, and vandalized the cafeteria. Eyewitnesses said video journalists and photographers covering the incident were forced to lie on the ground and beaten, while their cameras and mobile phones were snatched and smashed.
“This attack is intolerable. Today’s assault will be remembered as the last such attack in history from now on no one will dare to target any press club again,” said Afzal Butt, President of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), while addressing an emergency protest meeting at the NPC. He added that the NPC, which he called the “second home” of over 3,500 journalists, had been desecrated in clear violation of democratic and legal norms.
Butt argued that even in cases involving accused criminals, international practice prevents law enforcement from storming lawyers’ chambers or courtrooms. Likewise, he said, political leaders and governments democratic or dictatorial have always respected press clubs as safe spaces. “Today’s violation is a dark day in Pakistan’s history,” he said.
RIUJ President Tariq Ali Work also denounced the incident, calling the NPC “the largest forum of press freedom in the country.” He accused Islamabad Police of crossing all limits by attacking journalists, breaking property, and even arresting a staff member suffering from a heart ailment. “Journalists were already harassed under laws like PECA, and now they have been assaulted inside their own home the press club,” he said.
NPC Secretary Nayyar Ali termed the raid “unprecedented,” saying police used force without even informing the club’s management. “Previously, if an accused entered the club, police would wait outside or contact the management. Today, the office-bearers themselves were assaulted,” she said.
The meeting, attended by representatives of all journalist bodies of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, decided unanimously to set aside internal differences and unite on this issue. They vowed to observe Black Day on Friday, October 3, by hoisting black flags at all press clubs across Pakistan and staging protest rallies.
Leaders said political parties from across the spectrum had also contacted them to condemn the police action, while journalists’ organizations in Lahore, Karachi, and Quetta expressed solidarity, calling the incident a violation of the sanctity of all 40,000 journalists nationwide.
“This is an attack not just on the NPC but on the very principle of press freedom in Pakistan,” the PFUJ President declared.
