The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has condemned the threats to the life of prominent columnist Kamran Shafi and the recent incidents of violence on journalists, and urged the federal and provincial governments to provide more security to media persons.
In a statement issued here on Friday the commission said: "The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has seen some of the threatening letters prominent columnist Kamran Shafi has been receiving from an ex-serviceman and is convinced that this is a serious matter. The government must extend him due security. Obviously, the threat to Kamran Shafi should be seen in the context of rapidly increasing vulnerability of media persons. Only a few days ago a senior Quetta journalist, Irshad Mastoi, and two of his colleagues were gunned down in their offices. Then the whole country was offered the spectacle of journalists being beaten up and their equipment smashed by police and demonstrators in Islamabad's Red Zone. Special attention needs to be paid to the security needs of journalists in Balochistan, where more than 30 of them have been killed over the past five years. Likewise, threats to journalists in Fata have forced quite a few of them to give up their vocation and places of normal residence."
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