"One of darkest days": Pakistan journalists announce nationwide 'Black Day' after police assult at Islamabad press club

Islamabad [Pakistan], October 3 (ANI): The Pakistan Journalists Union announced a "black day" to be observed on Friday after the alleged assault on Journalists at the Islamabad National Press Club on Thursday, Dawn reported.

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt said, "The journalists are furious at the moment. He also stated that all press clubs across Pakistan will hoist black flags in condemnation of this act.

According to Pakistan media reports, the Lawyers Community of POJK were staging a peaceful protest at the Press club when the Police attacked them.

The protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) entered their sixth consecutive day, intensifying anger against authorities across the region after security forces killed three.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday ordered a probe after Islamabad police stormed the National Press Club (NPC) and attacked journalists, sparking nationwide outrage and calls for protests, Dawn reported.

Journalist unions declared Friday a "black day," saying the assault was a direct attack on media freedom.

Visuals broadcast on Pakistani channels and widely circulated on social media showed baton-wielding policemen dragging journalists, breaking cameras, and assaulting staff inside the NPC cafeteria.

As per Dawn, visuals showed a photojournalist with his shirt torn and his camera smashed.

"Violence against the journalist community cannot be tolerated under any circumstances," Naqvi said in a statement, adding that disciplinary action would be taken against those responsible. He has sought a report from the Islamabad inspector general.

But journalist leaders rejected mere enquiries and warned of a stronger response if such actions continued. "This is not only the Islamabad press club's issue," Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt said at a press conference. "Press clubs across Pakistan believe that if they ignore this worst incident, tomorrow it could be Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar or Quetta."

Butt, who described the raid as "one of the darkest days in Pakistan's history," said journalists would hoist black flags at press clubs nationwide. "The attack on the National Press Club was an attack on media freedom," he said, as per Dawn.

Other journalist bodies accused the government of sanctioning the raid. "Islamabad police did not come here on their own. They were sent," Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists President Tariq Virk said.

"They tortured and arrested even an ailing employee of the club. We will now adopt such a plan of action that nobody dares repeat this rogue behaviour." (ANI)

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