- Askari returns a day after being picked up from Karachi.
- The reporter’s wife accused the police that plainclothes personnel “kidnapped” her.
- The reporter went missing while returning home on Saturday night.
Karachi: Senior journalist Syed Muhammad Askari daily jangThe missing youth returned home after more than 24 hours on Saturday late night. geo news Reported on Monday.
Askari He went missing allegedly after being picked up by police and personnel in plain clothes in Karachi.
The journalist’s wife had filed an application at the Baloch Colony police station, accusing the plainclothes police and personnel of “kidnapping” her husband for unknown reasons.
In her application, Shazia Askari said that personnel in police uniform and plainclothes abducted her husband from a place near Qayyumabad interchange when he and a friend were returning from a function.
She further said that the personnel covered their faces and were in a police mobile and a white vehicle, adding that they took her husband away without giving any reason at around 1:15 am on Sunday.
He requested his immediate release.
Journalist’s ‘kidnapping’ condemned
Meanwhile, journalist organizations have expressed deep concern over Askari’s disappearance.
In a condemnation statement, Crime Reporters Association President Kashif Hashmi, General Secretary Rehan Chishti and members of the Executive Council have strongly condemned the abduction of the senior journalist.
Hashmi and Chishti said in a joint statement that unknown masked people took the senior journalist with them, which is a condemnable act.
The provincial government should take the matter seriously and take steps for the early return of Askari, he said.
He said that the journalist community reserves the right to protest.
Similarly, an emergency meeting of the Executive Committee of Sindh Journalists and Other Media Practitioners Commission was held under the chairmanship of Justice (Retd) Rasheed E Razvi.
At the request of the Union of Journalists, the meeting was called by Commission member, Karachi Union of Journalists President Faheem Siddiqui, Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Professor Dr Tauseef Ahmad Khan and a one-point agenda by the council. Pakistan Newspaper Editor (CPNE) Dr. Jabbar Khattak.
In the meeting, anger and concern was expressed over the continuous kidnapping of journalists.
Rashid e Razvi said that since Syed Askari was not wanted in any case, it was clearly an incident of kidnapping, and it is the responsibility of the state to protect the life, property and liberty of its citizens.
It was said in the meeting that the kidnapping and disappearance of Askari is also a serious violation of Articles 9 and 10 of the Constitution.
The chairman of the commission asked the home secretary and the inspector general of police, Sindh, to recover the missing journalist within 24 hours. He directed that a report regarding the incident should be submitted to the commission within 36 hours.
In a separate statement, the HRCP said that all democratic voices should condemn Askari’s abduction.
The HRCP said, “The continued abduction of journalists without charge, questions not only the state’s commitment to democracy but also its ability to withstand criticism and opposition.
“Ascari must be released.”
