RMNP-UNESCO Safety for Journalists Training workshop Liaquatpur District RahimyarKhan Rural Pakistan, January 22-23, 2011 Pakistan most dangerous for media
Liaquatpur(Rural Pakistan)> Around 47 Pakistani journalists have been killed since the year 2000 but ,no one murder was traced apart from American Journalist Daniel’s, which also took place due to tremendous US pressure. This was informed in two days long Rural Media Network Pakistan-Unesco ” Capacity Buliding and Safety of Journalists Training
Workshop” which concluded in Liaquatpur, District RahimYarKhan on 23rd January.
Inaugural ceremony was chaired by MPA Colonel (retired) Naveed Sajid while former Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sahibzada Hamid Saeed Kazmi MNA was the chief guest. Training workshop was attended by 21 correspondents of print and electronic media and it was conducted by Central Vice President South Asia Fee Media
Association(SAFMA) Babar Ayaz and Content Editor Mediators Karachi Khalid Saeed.
President Rural Media Network Pakistan Ehsan Ahmed Sehar told that Pakistan became most dangerous country in the world where 16 journalists were killed in 2010 while two other Pakistani journalists Ilyas Nazar and Wali Khan Babar were killed in the two first weeks of January 2011.He said that situation in rural Pakistan is alarming for journalists where they were facing threats by feudals and extremists while performing their duties. Moreover a large number of complaints received from rural journalists that they were implicated in false cases by state machinery while exposing the corruption of government functionaries and reporting on hidden honour killing incidents.
President RMNP stated that the 18th amendment recognises the access to information as a fundamental right of
people, subject to some reasonable restrictions, which are to be decided by the courts. He urged UN,UNESCO and UNDP to help government institutions in handling the requests for access to information. Both Karachi based trainers Babar Ayaz and Khalid Saeed in different training sessions highlighted the security risks for journalists working in conflict zones and underlined the need of group safety and security. Among other things participants were taught about personal safety, pre-development planning, conflict management, dealing with hostile crowds and extremists besides reaction to shooting, checkpoints, abduction and basic first aid. Question and answers sessions were also held inwhich the participants put volley of questions about covering honor killing ,cross firing and sectarian
violence incidents. Rural Media Network Pakistan distributed Urdu translation of the Charter for the Safety of Journalists Working in War Zones or Dangerous Areas, and Guidelines for the individual and joint protection of investigators among participants. MNA Sahibzada Hamid Saeed Kazmi while lecturing said that The West
does not realise that Pakistan had welcomed and housed around three million refugees for the last 25 years and added that PFUJ and other urban based organisations can address the problems faced by journalists
in big cities, while the reporters in rural areas where country 65 percent population is living, have to fend for themselves as the government is unable to support journalists when the residents themselves are unforthcoming.
He said that people need to back andsupport journalists in unearthing the truth. Prinicipal Syed Public School Liaquatpr Syed Ziauddin Naeem delivered certificates among 21 participants Taj Ghous, Shafqat Mehmood, Shahid Javed, Ghaznafar Ahmed Sial, Rashid Rafiq, Jumma Khan Anjum,Zulqarnain Ahmed Sial,Adnan Jamali,ZianulAbid Din,Mohd Arshad Naz,Syed Mohd Shahid Hussein,HabiburRehman Miral,Abdul Waheed Sial,Shahid Anjum,Mohd Hashim,Mohd Imran,Rashid Shaheen,Shahid Akbar Chaudhry,Wafa Saleem Taskeen,Mohd Sohaib Abdullah and Haji Mohd Abdullah.