PESHAWAR: Journalists in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) demanded the government to make efforts and recover senior journalist Gohar Wazir, who is missing since Monday night from Bannu.
The president of Khyber Union of Journalists (KhUJ), Fida Khattak said that Gohar Wazir was performing his duty as a professional journalist. Khattak added that if he is arrested by the security forces under 3 MPO (Maintenance of Public Order), it is injustice with journalism and an attack on the free press.
Gohar Wazir is Bannu based senior journalist.
The KhUJ president said that Gohar Wazir has no affiliation with any particular group but as a journalist, he was covering the situation, created after the terrible incident in Khar Qamar area of North Waziristan on Sunday. The head of KhUJ has termed arrest ‘unconstitutional’ and ‘illegal’.
The president of Mehsud Press club, Naseer Azam Mehsud strongly condemned the arrest of senior journalist and asked the authorities to immediately release him. Naseer said that journalists are fulfilling professional duties with impartiality in the most difficult situation of tribal districts. He warned that journalists have no option but to hold protests for the safe recovery of their missing colleague.
Anwar Kamal, brother of Gohar Wazir, has told media that still his family has no information about the whereabouts of Gohar, however, he claimed that his brother might have been arrested by the Police or any other law enforcement agency. Kamal added that he has only the information that his brother is missing since Monday night. He added that he is unaware of the reason behind, however, local journalists have observed that he might have been arrested after interviewing the PTM leadership after Boya tragedy.
Despite being missing since Monday night, the police officials and district administration are completely silent to provide information about the efforts for the recovery of the missing journalist.
