Senior journalist Absar Alam shot in Islamabad

Senior journalist and former chairman of Pakistan Electronic Media Authority (Pemra), Absar Alam, was shot in Islamabad on Tuesday, he said in a video message uploaded on Twitter.

In a video shared by journalist Asad Toor, Alam can be heard saying he was shot at while walking outside his home.

“I’ve been hit in my ribs,” he said, adding that he had not lost hope.

“My message to those who did this is that I am not going to be scared by such tactics,” Alam said in the video.

#BreakingNews: Senior journalist and ex chairman #PEMRA @AbsarAlamHaider shot outside his home. Strong condemnable and everybody praye for Absar Sahb. pic.twitter.com/iHcCEtZZhD

— Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) April 20, 2021

Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Fawad Chaudhry condemned the incident in a message on Twitter, adding that the police had been asked to investigate the attack.

Soon after news of the attack was shared on social media, condemnations poured in from journalists and politicians.

PML-N Vice-President Maryam Nawaz lamented that “silencing the voice of dissent is a cancer that has plagued this country for many years,” adding that Absar Alam was the latest victim of this crime.

ابصار عالم پر قاتلانہ حملے کی شدید مذمت کرتے ہیں، پولیس کو واقعہ کی فوری تحقیقات کا کہ دیا ہے جوں ہی تفصیلات سامنے آئیں گی میڈیا کے سامنے رکھیں گے ،

— Ch Fawad Hussain (@fawadchaudhry) April 20, 2021

Anchorperson Kashif Abbasi also condemned the attack in a tweet.

Absar alam shot while he was walking outside his house..he is in hospital and thankfully out of danger.Condemn this attack on absar alam

— Kashif Abbasi (@Kashifabbasiary) April 20, 2021

At least 10 journalists were murdered and several others threatened, kidnapped, tortured and arrested in Pakistan on trumped-up charges while discharging their professional responsibilities in 2020 alone, according to the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors’ (CPNE) Media Freedom Report 2020.

Silencing the voice of dissent is a cancer that has plagued this country for many years. Absar Alam Sahab is the latest victim of this cruel & barbaric crime. May Allah SWT heal his wounds and the wounds of this country. Ameen.

— Maryam Nawaz Sharif (@MaryamNSharif) April 20, 2021

No action has so far been taken against those responsible for torturing and killing journalists and it seems that such persons enjoy impunity. “It is a matter of grave concern that the legal system of the country has become useless in protecting and providing justice to journalists,” said the report.