SAFMA seeks better security for journalists in subcontinent

It is with deep distress and outrage that we, the members of South Asian Free Media Association, South Asia Media Commission and South Asian Women in Media, have learnt about the deaths of two mediapersons associated with SAMAA TV during the recent terror attacks at Quetta, a statement released here said.

We add our voices to those of our counterparts in the media in Pakistan and elsewhere, who have both mourned for the dead and demonstrated against their deaths in cities like Islamabad and Karachi, the statement said.

SAFMA said that over the last year, many in the media fraternity in South Asia had been killed or had faced attacks, including reporters like Razzaq Gul and Tariq Kamal in Pakistan and woman journalist Tongam Rina, associate editor of the Arunachal Times, Itanagar in India. Rina was shot at and severely wounded last July.

In its statement, SAFMA said each of the attacks indicated a culture of violence and impunity that made the lives of mediapersons, especially those working in conflict areas, particularly vulnerable. What underlined the culture of impunity was the fact that their attackers continued to roam free, it said.

We have time and again demanded better security arrangements from governments and media organisations alike, to prevent such tragedies, as well as measures like proper life insurance and other benefits, SAFMA said.

We renew this demand yet again, even as we call for justice to be done to the grieving families of those slain, it added.