Plot in Islamabad: Family of slain journalist asks PM to honour pledge

PESHAWAR: The family of a slain journalist from Swat, who was recently awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz posthumously, on Monday asked the prime minister to give his heirs the plot of land which the then government had promised.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Ghulam Ali conferred posthumously the presidential award on the slain journalist Musa Khankhel on behalf of the President of Pakistan.Essa Khankhel, the brother of Musa Khankhel Shaheed, who was awarded Tamgha-e-Imtiaz for his extraordinary services in the field of journalism, received the award.

Musa Khankhel, the reporter of The News and Geo News, was kidnapped and then shot dead by unidentified persons when he was on the way to Matta for covering the peace rally of Maulana Sufi Muhammad after a peace agreement with the then provincial government on February 18, 2009.

The family members said that the then prime minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, who was from Pakistan People’s Party, had announced that the family of Musa Khankhel would be given a plot of land in the federal capital.

However, the pledge could not be honoured even after 14 years.

They recalled that the former premier had formally sent a letter to the Housing and Works Department but the department concerned consigned it the cold storage and the PM’s orders were not implemented. The affected family appealed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to honour the pledge made some 14 years ago.

Similarly, the then Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Inspector General of Police had also promised in 2009 to give a gold medal to the family of the slain journalist but the promise has not yet been honoured.