KPC honours women journalists, bans entry of JUI-F leaders

The Karachi Press Club (KPC) on Saturday honoured several women members of the club for their contribution to the field of journalism.

Sindh Assembly female members Nusrat Seher Abbasi and Seema Zia, who attended the award ceremony as guests, said they were glad to be presenting the awards to such courageous and multi-talented women.

“It was great of the KPC to be honouring women journalists. I hope that a woman journalist will be the president of the KPC in the upcoming year,” said Nusrat. “The KPC gives more respect and importance to women journalists than any other press club in the country.”

She said that reporting in Pakistan was not easy. “On many occasions, women are ahead of men,” she added. Seema said journalism was a difficult job for women. “But women have the ability to take on challenges.” She suggested that the KPC should have a permanent institute for journalism.

KPC President Fazil Jamili, Vice President Shazia Hasan and General Secretary Rizwan Bhatti also spoke to the event and said the club gave great importance and respect to women. “We encourage women to join journalist bodies,” said Jamili.

Ban on JUI-F leaders

The KPC has also announced a ban on the entry of the Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl’s (JUI-F) leaders in the club after one of the JUI-F leaders manhandled an employee of the club. In a statement issued on Sunday, the KPC said Maulana Umar Sadiq, JUI-F district emir and former MPA, tried to enter the press club on Saturday with his car and an armed guard to attend the PML-N’s press conference.

“As a KPC employee asked Sadiq to park his car outside and not to bring the guard, he tortured the club’s employee,” the statement read. “Office-bearers and members of the KPC present on the occasion immediately intervened and tried to control the situation, but Sadiq and other leaders with him continued to show rudeness and parked the car at the gate of the press club.”

Jamili and Bhatti strongly condemned JUI-F leader for insulting and torturing staff of the press club, and said violence with employees and members of the KPC was intolerable.