Torture on colleagues: Photojournalist body announces boycott from PTI activities

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Photojournalists Association, Peshawar, on Thursday announced to boycott from the coverage of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf activities to protest torture on colleagues and damage and theft of equipment during the public meeting the previous day.

In a statement issued here, senior photojournalist and president of the Khyber Photojournalists Association Fayyaz Aziz and general secretary Khurram Pervez said that workers of PTI severely torture their colleagues besides breaking the camera of association president and senior photojournalist Fayyaz Aziz, stealing of laptop of senior photojournalist Muhammad Sajjad and damaging the motorcycle of video-journalist Haji Maqsood.

They condemned the torture on Peshawar Press Club general secretary Shahzada Fahad, Khyber Union of Journalists general secretary Imran Yousafzai, photojournalist Hasnain Ali and others.

They said that PTI workers also misbehaved with the journalists and photojournalists adding insult to injury during the party public meeting the previous day.

They asked the former prime minister Imran Khan, KP CM Mahmood Khan, KP Inspector General of Police, party high command to take notice of the issue.

They also said that apologies should be sought from the affected media persons besides announcing compensation for the loss of equipment.

They threatened to go on strike if their demands were not met.

Meanwhile, the affected journalists and photographers have appealed to Peshawar Press Club, Khyber Union of Journalists and other journalists’ organisations and associations to raise the issue at all relevant forums so that no colleague could become victim of political workers’ highhandedness in future.