Geneva, (Asian independent) Condemning the murder of senior journalist Lala Israfil Khan in Musakhel locality of Balochistan, the global media safety and rights body Press Emblem Campaign (PEC) demands a transparent probe so that the assailants can be booked under the law. Lala Israfil (35), who contributed for Hum news channel and other media outlets, was shot dead by the miscreants on Saturday evening. Meanwhile, the Rural Media Network Pakistan and Balochistan Union of Journalists strongly condemned the killing and called on authorities to conduct an immediate investigation so that the motives behind the murder can be uncovered.
“We in PEC strongly denounce the murder of Lala Israfil Khan, who becomes the first journo-victim this year in Pakistan and globally 34th media professionals to be assassinated. Balochistan province government chief Mir Sarfraz Bugti must look into the matter and bring all the culprits to justice,” said Blaise Lempen, president of PEC (pressemblem.ch/pec-news), adding that the Pakistani regime in Islamabad should investigate all assault cases against the media workers as raised by the Pakistan Press Foundation and break the chain of immunity enjoyed by the culprits while targeting the journalists in the south Asian nation.
PEC’s south and southeast Asia representative Nava Thakuria reported that victim Lala Israfil was a fearless journalist, who often highlighted the public issues with accountability. Not only as a journalist, but he was very popular in his locality as a dignified individual too. Last year, the Muslim majority country of over 257 million witnessed the killing of AD Shar (resident of Sindh province), Abdul Latif (Balochistan), Syed Mohammed Shah (Sindh), Imtiaz Mir (Sindh) and Tufail Rind (Sindh).
