Addressing a rally in support of Asad on Friday evening following the violence perpetrated by three unidentified individuals on a journalist and YouTube blogger a few days ago, Hamid Mir, a senior journalist with Geo News, slammed state institutions. He warned that no such violence would be perpetrated against any journalist in the future.
Hamid Mir, a senior journalist with Geo News, spoke out against state institutions while addressing a rally in support of him on Friday evening after he was tortured by three unidentified individuals as a journalist and YouTube fan. He warned that such violence should not be used against any journalist in future.
During the demonstration on Friday, a clip of Hamid Mir's speech went viral on social media and hashtags started trending for and against Hamid Mir.
From what he said in his speech, it was clear that the target of his criticism was the military establishment.
It may be recalled that Hamid Mir was assassinated in Karachi in April 2014 in which he was shot six times. He blamed the attack on General Zaheerul Islam, then head of Pakistan's ISI.
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The incident with journalist Asad Toor took place on Tuesday night in Islamabad's Sector F-11 when three unidentified men forced their way into his flat, tied his hands and feet, beat him and then easily escaped. gone.
Asad Ali Toor told police in a statement that the assailants were armed with pistols and beat Asad Ali Toor with pistol butts and pipes.
It is to be noted that the attack on Assad is still being investigated and the incident has been condemned by government officials.
What did Hamid Mir say in his speech?
A large number of civil society and journalists gathered outside the Islamabad Press Club on Friday to express solidarity with the incident, during which speeches and slogans were raised.
In his speech, Hamid Mir described the attack on Assad as an attack on a house where no one was there to help Assad.
He said in a stern tone, "If you are so brave, tell me with open chest that I have entered his house." But you are so cowardly ... that you don't believe that I broke into their house, you say, oh, he was the brother of a girl who killed. '
It is to be noted that after the attack on Assad, rumors started circulating on social media that Assad had been tortured due to a personal matter.
Continuing his speech, Hamid Mir said that the enemy "thinks that I will not know, I am unknown."
After the news of Asad Ali's attack became public, social media started condemning the attack on him and various allegations were leveled against him.
In the light of these allegations, Hamid Mir, referring to the case of former military president Pervez Musharraf, criticized Assad for trying to seek political asylum but said he was still at home. ۔
Speaking on the BBC's Hard Talk program on Friday, Federal Minister Fawad Chaudhry, referring to the attack on Assad, said: "We have taken note of this incident and have asked a senior police officer to investigate. Has ordered We have obtained CCTV footage from the scene showing these people, they will be caught soon.
At the same time, he said, "It is fashionable for the Western media to accuse the ISI, the Pakistani military's intelligence agency, whenever such an incident occurs, and I know that in the past, people have There is a history of immigration abroad with such allegations.
Hamid Mir also criticized the military establishment on several other issues.
At the end of his speech, Hamid Mir, who appeared to be very angry on the occasion, once again warned that if journalists were treated in this manner and tortured in their homes. If you go, 'I'll tell you what's going on inside the house.'
Before Hamid Mir's speech, Maneza Jahangir also used a similarly harsh tone in his speech and said that from today onwards, such attacks on journalists will not be tolerated.
Criticizing Article 19 of the Constitution, he said, "This is our country and we will speak here ... where neither the army nor the judiciary can be talked about." If you do politics in this country, we will talk to you and we will continue to do so.
It may be recalled that according to the Constitution of Pakistan, Article 19 deals with freedom of expression and this was also mentioned by Fawad Chaudhry in his interview.
According to this clause, “the greatness of Islam, or the integrity, security or defense of Pakistan or any part of it, friendly relations with foreign countries, in the interest of public order, civilization or morality or contempt of court, committing a crime or Subject to appropriate restrictions imposed by law on its incentives, every citizen shall have the right to freedom of speech and expression and the press.
Reaction on social media
After Hamid Mir's speech, the opinion on social media was divided. On the one hand, Hamid Mir's supporters praised and praised the courage of the Geo News journalist, while on the other hand, his critics criticized the speech and misrepresented him. Allegations of
Commenting on Hamid Mir's speech, a user of 'I Karachiwala' wrote that 'Hamid Mir has leveled two serious allegations against the state institution. The answer must come from there because the allegations have been heard everywhere. Failure to respond could lead to hatred against the institution.
Commenting on Hamid Mir's speech, another user wrote that his father used to say, "Hamid Mir, like his father Waris Mir, seeks to harm the state and its institutions in the name of democracy and freedom of the press." I never understood my father's words until today I saw this (speech). '
Tweeting in support of Hamid Mir, researcher and social activist Ammar Ali Jan praised Hamid Mir, saying he was "rewarded" for "challenging the distorted narrative of Pakistan's history in general."
Ammar added that Pakistan "plays the role of a mercenary state for the world powers" and that the embarrassment was not caused by "journalists or critics but by those who accuse ordinary citizens of being foreign agents."
Azhar Mashwani, who is associated with the Punjab government, also said on the allegations leveled by Hamid Mir, “The question is why instead of taking action against those who make such allegations against the national body, they are summoned to every top secret briefing? And why are they so important? '
Social activist Alam Zeb Mehsud said in his speech that he fully agrees with Hamid Mir and the enemies of journalism should not hide behind the scenes.
On the other hand, one of his opponents, user Khursheed Pathan, wrote in his tweet, "I, Khursheed Pathan, request my government to accuse Hamid Mir of accusing the army without proof, threatening and abusing him, making fun of the enemy country." To give him a chance, to promote his statement that a case of treason should be registered by arresting him immediately.
Hamid Mir himself tweeted in his speech last night on the discussion on social media that 'Now you will see that many V-loggers recruited for Rs 50,000 a month will come to the fore and accuse us of making their salaries lawful. But the people of Pakistan have come to know that far Who are the implementers of the agenda?
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