News Analysis: Journalist manhandled

The Baloch Hal Analysis

TV Journalist Mustafa Tarin was taken into unlawful police custody on his way back home after performing his professional duties on Thursday night in the Brewery Police Station Area. A police picket stopped his car for a routine search and identity and a security check. He established his identity as TV journalist saying that he was Bureau Chief of ARY News in Balochistan. On this, the police officials manning the picket late in the night lost temper and hurriedly took him to the police station and kept in wrongful confinement for the whole night after hurling abuses using foul language. The reason was that the media, particularly the electronic media, played not a positive role and did not support police vandalism and rowdiness during their protest for pay rise in Quetta in January last. The Chief Minister took serious action against all those policemen involved in vandalism and rowdyism and some of them were arrested now facing trial. With this background, the policemen are still involved in witch hunting and trying to get a chance to punish the journalists for not supporting their unfair agitation though they had sympathies for their demand for pay rise and not vandalism. During the agitation, a number of journalists covering the police agitation were manhandled and insulted on the same day.

The latest incident indicated that the police are a lawless force and not a disciplined force as claimed by their commanders and Police Generals in formal and informal discussions.

On the pretext of fake and invalid registration papers of his vehicle, Mustafa Tarin was taken to the police station where he was given a serious beating by the police officials during his wrongful confinement. When his brother and a journalist colleague reached the police station, official told a lie that Mustafa Tarin is not in custody. They were misinformed. When his colleagues established contacts with high ups, there was a change in the behaviour of the police after hours of torture and filthy abuses. Around 9 in the morning, Mustafa Tarin was allowed to go home. He refused to take possession of his car in protest that was detained on the pretext of fake registration number plate. Meanwhile, the Balochistan Union of Journalists held a meeting and discussed the issue and decided to boycott the police activities till appropriate action is taken against the police official. The BUJ said it would hold a protest demonstration outside the CM Secretariat if the responsible police officials are not punished The Chief Minister also took a serious notice to the incident and ordered an inquiry.