Journalist organizations demonstrated on Monday in front of the Lahore Press Club against the enforced disappearance of Zahid Abbas Malik, senior journalist and sub-editor of Dunya daily newspaper.
Zahid Abbas Malik went missing on May 11 and according to the application submitted in Ichra police station by his cousin, when they went to look for him at his residence around Ichra shopping centre the lock was broken and all his belongings were scattered. No clue of his sudden disappearance has been found to date.
The demonstration was attended by the members and leaders of the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists, Punjab Union of Journalists, Lahore Press Club, and Journalists Forum Pakistan.
The protest was led by Lahore Press Club Vice President Nasira Atiq while Punjab Union of Journalists leaders Qamarul Zaman Bhatti, Raja Riaz, Shahid Chaudhry, Ahsan Raza, Zahid Shafiq Tayyab, Ahmad Raza, Ansar Zahid, Nazir Bhatti, Shahzad, Bakhtgir Chaudhry, Asim Zaidi and other leaders and journalists were present.
The speakers demanded that Malik should be released immediately. They said till date no media owner had gone missing, and if any anchor disappeared, it becomes a national and international issue. However, they added, five days had passed since the disappearance of one sub-editor and no one had taken notice.
The leaders said that the entire journalist community and working journalists were with Zahid Malik and the protest would be extended to the whole country if he was not released.
Speakers said that if Zahid Malik had committed any crime, he should be brought before a court of law. Zahid Malik has significant services for journalists and this was his only crime.
