A senior Pakistan journalist turned into reportedly assaulted with the aid of using unidentified guys in Lahore on Friday night time even as he turned into returning domestic. The attack on Ayaz Amir, seventy three, in keeping with neighborhood reports, got here an afternoon after he known as Pakistan’s Army generals “assets dealers”.
The journalist stated he have been returning domestic from paintings whilst his vehicle turned into intercepted with the aid of using unidentified guys, who dragged him out of the auto and beat him. Amir have been getting back from his workplace after recording his tv display for Pakistan-primarily based totally Tv channel Dunya News whilst the incident took place.
Amir, speakme to neighborhood media, stated the guys whose faces have been blanketed with mask now no longer handiest hit him and tore his clothes. They additionally took away his mobile phone and pockets and left the scene whilst humans began out collecting at the busy road.
Former Pak high minister Imran Khan condemned the incident. In a tweet, he wrote: “I condemn in most powerful phrases the violence in opposition to senior journalist Ayaz Amir nowadays in Lahore. Pakistan descending into the worst type of fascism with violence and faux FIRs in opposition to journalists, competition politicians, and citizens. When the nation loses all ethical authority it motels to violence.”
Journalists, attorney bodies, and rights activists condemned the attack.
“Supreme Court of Pakistan desires to take suo moto (cognizance) of this terrorism in opposition to one of the maximum reputable, non-debatable media figures. Ayyaz Amir is round seventy three years of age! One of the maximum reputable English columnists Pakistan has ever created! HRCP and Dawn and civil society need to stand,” senior journalist Moeed Peerzada tweeted.
The assault at the journalist is stated to have observed his speech at a seminar in Islamabad at the ‘Regime Change and its Fallout on Pakistan’ on Thursday. During his speech, Amir centered the navy established order for its position in Pakistan’s politics and additionally noted the Army generals as “assets dealers”. He had reportedly additionally recommended casting off the photographs of Muhammad Ali Jinnah and Allama Iqbal and changing them with the “assets dealers”.Imran Khan turned into additionally the various attendees of the seminar.
Amir – whose speech had long gone viral on social media – had additionally made a veiled dig at Pakistan Army leader Gen Qamar Javed Bajwa, announcing he turned into into his 6th 12 months of tenure and seeking out any other extension. Among different things, he additionally talked about the errors of the preceding authorities led with the aid of using Imran Khan which collapsed in April after dropping the consider vote.
Punjab leader minister Hamza Shehbaz has sought a document at the attack of the senior journalist and ordered that the culprits be arrested on the earliest.
