Prominent Pakistani journalist Matiullah Jan goes missing

Jul 21, 2020

New Delhi, July 21 (ANI): Prominent journalist Matiullah Jan, who is known for raising his voice against Pakistani establishment, has reportedly gone missing from Islamabad on July 21. The incident took place hours after he tweeted a video of a journalist's interview. He wrote-"This is for the attention of those who sit in the simulated air-conditioned environment of rule of law in Pakistan and who think criticism on them is a bigger crime than the violation of the inviolable dignity of a human being,"Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has demanded that the Pakistani government immediately ensure the safe recovery of the journalist."HRCP demands that the government immediately ensure the safe recovery of journalist @Matiullahjan919, whose family confirms that he has gone #missing," Human Rights Commission of Pakistan tweeted. As the news drew the attention of journalists and international rights bodies, a tweet was posted on Matiullah Jan's account at 3:17 PM -- purportedly by his son -- which read: "Matiullahjan, my father, has been abducted from the heart of the capital [Islamabad]. I demand he be foundu and the agencies behind it immediately be held responsible. God keep him safe."Jan was due to appear in the Supreme Court this week after it took suo motu notice of an alleged contemptuous tweet by the journalist. The Supreme Court last week issued a contempt of court notice to Jan over an alleged tweet against judges and judiciary. It is not the first time then Jan has been attacked. In 2017, he was attacked by two motorcyclists when he was travelling to Bhara Kharu with his children. In an interview to an American NGO, Committee to Protect Journalists, in February, Jan said that his broadcast career turned south after a military spokesman publicly displayed his name and photo on a list of journalists who were accused of distributing anti-state propaganda. The attack on journalists in Pakistan to muzzle the free media is becoming common. According to a report in Washington Post, the Pakistan government has cut off advertising payments to media houses that don't run stories against the establishment. Newspaper companies face distribution disruption, and television channels have been taken abruptly off the air. Early this month, two local Pakistan TV reporters were tortured for their reporting regarding a coronavirus centre in the southwestern Balochistan province.The two reporters were called to the Frontier Corps command centre in Chaman, a city near the Afghan border. The two reporters reappeared after three days, but with torture marks on their bodies.