QUETTA: Speaker Balochistan Assembly Ms. Raheela Hameed Khan Durrani has said that the people belonging to the profession of journalism in Balochistan have rendered the sacrifices of their lives in the line of their duty and fulfillment of their professional obligation.
She was speaking to a workshop titled “Conflict Reporting” held here at Sardar Bahadur Khan Women University in collaboration with Ministry of Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), Balochistan Union of Journalists (BUJ) and PBC, on Tuesday.
She said that the journalists who have embraced martyrdom line the lie of their duty are high in number in Balochistan, adding that the people of Balochistan pay rich tributes to the sacrifices of the journalists in Balochistan. She said that the provincial government believes in freedom of Press and all efforts would be made to reduce the financial problems of the families of martyred journalists.
She further said that Pakistan was playing the role of a frontline state in the war against terror, adding that along with the security forces, the masses, journalists and advocates also laid down their valuable lives whose sacrifices would not go in vain.
She said that the incident of 8th August left the entire nation aggrieved, adding that following this incident, CM immediately announced 10 million per family for the dependants of the martyrs.
She said that it was true that money is not the alternative of human life but to reduce their financial burden, government made such announcement.
She said that she was feeling highly delighted to hear that a workshop for the members of electronic media persons has been launched, aiming at their capacity building, adding that the life a journalist should be the most important thing for us. She said that the protection of journalist should come first and breaking news later and for this the heads of media industries should formulate a clear policy and media guideline.
She said that government would fully cooperate for this noble cause. She proposed that the media houses should form a Welfare Foundation for the welfare of the journalists so that the people belonging to this field should feel relieved. She said that such workshops should repeatedly be held in order to make sure that the lives of the field journalists are protected properly.
Source: Daily Balochistan Express
