Dawn Journalist Baqir Sajjad Claims He Was Harassed By Intelligence Operatives For Meeting British Diplomats

Dawn Journalist Baqir Sajjad Claims He Was Harassed By Intelligence Operatives For Meeting British Diplomats
Islamabad: Journalist Baqir Sajjad on Wednesday claimed that he was harassed by intelligence operatives after meeting diplomats from the British High Commission. He took to Twitter, sharing details of the incident.

https://twitter.com/baqirsajjad/status/1138772037269372928

In another tweet, the journalist questioned if it was unlawful to meet accredited diplomats at a public place.

https://twitter.com/baqirsajjad/status/1138773593557544960

Minister for Human Rights, Shireen Mazari, in a tweet condemned the incident and said it was unacceptable in a democracy. She further said that the incident reminded her of General Zia ul-Haq's regime. Mazari admitted to the fact that she as an academic and journalist had faced similar kind of harassment back in the day.

https://twitter.com/ShireenMazari1/status/1138811845270265861

Since Sajjad took the incident to Twitter, a number of journalists, media organizations, politicians and activists have come out in his support.

https://twitter.com/meherbokhari/status/1138890778011475969

https://twitter.com/HamidMirPAK/status/1138818390888521728

Support for Baqir turned into a trending Hashtag, #JournalismIsNotACrime.

https://twitter.com/MunizaeJahangir/status/1138792821190737920

According to Journalism Pakistan, three men accosted Sajjad. Sajjad further told Journalism Pakistan that,

“They knew who I had met, and wanted to take me along, but I resisted all their attempts,”

Among those who came to Sajjad's support was Amnesty International South Asia condemning the incident and expressing its sympathy towards Sajjad and Pakistani journalists in particular.

https://twitter.com/amnestysasia/status/1138789311615250432?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1138789311615250432&ref_url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.journalismpakistan.com%2Fintelligence-operatives-harass-dawn-journalist-baqir-sajjad

Naya Daur Media (NDM) is a bi-lingual progressive digital media platform aiming to inform and educate Pakistanis at home and abroad. Subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow us on Facebook   Twitter and Instagram Visit our Urdu website