Thursday, May 24, 2012

Sep 13 2008 - Daily Times - IFJ Condemns Hateful Broadcast


IFJ condemns inflammatory broadcast and link to murders in Pakistan

* Anchor of a widely viewed programme has called killing of Ahmadis ‘righteous duty’ of Muslims

LAHORE: The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) is “horrified” to learn that two Ahamadis were murdered shortly after a broadcaster on one of Pakistan’s main television channels urged viewers to kill “blasphemers” and “apostates” as a religious duty, the IFJ said in a statement on Friday.

According to available information, the anchor, in his widely viewed programme on September 7, declared that the murder of members of the Ahmadi sect was the righteous duty of people of the Islamic faith.

He followed this by urging two other participants on his programme, from different denominations of Islam, to endorse his viewpoint. The anchor, who is a former minister for religious affairs, reportedly obtained the endorsement he sought, the IFJ statement said.

On September 9, the anchor answered a query on a phone-in programme with the comment that those guilty of the alleged sin of blasphemy should be put to death, the statement said.

Within 18 hours of the first broadcast, Abdul Manan Siddiqui, a physician in Mirpurkhas, was murdered. He was the head of the Ahmadi community in Mirpurkhas, the IFJ quoted news reports.

The doctor, according to the release, was reportedly called from his clinic on the afternoon of September 8 by six people who claimed to have brought a patient. He was shot 11 times and died on the spot. His private guard and a female passer-by were also injured in the attack.

The following day, Sheikh Muhammad Yousaf, a 75-year-old rice trader and district chief of the Ahmadi sect, was killed in the city of Nawab Shah, the IFJ said. He was reportedly shot at by motorcycle borne assailants.

The IFJ joins its affiliate, the Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ), in condemning the incitement to violence apparent in the language used by the anchor and his two interlocutors, the statement read.

“Under legal standards for curbing hate speech in the media, the burden of proof is on the anchor and the channel that broadcast his programme to establish that they do not bear some responsibility for the murder of two innocent men.

“Media outlets must implement measures to ensure their content abides by ethical principles, including curbs on hate speech, both in the interests of promoting tolerance and also to ensure there is no opening for state authorities to intervene in the expression of fair comment.”

The statement said the IFJ welcomes the PFUJ’s initiative in drafting a code of professional ethics and opening discussions with other stakeholders in the Pakistani media to seek agreement on measures for the code’s implementation, including by establishing an independent Media Complaints Commission. pr

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C09%5C13%5Cstory_13-9-2008_pg7_39

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