Dozens of journalists, vloggers booked in Pakistan for alleged false claims against army

Pakistan government on Friday booked dozens of journalists and vloggers, including the first Pakistani Sikh TV anchor, for allegedly propagating false claims against the army in connection with the deaths of supporters of jailed former prime minister Imran Khan.

The Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) alleged that the journalists and vloggers fanned provincialism, supported the ongoing campaign to boycott army products and raised questions on the alleged killings of Khan's supporters during the November 26 protests.

The development comes days after authorities booked 150 suspects and arrested 22 of them, mostly belonging to Khan's party, for allegedly propagating against the army on social media on the killings of the party workers in Islamabad on November 26.

“Cases have been registered under different sections of Prevention of Electronic Crimes Act (PECA) against journalists and vloggers, including first Sikh journalist/anchor Harmeet Singh, Ahmad Noorani, Imran Khatana, Rizwan Ahmad Khan, Salman Durani, Hussain Rafique, Ahmad Malik, Azhar Tariq Khan, Asif Bashir, Saraj Ahmad, Muhammad Arshad and Abdul Qadir,” a senior FIA officer told PTI.

Female vlogger Aroosa Nadim, Komal Afridi and Maryam Shafqat Malik have also been booked, he said.

These journalists and vloggers have been issued notices to join the investigation, he said, adding, “Those who do not join the investigation will be arrested.”

Police from the Punjab province also arrested two social media activists from Rawalpindi and Muzaffarghar for urging, through Facebook accounts, to boycott products of the army welfare institutions.

According to the PTI, at least 12 party workers were killed and hundreds wounded when law enforcers opened fire on the protesters in Islamabad on November 26.

More than 10,000 protesters marched towards Islamabad's D-Chowk on November 26, defying a ban on public gatherings and a lockdown. As Khan's supporters inched towards the heavily barricaded venue, police and security forces used intense teargas shelling to disperse the protesters.

On Friday, the party termed it an “Islamabad massacre” and issued the list of those killed, injured and missing. It said 139 PTI workers have been missing since then.

The Shehbaz Sharif government had earlier denied that the law enforcers opened fire on the protesters and pledged to take strict action against those propagating on social media in this regard.

The government had formed a special task force headed by the FIA chief to nab such elements.

Meanwhile, Amnesty International has also demanded a transparent investigation of what it called the state’s “deadly crackdown” to disperse PTI supporters from Islamabad’s D-Chowk.

Condemning the violence, Amnesty said: “Yet again, protesters in Pakistan have faced a brutal and lethal crackdown shrouded in a callous opacity by the authorities. Urgent and transparent investigation is needed into the deadly crackdown on protesters.”

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Editorji News Desk and is published from a syndicated feed.)