Journalist Nasrullah Gadani, a reporter at the Sindhi language newspaper Awami Awaz, succumbed to his injuries two days after he was shot near Mirpur Mathelo town in Ghotki district of Sindh at 11 am on Wednesday, May 22. Gadani was known for taking an uncompromising stance against local feudal lords and powerful individuals. Before he was shot, Gadani was seen filming a local feudal lord using police protocol vehicles to which he was not entitled.
The Awami Awaz reporter was facing life threats, and the local police had been intimated about this. However, there was no case of specific enmity with any particular individuals that had been filed before the police. After being shot on Wednesday (May 22), Gadani was initially taken to Rahim Yar Khan Hospital and then airlifted to Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi after the intervention of some journalists, according to some posts on X by fellow journalists.
One day before Gadani was shot, a journalist from a digital channel was shot dead and he was the fifth journalist to die in first five months of this year. Nasrullah Gadani has become the sixth journalist to die in Pakistan this year and many others are facing similar threats. The slogan ‘Bhotar my foot’ (feudal under my foot) imprinted on the slain journalist’s motorbike’s number plate became the top trend on social media.
According to the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), at least 65 journalists have lost their lives since 1992, positioning the country as a very dangerous place for journalists. The CPJ has demanded that Pakistan unconditionally and immediately release freelance journalist Asad Ali Toor. The committee termed continued detention of Toor as “an egregious violation of press freedom”.
Toor had criticised Pakistan’s Chief Justice as well as its powerful military establishment and was detained by the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) last month. In 2021, Toor was attacked by three people at his apartment in the capital of Islamabad. He was tied up and beaten with a pistol.
Over the past four years, at least 13 journalists have lost their lives in Sindh, among them Jan Mohammad Mahar from the Sindhi news channel Kawish Television Network.
Earlier this month, the Council of Pakistan Newspaper Editors (CPNE) expressed concerns over escalating violence against journalists and increasing attempts to stifle press freedom in the country. The media in Pakistan has been working in extreme fear and oppression. Although Article 19 of the Constitution guarantees freedom of expression and opinion, journalists are often abducted or arrested based on their expression or reporting, with little to no action taken to secure their release, it said.
Between 2022 and 2024, at least 28 incidents targeting journalists have been reported from different parts of Pakistan. The pressure and authoritarian tactics have escalated to the point where several journalists felt compelled to flee the country. While those who could not go abroad, including Gohar Wazir, who used to work for Khyber News in the Bannu district, have left the profession to stay safe.
Gadani was known for his reportage against local feudal lords, politicians, waderas, and government officers. Sindh Minister for Home Ziaul Hasan Lanjar condemned the murderous attempt on Gadani’s life and said that the suspects involved in the attack on the journalist should be brought to justice at the earliest. He directed Ghotki SSP to submit to him a detailed report on the incident and share with him progress on the investigation.
Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf Sindh president Haleem Adil Sheikh condemned the attack on Gadani and demanded immediate arrest of the suspected assailants. Violence against journalists had become widespread in Sindh and journalists were routinely attacked for writing truth, he regretted.
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