Death threats issued against journalist

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information made available by RSF on 28 September 1998, on 26 September, Saeed Iqbal Hashmi, chief reporter for the daily “Mashriq”‘s office in Peshawar (northern Pakistan), told RSF that he was going into hiding after he received death threats and a fatwa was issued against him by local Maulvis. Earlier, on […]

(RSF/IFEX) – According to information made available by RSF on 28 September
1998, on 26 September, Saeed Iqbal Hashmi, chief reporter for the daily
“Mashriq”‘s office in Peshawar (northern Pakistan), told RSF that he was
going into hiding after he received death threats and a fatwa was issued
against him by local Maulvis. Earlier, on 23 September, members of the
Jamiat-i-Ulema-i-Islam (JUI, an Islamic radical party), staged a
demonstration outside the newspaper office against the recent publication of
an article written by the journalist. Saeed Iqbal Hashmi also received phone
calls accusing him of being part of the “Jewish lobby” against the interests
of the Taleban.

Furthermore, some reports said that on Friday 25 September 1998, some
clerics at certain mosques in the Hayatabad area in Peshawar issued fatwas
saying that anybody who killed Saeed Iqbal Hashmi would go straight to
heaven.

These two very worrying threats seem to be linked with the recent
publication of two articles: on 14 September, Saeed Iqbal Hashmi reported an
increase in child abuse at various religious seminaries; and in another
article “Mashriq” revealed that a city builder, apparently Haji Ghulam Ali,
the JUI’s General Secretary for the North West Frontier Province, was
encroaching on the old Peshawar city wall which had fallen into decay.

Recommended Action

His Excellency Nawaz Sharif

Office of the Prime Minister

Islamabad, Pakistan

Fax: +92 51 828742/92 51 821 574