Police arrested President of Kashmir Journalists Forum and senior journalist Zahid Abbasi arrested on the orders of Bagh administration. When the Bagh administration tortured the wheelbarrow owners for their complete failure to implement the SOPs, it became a crime for Zahid Abbasi to raise his voice in their favor.

When the administrative officers dumped the goods of the poor wheelbarrow owners in the mud, the senior journalist Zahid Abbasi forbade them to do so, however, police also snatched the camera of Azher Abba so, vice-president of Bagh Press Club, who was covering the incident.

Journalists from all over the country including Kashmir Journalists Forum, all press clubs of Azad Kashmir, National Press Club Islamabad, PFUJ, RIUJ and Parliament Beat Reporters Association have strongly condemned the arrest of senior journalist Zahid Abbasi. That Deputy Commissioner Bagh and Superintendent of Police Bagh should take the nails of conscience, Zayed Abbasi should be immediately apologized and they should be released.

Journalist organizations have also demanded the Prime Minister of Azad Kashmir Raja Fariq Haider, Commissioner Poonch Masood-ur-Rehman and DIG Poonch Region Sardar Rashid Naeem to take immediate notice of the incident and suspend the Deputy Commissioner and SP Bagh. It will be forced to take action and the entire responsibility will fall on the administration and the government in time.

Meanwhile, an emergency meeting of JF, AKNS and editorial councils of Kashmiri journalists’ organizations was held at the Central Secretariat of Kashmir Journalists Forum in Islamabad on the incident. At the meeting, all the journalists ‘organizations unanimously gave the government a 24-hour deadline to remove Deputy Commissioner Bagh immediately, otherwise all Kashmiri journalists’ organizations, National Press Club Islamabad, Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists and Rawalpindi Islamabad Union of Journalists.

It was decided at the meeting that if the incident with the journalists was not resolved immediately, the entire responsibility for the situation would fall on the government. All press organizations including National Press Club Islamabad, PFUJ, RIUJ, Azad Kashmir Union of Journalists have strongly condemned the incident with Zahid Abbasi and announced to respond to every call of the forum.