Pakistan: Multiple Women Journalists Including Annie Shirazi Assaulted At Parliament; CFWIJ Condemns Incident
Location: Pakistan, Islamabad
Date: April 6, 2022
Journalist Annie Shirazi and other women journalists were reportedly assaulted by pro-government journalist Maleeha Hashmey while covering the dissolution of the assemblies that took place on Sunday, April 4, 2022. Annie alleges that Hashmey misbehaved with her, kicked her, pushed her and is subsequently misquoting the event on social media. A video later depicted Hashmey being escorted out of the Parliament gallery for defying the code of conduct.
Do you even know what happened?
— S. Qurrat ul Ain Shirazi (@annie_shirazi) April 3, 2022
She was chanting slogans(which were NOT Pakistan zindabad). Also, she misbehaved. She pushed and kicked me as well. Didn’t see this coming from you of all people Zaidi sb. https://t.co/6XJhk2n8Y9
نام نہاد صحافی ملیحہ ہاشمی کو متعصبانہ سیاسی نعرے بازی کرنے اور صحافتی اخلاقیات کی خلاف ورزی پر پارلیمنٹ کی پریس گیلری سے باہر نکال دیا گیا۔۔ pic.twitter.com/l4fjwBnREG
— Waseem Abbasi (@Wabbasi007) April 3, 2022
Annie spoke to The Coalition For Women In Journalism about the incident. “As soon as the Parliament session ended, she [Maleeha Hashmey] started chanting pro-government slogans. She was there to create a scene, I feel because she had pulled a similar act earlier during the Senate elections as well,” she said.
“Everyone ignored her antics,” she added, “She shoved me from the back as well, however, I did not react because I couldn’t tell if it was intentional or not. She then pushed me, hoping to get a rise out of me. She went on to discount my journalistic credentials, at which point I responded and told her that she is the one with questionable journalistic ethics, here.”
“When senior journalists tried to escort her out for violating the decorum of the Parliamentary gallery, she alleged that she was purposefully removed because of her political bend.”
The Coalition For Women In Journalism condemns the actions in the strongest terms. Women already have to navigate a deeply misogynistic journalistic terrain in Pakistan, it is shameful and counterproductive to add to those problems being a woman yourself. Maleeha Hashmey should immediately issue an apology, not only for attacking fellow journalists, but also violating journalistic ethic and attempting to lie about it to the public.
The Coalition For Women In Journalism is a global organization of support for women journalists. The CFWIJ pioneered mentorship for mid-career women journalists across several countries around the world and is the first organization to focus on the status of free press for women journalists. We thoroughly document cases of any form of abuse against women in any part of the globe. Our system of individuals and organizations brings together the experience and mentorship necessary to help female career journalists navigate the industry. Our goal is to help develop a strong mechanism where women journalists can work safely and thrive.
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