'Writers should be secured', US says on Hassan Zaib murder

 "Writers should be permitted to take care of their responsibilities, whether [in] US, Pakistan, [or] Gaza," says State Dept

July 19, 2024

Columnists should be permitted to take care of their responsibilities, says Patel.

Representative says this is profoundly private to the secretary.

Hassan Zaib was killed on June 18 in KP's Nowshehra.

WASHINGTON: The US State Division has focused on the need to safeguard columnists across the globe after the homicide of Pakistani journalist Malik Hassan Zaib, who lost his life last week in a designated assault in Nowshera, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Zaib — who, as per the Global Press Establishment, was the eighth columnist to be killed in Pakistan starting from the start of 2024 — was in a vehicle with his sibling when two unidentified aggressors on a motorbike brought his vehicle and shot the writer to an abrupt halt on the spot.

His sibling endure the assault and recorded a first data report (FIR) of the occurrence. The rationale behind the 40-year-old writer's killing is indistinct.

"Columnists should be secured and they should be permitted to take care of their responsibilities, whether that be the US, whether that be Pakistan, whether that be in the Gaza Strip," Express Division's Central Representative Vedant Patel said Thursday.

His reaction came during a press preparation when he was approached to remark on the demise of Zaib.

"That is something that we have a firm opinion, and something is profoundly private to the Secretary [Antony Blinken]," he noted.

"It's clearly private to us and this group having - going through the vast majority of our days drawing in with all of you. Be that as it may, basically, writers should be secured and should have the option to go about their responsibilities," Patel added.

At a day to day distribution, Zaib covered wellbeing and city beats. He was likewise an individual from the Khyber Association of Columnists and the Peshawar Press Club (PPC).