Pakistan: CFWIJ condemns the targeted online attack against Javeria Siddique

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August 13, 2021- Journalist and Youtuber Javeria Siddique was targeted online by trolls after she pointed out the wrong approach of a male journalist on an important and sensitive subject. Journalist Imran Riaz Khan who is a current affairs host on the GNN TV channel, issued a problematic statement on the murder of Noor Muqadam (a 27-year-old girl who was beheaded by Zahir Jaffer on 21 July at his residence) on his YouTube channel. According to Imran Riaz, Noor had a weak relationship with her parents and a stronger connection with her murderer Zahir Jaffer based on her messaging frequency with them. Javeria pointed out this wrongful stance and shared her thoughts on Twitter which led to a troll campaign against her by Imran Riaz Khan. He quoted Javeria's tweet and attacked her personally that unleashed several trolls bullying Javeria. CFWIJ condemns this targeted online attack. It's highly unfortunate that a woman journalist had to suffer this online harassment for presenting a sensible opinion.

Anchor Imran Riaz Khan has a considerable YouTube following and so it's more dangerous when people with huge followers present a dangerous stance on a sensitive subject. He tried to draw a perception that Noor's weak relationship with her parents was one of the factors leading to her murder. He also discussed the Islamic values in the context of Noor's relationship with Zahir Jaffer. This narrative from Imran was widely criticized as the masses in the country believe that the responsibility of the crime only lies on the shoulders of the criminal. At a time when Noor's parents were already fighting pain and hurtful memories, it was inhumane to distress them more with such irresponsible remarks. 

Imran Riaz Khan accused Javeria of supporting drug addicts like Zahir Jaffer under the cloak of Islam. He further said that, "I condemned her husband's bullying But never said a word about her bullying. Maybe today she is in a mood for revenge." He also quoted a troll who attacked Javeria for having a perplexed personality and accused her of being half-Muslim and half liberal. Followed by his tweets, Javeria was viciously attacked by a huge number of trolls.

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The CFWIJ spoke to Javeria on this online harassment and she shared, "since the past two weeks I have been writing to raise voice for justice for Noor Muqadam, Qurat-ul-Ain and Bushra Raza. I also wrote for six-year-old victims of abuse Maham and Andleeb. Imran Riaz was giving wrong justifications in his video which had been watched and liked by thousands of viewers. I have no idea why he is targeting me now, either he has a grudge against me or my family. I have supported him if he was ever wrongfully targeted. It's unfortunately become a practice that people do character assassination of women to get more views and followers on their YouTube channels. It's an organized pattern that's run by their teams. But they cannot scare us as we will speak what is truthful." 

Javeria further said that neither she was affected by these abusive trolls nor that they could scare her. She shared in a tweet, "These are the people who character assassinate women and even cause them to be abused by their followers." 

The Coalition For Women In Journalism stands in solidarity with Javeria and demands that cyber authorities of the country monitor the contents of the video shared by Imran Riaz Khan. No one should be allowed to use Islam and spread a falsified narrative in the same sentence, just to gain more followers. We hope the media regulatory authority will notice the problematic remarks of Imran Riaz Khan and take necessary action.