KARACHI: Senior editors, journalists, intellectuals, artists, and members of civil society across Pakistan have strongly denounced the disgraceful and inhuman treatment meted out to senior journalist, author, and intellectual Prof. Muttahir Ahmed Khan, expressing solidarity with him and deep alarm over the episode.
Prof. Khan was allegedly subjected to humiliation, psychological harassment, an attempted physical assault, and life threats by a managerial official of a well-established Karachi-based advertising agency where he serves as Senior English Copywriter.
The incident occurred while Prof. Khan was in the recovery phase following open-heart surgery. He has formally appealed to the President, the Prime Minister, the Chief of Defence Forces, and other relevant authorities, seeking an impartial investigation and justice.
Addressing an emergency meeting, Karachi Editors Club President Mubasher Mir and the Editor of Financial Daily Manzar Naqvi, in a joint statement, said, “This disgraceful act is a slap in the face of our social and cultural values. Prof. Muttahir Ahmed Khan is a distinguished author, educationist, and journalist, as well as a humble and humane individual. This episode raises disturbing questions about justice, ethics, and compassion in our society.”
Veteran journalist and former resident editor of The Nation, Pakistan Today, and The Pak Bankers, Javed Mahmood Choudhry, described the episode as deeply distressing, stating that Prof. Khan is a principled scholar and a thorough gentleman who consistently stands for humanity, love and justice. He warned that such treatment of intellectual assets reflects a dangerous moral decline.
From Chicago, Faisal Malik, Chairman of Thespianz Foundation and Theatre, conveyed his anguish in a video message, stressing that the state and society must protect and honour their literary and intellectual figures, particularly at a time when such voices are desperately needed.
Renowned novelist, poet and scholar Mudassar Bashir termed the episode “a collective wound inflicted on an already bleeding civil society and intellectual community.”
Senior economist, analyst and TV anchor Dr Shujaat Mubarik of Heriot-Watt University, Scotland, called the incident a matter of national shame, remarking,
“If respect cannot be offered to such individuals, they must at least not be crushed under cruelty and abuse.”
Popular singer Amir Saleem (New York), actor Usman Raj, photojournalist Aysha Saleem (Italy), film Director Talal Farhat and numerous others echoed similar sentiments through video messages, demanding accountability and immediate action
