A meeting of journalists discussing media safety and press freedom in Punjab’s Seraiki belt was abruptly ended by the district administration on November 21. The incident was reported in a press release by the Freedom Network, an independent media rights organization.

The meeting, attended by journalists from Dera Ghazi Khan, Muzaffargarh, Rajanpur, and Layyah, was disrupted by Tehsildar [sub-district officer] Chaudhry Haneef, accompanied by Station House Officer (SHO) of Saddar Police Station Younas. The official ordered the participants to “stop the meeting and leave the district,” citing instructions from the assistant commissioner. However, no written order or legal justification was presented, according to the Freedom Network.

The event, part of regular Freedom Network initiatives, included Reporters Without Borders Pakistan representative Iqbal Khattak. Khattak, also a member of the Punjab Journalists Protection Coordination Committee, was expelled from the district along with his team.

The Freedom Network condemned the disruption, highlighting the irony that the meeting participants had been discussing threats, censorship, and violence faced by journalists just minutes before the raid. The tehsildar and police reportedly pressured the hotel administration to turn off the lights and end the session. “We have verbal orders. You know how the system works,” Tehsildar Haneef reportedly said when questioned about the legality of their actions.

District Police Officer (DPO) Syed Ali defended the move, asserting that the organizers had not obtained prior permission, a requirement for events involving international organizations. “The officials requested them [journalists] to end the meeting and the representatives of the organisation agreed to disperse peacefully,” he said, denying allegations that participants were denied permission to have lunch at the hotel.