The Mandi Bahauddin Press Club was demolished in the early hours of Sunday morning, “without any prior notice or warning from the district administration”, the press club president said.
Mandi Bahauddin Press Club President, Zaheer Khan, said that the club received no demolition notice from the district administration, and the demolition itself took place at 4am on Sunday morning.
“We received no notice, and we were all asleep when this happened,” he told Dawn.com over the phone. “We invested a lot of money into this building and our records are all destroyed.
“Why did they demolish the building at night?” Khan asked.
Video footage recorded by a Dawn.com correspondent at the scene on Sunday showed the gutted interior and exterior of the building, as well as furniture and other items belonging to the club strewn on the ground outside.
An interior view of the demolished Mandi Bahauddin Press Club on April 6. — Screenshot by author
Khan added that the district administration offered the press club a new location and that he spoke with the assistant deputy commissioner about the matter last night.
“We spoke over the phone and he told me ‘not to worry, we will make all the arrangements [for a new location]’,” Khan explained, adding that demolishing the existing building was not discussed.
He added that the press club was set up in two shops on land rented from the government. “The shops around us were demolished and the owners were given no notice either,” Khan said.
When asked about potential legal action, Khan said, “For the time being, the club is not pursuing any. However, if the district administration does not give us a new location, we will stage protests and involve other press clubs.
“This is a drone strike on journalism,” he lamented. “This building stood for over 30 years.”
Meanwhile, Mandi Bahauddin Electronic Media President Hafiz Zahid Hameed called the incident “very concerning”, reiterating Khan’s claim that the press club received no prior notice of the demolition.
“We received no notice at all,” he told Dawn.com over the phone. When asked about the shops mentioned by Khan, Hameed said that they had matters with the district administration which were “in court”.
