Author:
Publication: Rediff on Net, US
Edition
Date: December 10, 2001
The Washington Post on Monday hit
out at Pakistan for expelling its correspondent Rajiv Chandrasekaran, saying
the treatment meted out to journalists of Indian descent raised doubts
over the country's commitment to press freedom.
The Post's Assistant Managing Editor
for foreign news, Philip Bennett, termed Pakistan's action as "unexplained
and unjustified".
In a report "Washington Post correspondent
Rajiv Chandrasekaran was kicked out of Pakistan Friday," the daily said
it was "not because of anything he had written. The Pakistanis delayed
renewing his visa and then, when it expired, expelled him with a letter
citing 'security implications'".
"The expulsion came after security
officers seized Chandrasekaran in a Quetta hotel room and placed him in
a guest house."
Noting that Chandrasekaran was born
in the United States but that his parents were from India, Bennett said:
"When journalists of Indian descent are singled out for this treatment,
it raises a question about Pakistan's commitment to press freedom."
Pakistan Embassy spokesman Asad
Hayauddin, the paper said, denied any ethnic motivation, saying: "It is
purely a case of an expired visa."
It may be recalled that Aditya Sinha,
a British passport holder working for a national Indian daily, was also
expelled by Pakistan recently.
PTI