Pakistan journalists declare ‘black day’ after police raid on Islamabad press club

The Lawyers Community of POJK were staging a peaceful protest at the Press club when the Police attacked them.

The Pakistan Journalists Union announced a "black day" to be observed on Friday after the alleged assault on Journalists at the Islamabad National Press Club on Thursday, Dawn reported.

Members of Awami Action Committee chant slogans as they attend the funeral prayers of three victims, who were killed in Wednesday's clashes between police and protestors, in Muzaffarabad, the capital of Pakistani controlled Kashmir, Thursday, Oct. 2, 2025.(AP)

Pakistan Federal Union of Journalists (PFUJ) President Afzal Butt said, "The journalists are furious at the moment. He also stated that all press clubs across Pakistan will hoist black flags in condemnation of this act.

According to Pakistan media reports, the Lawyers Community of POJK were staging a peaceful protest at the Press club when the Police attacked them.

The protests in Pakistan-occupied Jammu and Kashmir (PoJK) entered their sixth consecutive day, intensifying anger against authorities across the region after security forces killed three.

Pakistan's Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi on Thursday ordered a probe after Islamabad police stormed the National Press Club (NPC) and attacked journalists, sparking nationwide outrage and calls for protests, Dawn reported.

Butt, who described the raid as "one of the darkest days in Pakistan's history," said journalists would hoist black flags at press clubs nationwide. "The attack on the National Press Club was an attack on media freedom," he said, as per Dawn.

Other journalist bodies accused the government of sanctioning the raid. "Islamabad police did not come here on their own. They were sent," Rawalpindi-Islamabad Union of Journalists President Tariq Virk said.

“They tortured and arrested even an ailing employee of the club. We will now adopt such a plan of action that nobody dares repeat this rogue behaviour.”